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Stories

Meet Mayra Chen, Health Promoter

By Stories

Meet Mayra Chen. Mayra lives in the Mayan village of San Juan Chamelco in the mountains of Alta Vera Paz. She started with us as a health promoter when she was 17 in 2005 and now manages the Nutrition Program in her department and personally is responsible for 26 of the children. She is typical of those who visit the children each month, provide health care when they are sick and is their escort and translator when time for surgery. Without committed people like Mayra, our in-home nutrition program would not exist and thousands of children would never have had their clefts repaired.

Photo: Stephanie Jolluck

New Online Database for Cleft Infant Nutrition Program Children

By Stories

We now have an online database of all children in the Cleft Infant Nutrition Program! Our health promoters are able to take photos and do the children’s monthly health report on cellphones and upload this information to the database when cell coverage is strong or wi-fi available. This new capability allows us to begin a program where sponsors automatically get monthly updates with photos and information on the child’s progress direct from the health promoter. If you would like to sponsor a child, please contact us for more details.  This is an opportunity to follow a child’s development, see where the child lives, and help expand the Cleft Infant Nutrition Program to include even more children.

Photo: Stephanie Jolluck

Covid Didn’t Stop Us!

By Stories

First, there is good news about Kevin (pictured above), a child featured in a previous newsletter. He was scheduled for surgery with the March 2020 Smiles for Guatemala team – the last team allowed before COVID locked down the country. However, in addition to Kevin’s mother losing her sight, the father without work transportation and two hurricanes flooding their village, Kevin became sick and missed his surgery date. Throughout all of this misery our health promoter, Zoila, traveled six hours to get to Kevin’s village with formula and basic food for the family. And, in February four Guatemalan plastic surgeons agreed to volunteer a few days each month and in March Kevin got his lip repaired.

These Guatemalan teams have now completed 68 cleft lip and 33 cleft palate surgeries and in July plan to provide additional 45 children with cleft repairs. Every child and the accompanying parent were COVID tested prior to surgery and fortunately all results were negative. And we also know from our post-operative follow up in patient homes, none contracted COVID during their trip to the hospital. As appreciative as we are for these volunteer surgeons, our cost is more than three times what it is typical for an international team.

However, change is on the way and international teams are beginning to return! Medical Mission for Children will complete the reconstruction of 23 incompletely formed ears by early July and our first general and gynecology surgical team will begin mid-August. More good news is that we are expecting a Hernia surgery team to arrive in September, the George Washington Hospital team in November and a December team from Los Angeles with an emphasis on head and neck procedures.

In Loving Memory of Linda Peterson

By News

On July 3rd, Linda Peterson, one of Partner for Surgery’s founding members and most passionate volunteers, passed away following a sudden illness. She died peacefully, surrounded by her family.

Although we will miss her dearly and always, the sadness is no match for the loving, happy memories she has left behind.

Without Linda, there would be no Partner for Surgery. Not only did she encourage her husband, Frank to take early retirement to start Partner for Surgery, but she was instrumental in launching the organization and has been one its most active and effective volunteers over the last 20 years. Whatever it took, from triage on medical missions to fundraising to writing newsletters, she was there to make sure the work continued. Because of her, over 16,000 of Guatemala’s most impoverished people have received life-changing surgery through Partner for Surgery.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life Service for Linda on Saturday, July 24th, at 11am EDT.  The service will be held at the Redeemer Lutheran Church at 1545 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22101. If you would like to attend virtually, please use the following link: vimeo.com/571347316

Linda dedicated a large part of the last 20 years of her life to Partner for Surgery.  In lieu of flowers, if you would like to make a donation to Partner for Surgery in her memory, please go to: partnerforsurgery.networkforgood.com

On behalf of Linda, thank you all for supporting Partner for Surgery’s mission.

Good News to Share From Guatemala!

By Stories
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic over a year ago, volunteer teams have been unable to travel to Guatemala. In the interim, over 100 new patients were added to the Cleft Infant Nutrition program, which was already bursting at the seams. A drastically reduced staff needed support and hundreds of other waiting patients had to have contact maintained. Things looked pretty bleak. We wondered how Partner for Surgery would survive. Read More

Photos Show Devastation in Guatemala After Hurricanes Eta and Iota

By Stories

In addition to struggles resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Guatemala suffered the effects of two back-to-back hurricanes in late 2020. COVID took so much from rural Guatemalans this year, and Hurricanes Eta and Iota took what was left. Crops and livelihoods were destroyed. Homes were lost. Below is a collection of photos from our In-Country Coordinator, Liset Olivet.