Adriana Contreras & the Santa Rita Veterinary Clinic

On this year’s visit to Todos Santos, we met once again with our friend design and partner Adriana Contreras. Adriana and her husband Gerardo Maldonado have built a thriving clinic in Huehuetenango, Guatemala.

Adriana with Dr. Elena in Huehuetenango

What started in her own home, as a humble single room for consultations, has now become the Santa Rita Veterinary Clinic. With time, and through a lot of hard work, Adriana’s clinic has been providing much-needed veterinary services to her community for 15 years now.

Adriana has been working alongside the GAAP for the past 8 years in Todos Santos, Guatemala. This week Adriana’s Clínica Veterinaria Santa Rita is partnering up with the GAAP to provide Para-Veterinary training to three veterinary assistants with the support of Dogs Trust International.

The GAAPs’ Para-Veterinarian Project aims to provide permanent veterinary care in rural places or communities where veterinary services are difficult to find. This project has been developing since last year when our Para-Veterinarian Manual was completed. This year, we are working on training our Guatemalan Pra-Veterinarians.

Adriana and 2 of the students

Adriana explains that the training is very important for the para-veterinary assistants because “they can assume a greater responsibility in supporting the attention we give to the patients” and can help with the preparation of the patient for surgery as well as provide post-operation care.

Adriana highlighted that the training is particularly important for Andrés, one of the para-veterinarians in training who lives in the remote indigenous community of Todos Santos, who will be able to respond to veterinary emergencies in his community. Adriana said that she has had a lot of fun with the GAAP this week and that she sees the assistants are very happy and are enjoying the practical training.