"Doctor, my back hurts."

"Doctor, I cannot stop coughing."

"Doctor, my children are sick with fever."

"Doctor, you must help us!"

These are the cries that greet Dámaris each morning as she unlocks the door to the clinic where she works. As the only doctor in Pixabaj, Dámaris carries an enormous responsibility. In her patients' faces, she sees her family, her school friends. She sees desperation and poverty.

And Dámaris will do everything she can to help them. She says she has been called by God to do this work — and thanks to Compassion, she found the opportunity and encouragement to follow her calling.

An Impossible Dream

From the time Dámaris was a little girl, she knew she would be a doctor — even when nobody else thought she could. She would often come home with her arms scratched up from her "examinations" of neighborhood cats.

Her parents, who ran a tailoring business, worried about their daughter. What would become of her when poverty crushed her dreams? When she realized they would never be able to pay for the education needed to be a doctor?

Dámaris never worried about her education. She always believed God would take care of her. Her faith eventually would be an inspiration to her entire family.

Answering God's Call

Dámaris' parents registered her at the Patria Nueva Student Center (GU-863) when she was 4. At the center, Dámaris received Jesus, and as a teenager she felt the call to serve others through medicine. Her sponsor encouraged her dreams, and Dámaris formed a special bond with him through his letters and gifts.

"I remember my sponsor was from Canada, and he always sent me drawings," Dámaris says. "I always thought that was so special, and it was an amazing gift that he always took the time to draw me something in his letters."

After graduating from the sponsorship program, Dámaris was accepted into Compassion's Leadership Development Program, which paid for her college education. Throughout college, she made an extra effort to serve the poorest of Guatemala.

For three years she volunteered at a clinic that traveled to a dump to offer free medical care to those picking through the garbage. "Every time I visited the dump, I had to cross a big pile of garbage to get to the people," Dámaris says.

"I remember those big black birds who were so big and fat, even more than the residents of the dump. Seeing all this made me grateful for the family God gave me, and I learned how to serve others."

What God Has Done

In 2007, Dámaris became the first person in her family to graduate from college. "We are so proud of her," says Sandra, Dámaris' mother. "She taught us so much about living out your dreams and trusting God."

Today, as an influential doctor, Dámaris often meets with community leaders to talk about improving health conditions near the clinic close to the town where she grew up. She has had an impact on hundreds of families through the medical care she provides. But ultimately, Dámaris says she is just doing what God has called her to do — what He has made possible.

"When I look back, I can only say, 'Look what God has done,'" she says.

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