Our Guatemala Story

Guatemala is Central America’s most populous country, with 14.3 million people; 40 percent of which are of indigenous descent. Incidence of cleft in the indigenous populations is among some of the highest in the world due to a lack of folic acid, prenatal vitamins, consanguinity, and many other factors. Guatemala continues to suffer from severe pediatric malnutrition resulting in the deaths of thousands of children on an annual basis.

GSF partnered with Hospitalito Atitlan in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. GSF Board Member Alan Silverstein and numerous other individual and corporate sponsors generously offered financial support for this mission.

2015 Mission Statistics

The most recent mission to Guatemala was October 23-November 1, 2015. The GSF Team included:

• 20 medical personnel (surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and pediatricians)
• 2 dentists
• 1 speech therapist
• 4 administrative staff (IT/logistics, coordinators, photographer)

The team was able to perform 27 cleft procedures and treated 237 dental patients.