During the 1980’s and 1990’s, dentist Phil Plunk (Meet Our Founder here) spent several weeks serving in Guatemala. This was during the time of the Guatemalan Civil War. On each trip to pull teeth, Phil became more and more aware that the need for dental care in Guatemala couldn’t be solved through week-long service trips. What the people of Guatemala needed was easier access to regular care. So Phil packed up his dental practice and moved to Guatemala.

In 2001, Phil founded Project Salud y Paz and opened a small clinic in Camanchaj, Quiché, Guatemala. For the first time,  comprehensive dental care, including cleanings, extractions, and fillings was available to people in the rural highlands of Guatemala. Phil worked with the local bomberos (firemen) to spread the word about the American dentist providing free dental care. Slowly, news of Salud y Paz reached more and more and people and the number of patients began to grow.

The bomberos, together with the Iglesia Metodista Nacional Primitiva de Guatemala and the United Methodist Church in the United States have been important partners in mission for Project Salud y Paz since its inception and continue to be to this day.

Since 2001, the clinic in Camanchaj has grown from one American dentist seeing less than 10 patients a day to so much more. Today, we are an ever thriving, adapting, and growing organization. Currently, Project Salud y Paz consists of three clinic locations (Camanchaj, Nahuala, and Cunén) a school for grades preschool through first grade, many health and educational programs, and a network of 40 medical, dental, optical, surgical, and construction teams. Salud y Paz has 20-30 full-time staff members including Guatemalan doctors, dentists, and a dental assistant seeing more than 50 patients a day.

As previously mentioned, Salud y Paz doesn’t just provide medical care. In 2009, Salud y Paz opened our early education center called Susanna Wesley School. Susanna Wesley School provides education, nutrition, and medical care for more than 50 children preschool through first grade.

Salud y Paz is incorporated as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation in the United States under the name “International Hands in Service” and does business under the name “Project Salud y Paz”, for which it has a filing of Certificate of Assumed Name with the Texas Secretary of State, its state of incorporation.  In Guatemala, International Hands in Service is legally constituted as a subsidiary of the US non-profit corporation.