Stories

Our Health Promoters are one of our strongest resources

Partner for Surgery has over 15 part-time rural Health Promoters who live in the communities they serve. These men and women publicize upcoming Medical Missions and help locate patients in need of life changing surgery.  They monitor babies in the Cleft Infant Nutrition Program, as well as escort patients to the hospital and stay with them until they are ready to go home. If problems develop, patients know the Health Promoters can be called upon for reassurance and assistance. The two examples featured this month illustrate how important Health Promoters are, not only to the people they serve, but to the success of PfS. Read More

Ana Lucrecia, born with a cleft lip and palate, was 6 months old in May. She is the fifth child of a day laborer earning two dollars a day to support his entire family, which lives outside the village of Chisec in a rented house that does not have electricity or water. Ana’s two older brothers attend school, which further stretches the family’s finances. They are the kind of typical rural family we at Partner for Surgery assist with surgical care. Read More

 

Catalina Ixcopal is a Partner for Surgery patient whose efforts to get medical care are, unfortunately, typical of the 1,000 individuals we will serve in 2019. Eight years ago, Ixcopal noticed a mass growing on her shoulder. After two more years, it was creating significant discomfort. She worried it was malignant. Catalina went to the National Hospital and was told they could not help her. Read More