Partner Perspectives: Site Visits in Guatemala

Presentation with WINGS

We spotlighted our Guatemalan partners, WINGS Guatemala, for the third session of our Site Visit Series. From expanding access to family planning in remote communities to empowering adolescents and adults with vital health education, WINGS is making a profound difference for thousands of people in Guatemala.

This session began with a presentation by Population Connection Senior Analyst Hannah Evans, who visited WINGS earlier this year. Hannah provided an overview of Guatemala’s health care challenges before sharing photos and stories from her site visit. Then, we welcomed WINGS’ Executive Director, Eleanor Unsworth, and Programs Director, Erik Pocasangre. They discussed the organization’s programs, share inspiring stories from the field, and answer questions submitted by audience members.

Date: September 29th, 2025

Hannah Evans, Senior Analyst, Population Connection

Hannah works as a Senior Analyst at Population Connection, where she focuses on public speaking and the development of open-source, academic-style resources. She also cultivates partnerships between Population Connection and international NGOs.
Before joining Population Connection’s staff, Hannah worked as an adjunct professor of Women’s Studies and taught classes on gender, science, and feminist theory. She has non-profit experience working as a program developer for sustainable agriculture and public health programs in Honduras and Panama and has worked as a researcher studying food security issues throughout Southern California.
Hannah holds a BA in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Conservation and Political Science and a Master’s in Political Ecology from San Diego State University, where her research focused on sustainability labeling and ethical consumption between the United States and Nicaragua.

Eleanor Unsworth, Executive Director, WINGS GuatemalaHeadshot of WINGS Executive Director, Eleanor Unsworth

Eleanor has been the Executive Director of WINGS since 2021 and served as Programs Director for five years prior to that. She has two decades of experience in Sexual and Reproductive Health and nonprofit leadership spanning educational and youth programming roles, patient counseling, and service/program management.
As Executive Director, Eleanor works to deepen WINGS’s impact by driving our responsible and ambitious growth, ensuring the coherent implementation of our organizational vision and strategy, leading the staff, and acting as an external spokesperson to diverse audiences in Guatemala and globally.
Eleanor is passionate about applying a human rights focus to every aspect of her work, both within our team and for our external programming, and ensuring a continuous push towards strong systems approaches, transparency, and quality improvement in all that we do. She graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Community Health and Women’s Studies and holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University.
Eleanor lives with her husband, Alex, in his hometown of Antigua Guatemala, their daughter and two rescue dogs. They can often be found out hiking around the many hills and volcanoes that surround their home.

Erik Pocasangre, Programs Director, WINGS GuatemalaHeadshot of WINGS Programs Director, Erik Pocasangre

Erik joined the WINGS team in early 2022 after years working at partner organization, SERniña where he worked with boys and young men to develop positive masculinity and thus become agents of change in their families and communities.
Born and raised in Guatemala City, Erik has rich experience as an activist and educator in Guatemala, having led a variety of environmental, development, and quality of life programs for the communities around the Lake Atitlán basin.
Throughout his life he has dedicated himself to making the world a more just, inclusive, and equal place for all. Erik’s background in restorative justice, indigenous healing spirituality, and trauma-informed practices guide his approach to reproductive health programming at WINGS.

Site Visit with WINGS Guatemala – Presented by Hannah Evans

WINGS Guatemala September 2025 – Presented by Eleanor Unsworth and Erik Pocasangre

Q&A

Questions from the audience, with responses from Eleanor Unsworth, Executive Director, and Programs Director, Erik Pocasangre

Since girls reach puberty earlier than boys, and so many Guatemalan girls under 13 become pregnant, why not begin the youth education for girls before age 13?
Response from Erik and Eleanor: That is an excellent and important question. At WINGS, our approach balances the urgent need for comprehensive information with the realities of Guatemala’s legal and political context.
Girls in Guatemala do often experience puberty earlier, and tragically, many pregnancies occur under age 13. However, under Guatemalan law, 14 is the legal age of consent, which means that while we can provide information to those younger than 14, we are not permitted to provide counseling or contraception services directly. Doing so would expose our program to significant legal and political risks, especially in today’s anti-rights climate.
Our youth peer education program, by design, focuses on adolescents 14 and older, since it is not realistic to ask much younger children to serve as peer educators. WINGS steps in by training teachers and working with schools so that younger children can be reached within the formal education system, even if we cannot deliver programming to every age group directly. Through this model, we provide adolescents with both education and access to services, while at the same time strengthening the ability of teachers and institutions to reach younger students.

How long do your mobile unit munits stay on one small village?
Response from Eleanor: Typically one day, though if the demand in the community warrants it, we sometimes stay for two days. The frequency with which we return depends on the demand in the community – sometimes twice a month, sometimes monthly or quarterly.

How do you provide services in communities not reachable with a road for the caminoneta?
Response from Eleanor: Excellent question from someone who knows Guatemala´s challenges! In some cases, our nurses have to walk across rivers and mountains to get to patients, and in some cases, we are able to coordinate with local partners to help bring patients to us.

Did you establish a center in Flores?
Response from Eleanor: In Santa Elena, just ten minutes outside of Flores.

What has been the impact of the recent shutdown of USAID services?
Response from Eleanor: We did not directly lose funding, but access to foundation funds in general has become much more competitive. In the Guatemalan ecosystem, we have seen many programs and projects in other organizations have to close or reduce dramatically. Planned Parenthood Global, for example, closed more than 20 projects in the country in the month of June. We have been reaching out to grassroots partners who are affected to support where we can, for example, by donating supplies or putting donors in touch with them.

Does WINGS raise funds by selling art from local members and/or residents abroad?
Response from Eleanor: This isn´t a strategy that we have tried yet, however, on the other end, we have donors in the US who donate the proceeds of their art that they sell or work that they do (for example, a house painter who has donated the proceeds of his work painting houses for many years).

What does the local marketing of WINGS ALAS stand for?
Response from Eleanor: WINGS stands for Women´s International Network for Guatemalan Solutions, and Alas is the translation of WINGS into Spanish (not in and of itself an acronym in Spanish).