Born and raised in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Vicky Guzmán studied medicine in Mexico. Returning to her native land, she turned down a lucrative career as an urban doctor to work in remote areas of El Salvador with people who had never seen a doctor before, much less a woman doctor. Often they could only pay her with eggs or chickens.

The villagers believed it was inevitable that they would get malaria every year and lose some of their children to diarrhea. Vicky taught them how to break this cycle through preventive medicine. Her method was to train local leaders to serve as health educators in their communities, as well as to provide first aid and basic care.

This is the same model Vicky has followed since she founded ASAPROSAR in 1985, with the goal of empowering the poor.