Medical Care for Rural Guatemalan Families

Miguel Gregorio, age 11, is one of nine siblings. His mother, Doña, works on a farm.

A few years ago, Gregorio was injured in a terrible accident. A bucket of paint thinner was accidentally ignited in the yard outside his home. In the rushed effort to extinguish the flames, the bucket was kicked over and the burning liquid splashed all over Gregorio’s face, neck, and chest. No one was quite sure how to put the fire out. First they tossed a bowl of water on him, but that only exacerbated the flames. Eventually dirt and sand were used and the flames were doused. By then Gregorio had suffered extensive third degree burns.  

Doña took Gregorio to the closest health center. Because of the severity of his injuries, the center referred Gregorio to the regional hospital, where he spent 4 days in intensive care.

When Gregorio returned home, he found that his life had changed. Gregorio was teased and discriminated against both in school and on the street because of the large, raised scars on his face and neck. He often cried and wondered why such a terrible thing had happened to him. His mother always comforted him by telling him that someday he would receive surgery to repair the scarring.

Finally, Doña’s promise came to be. Gregorio was seen during a Partner for Surgery mobile medical mission in September of 2014. During the visit, surgery was scheduled to repair the extensive scarring.

The day before surgery Gregorio was very excited because he had been waiting for such a long time.

Gregorio and his family are very grateful for the help made possible by Partner for Surgery’s supporters. Thanks to you, his life has been restored to one without teasing and discrimination. 

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Recently, Partner for Surgery supporters Lori, Ken and Ed traveled to Guatemala to learn first hand about our work. The visitors traveled for three days, visiting our patients in the rural areas. The last visit was to the home of Fredy, who recently had the first of two surgeries.

Let me give you a sense of how remotely located our rural families are. To reach Fredy’s house, the group drove for hours over bumpy dirt roads. When driving was no longer possible, they hiked through meadows, trekked over hills, and carefully made their way down a precarious path of mud stairs. 

As they entered the humble home, heavy smoke came from something cooking over an open fire. Fredy's health promoter went to work delivering infant formula, asking questions, taking photos and weighing Fredy. And then the unexpected happened – the cooking was for a special Mayan lunch to honor the visitors! 

After enjoying the delicious lunch, the family patriarch, Fredy’s grandfather, made a moving, eloquent speech in his Mayan dialect, explaining that he thanked God every day for the magical work the doctors had brought to his grandson. He said he knew that without Partner for Surgery, his grandson would have an unhappy, isolated life. The visitors were moved nearly to tears. 

Thanks to you, our generous supporters, Fredy is now a beautiful, normal baby boy with a happy future ahead of him!