Our Work in Mexico
Chiapas is the country’s poorest state. Rural families often grapple with poverty and children can face malnutrition. Centralized medical centres in the city require families to travel long distances to access basic healthcare. We know that these challenges intensify when a child is born with cleft.
Joshua and his grandmother. He is accessing Comprehensive Cleft Care at Tseinan.
Cleft Care in Mexico Today
Indigenous families living in rural Chiapas face significant challenges when seeking rehabilitation for their children. They encounter long travel distances to attend regular cleft appointments, language barriers and financial obstacles, severely limiting access to care. Tseinan is the only Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC) centre in Chiapas that offers a full circle of cleft services, providing the support families need.
Fast Facts
- Population: 129,388,467
- Capital: Mexico City
- Poverty Line: 36% of population
- Cleft Incidence: 1,300+ / year
Key Challenges
Newborn Nutrition
Parents of children born with cleft often struggle with breastfeeding, leading to malnutrition. This challenge frequently results in delays for essential surgeries, causing patients to miss optimal intervention ages.
Speech Therapy
Specialized speech therapy for patients born with cleft is difficult to access. In most cases in the region, speech therapy is unavailable in indigenous languages families speak. Tseinan addresses this need with a speech assistance professional who supports families in their native language alongside the speech therapist.
Parent Support
Parents often feel overwhelmed and unsure of how best to help their child with cleft. Limited financial resources and lack of information make it difficult to access appropriate care. Tseinan’s parent support group encourages families to connect, share experiences, and receive encouragement in their own language.
Program Successes
Families participate in Tseinan’s Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC) program.
Nutrition counselling sessions provided, and 71 breastfeeding counselling sessions conducted
Volunteers support Tseinan, along side staff who offer stability for the program.
“In Chiapas, we have a high incidence of cleft conditions, but we do not have any reference center, guidance, or information. Families need a fixed center where they know they can turn for care and information regarding the process their child will undergo. It is important for them to feel heard and supported. We want to be a place like this.”
- Daniela García Iturbe,
President/Co-founder, Fundación Tseinan
Stories from Mexico
When Vasi and Atanas first met 1-year-old Hristo in an orphanage in Bulgaria, they felt an instant connection. Hristo had been given to the orphanage due to his cleft lip and palate. Three other families had considered adopting him, however, perceptions of the cleft journey ultimately changed minds. For Vasi and Atanas, Hristo would complete…
In many communities, unhelpful beliefs about cleft are burdensome for families. For parents, their minds are busied with questions of “why” this has happened to them and what caused this condition to affect their family. With the right support from a dedicated cleft team, families can overcome the noise and fears to help their children…
Brandon is from Lampa in the mountainous region of Northern Chile. No one knew why he struggled to speak clearly, and as soon as he started school, teasing and bullying became his everyday experience. Brandon’s parents were determined to help him thrive. They began reaching out to doctor after doctor. Finally, an answer. Brandon was…
Two-year-old tech-savvy Georgina doesn’t hesitate to call her grandma on WhatsApp when she wants to talk. When the TF team visited her, she was keen to show off her technology-inspired toys. And her favourite food to eat? French fries, even if her parents wish it were broccoli! Reflecting on their journey with Georgina’s cleft so…
In our impact report, we shared that, thanks to our monthly Bright Start donors, we were able to exceptionally arrange surgery for 11 children in the capital city, Yangon. Among those children, a photo of Yoon* and her father, Phyo was featured. Early in 2020, Phyo and his wife Aung learned they would be expecting…
Dan, a bicycle mechanic, and Hellen, a stay-at-home mother, reside on the shores of the swampy Lake Kyoga, along with their two children – Janet and Innocent. In mid-2021, they expanded their family and welcomed a third child, who they would name Esther. It wasn’t until the delivery day that the local health centre discovered…
Our Partners in Cleft Care
TF has been supporting partners in Mexico since 2024.
Our Partnerships in Mexico
- Fundación Tseinan, Chiapas
- Fundación AMS, Puebla