By Emily Lopez | Executive Director
Ruben was born in November 2023 in San Marcos Livingston, Izabal, a remote region where access to specialized healthcare is limited. His family speaks Q’eqchi’, and from the beginning, his mother, Judy, has been by his side throughout every step of his care.
Shortly after birth, Ruben joined Partner for Surgery’s Cleft Infant Nutrition Program, where he received monthly home visits, nutritional support, and close monitoring from his community health promoter, Marta de la Cruz.
As his care progressed, Ruben needed more than nutritional support. Through Partner for Surgery, he was referred to pediatric neurologist Dr. Alba Rivera, who evaluated a condition affecting his brain development before birth. After further assessment, doctors confirmed that no additional surgery was needed for this condition.
Because of these evaluations, Ruben’s originally scheduled cleft surgery had to be postponed while his team made sure it was safe to move forward.
On February 18, 2026, Ruben successfully underwent cleft palate surgery with the Team Broken Earth Newfoundland team, led by Dr. Art Rideout.
Today, Ruben is fully recovered and doing well. His nutritional indicators are within a healthy range, and he has successfully graduated from the Cleft Infant Nutrition Program.
His journey with Partner for Surgery, however, will continue. As he grows, our team will keep following his progress and help coordinate the care he may need in the future, including microtia surgery when he is older.
Ruben’s story shows what comprehensive care can make possible: nutrition, specialized medical evaluations, surgery, recovery, and long-term support—all connected around one child and one family.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
