Our mothers Nancy McCracken and Hilary Pont greatly valued health and education and spent significant time serving others. They were called to heaven early in their lives, so we created this foundation to honor their memory through supporting the health and education of underserved children and communities in Guatemala, a country that we love.

My first trip to Guatemala was nearly 30 years ago. Now we currently take an annual trip to Guatemala with many conversations and planning with our Guatemalan partners between trips.

Upon moving back to Austin in 2008 we began going on our church’s Guatemalan mission trip. Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church’s Guatemala trip has grown over the years and now supports various projects including:

Building upon the success and friendships made during these trips we looked for opportunities to utilize our pediatric training. Nearly half of all births in Guatemala are born in homes and most of these deliveries occur without staff with formal medical training. And so through talking with our friends and colleagues in Guatemala, we identified the opportunity to provide a midwife training program. We have now begun providing training once year to midwifes, nurses and other clinical staff.

Another huge need is for more children to complete secondary and college education. Many children in Guatemala have to leave school before high – or even middle school – so that they can work with their family and/or seek employment to help support their families financially. And only the first 6 years of school are free and provided by the government. Thus we also seek to provide financial support for service minded promising students in Guatemala from underserved communities.