Mike Oswald began participating in medical mission trips to Guatemala in 2007.  After he and his wife visited several areas of Guatemala and its different departments, they observed the need within the communities to provide the best possible medical care to people with limited resources. 

They noticed a lack of participation between the foreign mission teams and local physicians and nurses. In 2018, they joined forces with Dra Vicky Loza and formed ALMA with the idea that there would be a symbiotic relationship between the volunteers and the medical staff in Guatemala. This change in paradigm has been the key to safely providing surgical care to hundreds of individuals in Guatemala. Shortly after the formation of ALMA, many other alliances began starting with Dr. Julio Estrada at Panamed.

Part of the mission of ALMA is to provide high-level surgeries in the department of Sololá and in turn provide bilateral training between the medical personnel who visit Solola and the local physicians and nurses.

We know that through ALMA’s efforts we cannot provide the surgical needs of everyone in Guatemala who made need help, but we can focus on the individuals and provide quality medical care that is accessible through our social programs at Ilumina and Panamed with the goal of providing proper pre-operative and post-operative medical support.