Surgery for Guatemalans with Cleft Lip and Palate

We are SO CLOSE to completely funding our GlobalGiving project goal, and we want to thank you for your donations and especially those who commit to remembering Partner for Surgery each month. Every single dollar donated has a direct impact, and we couldn’t provide medical missions without you.

Here’s what’s happened since we last got in touch

March in the United States is National Nutrition Month, and basic nutrition is a life or death matter for the more than 20,000 Guatemalan babies born with cleft lip/palate each year. Infants born with this condition makes breastfeeding nearly impossible and with families unable to afford the formula, the results are tragic. Read how our Targeted Infant Nutrition Program (TINP) helps babies thrive. 

Here’s how you were crucial to helping these children

Your donation of $25 gave a stressed mother a breast pump and a special nursing bottle to feed her baby.

Those who donated $35 provided one infant suffering from a cleft lip or palate a full month’s of nutrition.

Babies who could have their cleft lip/palate corrected by Partner for Surgery medical missions don't because their mothers can't afford to accompany them. Your donation of $50 paid for the lodging of a family awaiting surgery.

Through this unique program, we accomplish four major goals by preventing:

1. Malnutrition, so the child will thrive and qualify for surgery;
2. Speech impediment, by providing cleft palate surgery before the child reaches the age of one and a half;
3. Ostracization with the community of family and child
4. Preventing ostracization encourages education, especially for girls like Delia.

Here’s how you changed Delia's life

Delia's cleft lip, palate, and resulting speech impediment left her so ashamed by her appearance and exhausted from the bullying, that she dropped out of school. Please remember our missions not only provide medical treatment, but we provide children like Delia with a future they didn't think was possible.

Here's how you impacted the lives of rural Guatemalan women

In March, we also celebrated International Women’s Day, and in addition to positively impacting Delia’s life, your donations led to the screening of 2,994 women in rural Guatemala for cervical cancer in just the last year.

Of those women, 75 received life-saving treatment, and 730 women were evaluated for breast cancer.

These treatments are direct impacts from your donations!

Here’s what’s happening next

Next month, from May 9^th to 13^th, GlobalGiving is running their Mother's Day donation campaign. New recurring donations up to $200 per donor during this week will get an additional 100% match on their initial donation as long as it remains active for a minimum of four payments. Help us spread the word! Please invite your friends to follow Partner for Surgery on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so we can share positive stories and smiling faces. 

We can’t thank you enough, but luckily for us, this smiling face is going to give us a hand.