The story of Mateo Hernandaz

Monday, February 22, 2010

Mateo Hernandaz went home today, his future made brighter thanks to the donation of time, talents and money from many people both near and far. He was born ten months ago in Los Angeles, a very remote village in the area of Xoxlac, in the western mountains of Guatemala. He was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, and his feedings were going to be very tedious and time consuming.

His mother, who is 18, already had several small children at home, and at his birth was overwhelmed with the time involved with his feedings. It was suggested by a local clinic that she swap babies once per day with other nursing mothers in the village, in at attempt to stimulate her own milk production. The couple agreed that they would try this. Then, 10 months later, Mateo was referred to the Iowa MOST program in Quetzaltenango.

The history of Iowa MOST begins in 2005 when folks from Iowa went to explore a relationship with a Rotary Club in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, in order to repair cleft lips and palates. In 2006 a joint Medical Mission entitled "Miles of Smiles Team", sponsored by the Rotary district 6000 Clubs of southern Iowa and the Rotary Club of Huehuetenango came to Huehue to repair cleft lips and cleft palates of the children in western Guatemala. This mission was made up of surgeons, anestheologists, dentists, and nurses, all from Iowa. They volunteered their time for a week, and changed the lives of many.

This mission was so successful that it has become a annual event for the past 5 years. In 2008 the Rotary Club of Quetzaltenango, also located in the western mountains, became a partner in this, and so sites are now alternated between Huehue and Quetzaltenango, (also known as Xela).

In 2006 Juan Francisco Fernandez, or "Paco," who lives near Guatemala City, joined the team as translator and in-country coordinator. It was through Paco's involvement with this MOST mission that the family of little Mateo Hernandaz became aware of help for their little son.

Two or three months before the MOST mission arrives in Guatemala, the Rotarians of Huehue and Xela advertize through various venues. Radio and television ads are placed and targeted to those living in the mountains; flyers are printed and placed throughout the region; local clinics are asked to let their patients know of this help; and Rotarians spread the news by word of mouth.

This year, on February 18th, 29 persons traveled with the Iowa MOST mission to Xela, firm in their commitment to this cause and anticipating the week of service. The first day of clinic was Saturday, February 29th, and the MOST members were greated by patients and their extended families lining the walls of the waiting room. Some had traveled 1 1/2 days through the mountains to get to the hospital. Mateo Hernandaz and his parents were part of this group. Others were local residents of Xela. All were happy to see us.

The MOST mission group began the day be setting up all the stations necessary to evaluate each potential patients, ad the order in which each patient would be evaluated. The stations included registration, vitals, surgery, anesthesia, dental and finally pediatrics. To impose some sense of order, it was initially decided that those who had traveled the furthest would be seen first. And so, Mateo Hernandaz was one of the first to be seen. Mateo Hernandaz and his parents worked theirway through the evaluation process. He was diagnosed with aleft unilateral cleft lip complete and a cleft palate. It was also noted that he had poor weight gain in his short 10 months of life, and so nutrition was discussed with his family. He was cleared for surgery, and he would be one of the first to have surgery the next day.

He was admitted to the hospital the same day as his evaluation. This was not true for everyone. MOST members were going to perform surgeries for 5 days, and so some would have to come back to be admitted. But Mateo Hernandaz was assigned a bed in the pre-op room, where he and all the other surgery patients, along with their families, spent the night in one big room.

The story continues in the next blog.....