Stories

Having a baby was always her dream, but Silvia waited until she finished school to build a secure future and a home for her family. Having a first child at thirty-seven makes you a spinster in Silvia’s small town, but last December was going to be a special Christmas with the birth of her baby. Yet, Silvia’s plan took an unexpected turn. Her baby girl was born with a cleft lip and a cleft palate.

The people in her community immediately blamed Silvia. It seemed everyone had an opinion on why it was her fault. They say that she waited too long to have a child. They accused her of being negligent with her prenatal pills. They said she was bad-humored, that she stared directly into an eclipse, and worse, that Teresa was born like “that” as punishment for something Silvia did.

Silvia loves her baby, but she has been so afraid to face the community and even some family members that for seven months, she and Teresa hid at home away from the judgment and hurtful stares from others.

She did not want Teresa to grow up like that. So, having heard about the Partner for Surgery Guardian Angel Program from Dina, a local health promotor, she knew to ask for help. Dina visited Silvia and Teresa in their home. She explained that a surgical team specializing in cleft lip and palate surgery was coming to Antigua soon, and Teresa would be first in line.

Teresa received lip surgery from the Smiles for Guatemala Team this July and looks excellent two weeks later.

With Dina’s home wellness visits and care, Teresa should be ready to have her palate surgery within a year. For now, three weeks since surgery, Teresa is healing beautifully, and Silvia is observably taller as she leaves the house to go to the local store, Teresa in tow.

They are both well on their way to freedom from shame and guilt.

 

As I write, it has been 806 days since we left Guatemala on our last cleft mission with Partner for

Surgery. The pandemic put a frustrating stop to our biannual missions, and we have missed our friends and patients dearly. Monetary donations and shipments of anesthesia and surgical supplies hopefully provided some measure of support while we waited for the opportunity to resume our missions safely. As the backlog of patients accumulated, our Guatemalan colleagues continued to provide nutritional support and a limited number of surgical procedures.

We are therefore anxious and thrilled to plan our return to Guatemala in July. With safety the primary concern for families and staff, this mission will take place in Antigua instead of Guatemala City, with fewer team members and a slightly lighter surgical schedule. We will concentrate on new patients with unrepaired cleft lips and palates and provide a well-trained surgical, anesthesia, pediatric, and nursing staff.

If all goes well, we hope to return to Guatemala City in the fall with reinforcements that include otolaryngology, orthodontia, speech pathology, and a more significant number of non-medical support staff and expand our surgical procedures to have hand, burn, ear, and secondary cleft surgery.

I have personally studied DuoLingo Spanish for 806 consecutive days, starting in the Guatemala airport in March 2020 while enjoying Guatemalan coffee in an “I love Guatemala” mug. I cannot wait to resume our life-changing mission to help the children of Guatemala.

David W Low, MD

Medical Director, Smiles for Guatemala

My name is Mariajose Ortiz, but my friends call me MJ. I am Partner for Surgery’s (PFS) new Resource Development Director. While I write this, I am traveling back from my first rural medical mission in Quiché, Guatemala. Professionally, I have worked on different types of projects in medical care. Yet, during my first week on the ground with the PFS team, what I see is different in a very critical way.

Most projects operate out of a central location, where patients go seeking assistance. In contrast, PFS goes to the most forgotten patients, to the hardest and farthest places where few are willing to go to provide the dignity of quality healthcare. For PFS, knowing these people exist is the guiding star that drives every activity for its programs.

The commitment is the same from when we first meet our patients until we walk them home after recovery. Administrative staff, health promotors, board of directors, volunteers, and our faithful donors work in extraordinary harmony to serve each patient as an old friend.

I went to school at a small university in the United States and worked and lived there for twelve years. But my dream was always to serve in Guatemala, my home. I am honored and committed to Partner for Surgery’s mission because I see a lasting impact on my people. I have looked patients in the eyes and know with all my heart that what we offer them is real hope.

So, to end this note, I want to say how happy I am to be here. My hope and focus are to ensure that your support positively impacts our patients, and I believe this is the best place to start!

All the best,

MJ

Resource Development Director