A private lab providing quality, stigma-free services: The story of Yeslin

It is 6 am in the village of La Campana in Monjas, Jalapa in the dry and hot eastern region of Guatemala. Yeslin says goodbye to her grandparents and parents before begining her hour and a half commute on public transportation to the Los Ángeles Laboratory in Jutiapa where she works as lab technician. The 21-year-old woman recalls the path and the challenges she faced in her first months working there, especially when interacting with users. “Where I studied, they only taught us how to use the appropriate instruments for each type of test and how to read formulas. The lab was my first job, and when I started working there, I focused on routine sample collection, but it was very hard for me to communicate with people.”.

In 2023, after nine months working at the Los Ángeles Laboratory, she heard about a training and sensitization opportunity through Asociación PASMO and USAID’s HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment project. These workshops for laboratory staff were one of several requirements so that Los Ángeles could join the network of over 35 private clinics and laboratories providing HIV prevention services to at-risk users referred by project staff.

Yeslin, along with six other health and administrative professionals from the laboratory, participated in sessions on topics such as HIV, gender, sexual diversity, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and human rights, so that at-risk LGBTIQ+ populations can have access to private, stigma-free, and quality prevention services.

The experience was a turning point for her. “After attending the workshops, I was able to learn about topics and express my ideas freely without fear of being judged. They told us about the population we would be providing services to, and I was very interested in helping”,says Yeslin, recalling her experience in this process.

Today, Yeslin is the designated person to assist users referred by Asociación PASMO for rapid HIV testing and counseling and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services, contributing to the over 650 users in Guatemala who have received these services through the project’s sensitized private laboratory partners in the last six months. “My supervisors noticed the way I treat our clients, and many of them request for me specifically,”she mentions with a satisfied smile. “I never thought my first job would help me to help others.”