PROFILE

HHCI’s Hillside clinic is located in Eldridgeville, a small village four miles north of Punta Gorda, the capital of Toledo District in southern Belize. The district is home to approximately 26,000 people, from of a variety of ethnicities, including two Mayan groups (Mopan and Kek’chi), Garifuna, Creole, East Indian, and Hispanic. The Toledo District is by far the poorest and least developed district of Belize, with a poverty rate of 79% and a high unemployment rate. It is also the most rural part of Belize, with 81% of residents living outside urban areas. Many of the district’s residents live in very small, remote villages, accessed either via unpaved roads or by foot; some of these villages do not yet have electricity or safe potable water.