Tess Unlimited
Callejon 4, casa numero 11, San Gaspar Vivar.
03001 Antigua
Guatemala
Kontaktperson: Tessa de Goede de Ordoñez
0050245507798
tessa@tessunlimited.com
tessydegoody19@hotmail.com
http://tessunlimited.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TESSUnlimited/?ref=page_internal
Themenbereiche
- Hilfe für Entwicklungsländer
- Bildungspolitik/-projekt
- Sozialpolitik/behinderte Menschen
- Freiwillige Helfer sind willkommen.
Über uns
Tess Unlimited is a non-profit organization, founded in 2008 and based in Netherlands, that operates in the country Guatemala treating patients with cleft lip and palate. Tess Unlimited offers much-needed medical care for children born with a Cleft lip and Cleft palate. In this way, we bend a possibly socially-isolated life into a healthy place within its own community. Tess Unlimited facilitates the change from children with almost no chance at obtaining a good future to proactive thinkers and doers, who inspire and teach others.
Projects:
• On Location: An estimated 3,500 children are born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate in Guatemala each year. Since most parents see this as a punishment from God and hide their child from the community, we, literally, have to go look for them. This is why we keep in close contact with local hospitals, health posts and midwives throughout Guatemala. Additionally, our team visits the more remote areas every month to evaluate the babies and to set up a plan for their surgery.
• 200 surgeries each year: Since 2008, Tess Unlimited has operated on more than 1,200 children with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Their first surgery is a lip-closing surgery. If necessary, a second operation follows in order to close the palate. About 6 times a year, we organize surgical missions at both local and regional hospitals.
• Milk Every Day: From the moment we find a baby with a cleft lip, their journey to a better life begins. Due to the prevalence of poverty and malnutrition, our first line of care is getting the babies to a healthy weight. We provide them with formula, vitamins, and, if necessary, medication. We also provide special drinking bottles, to make the feeding easier. When the child is too sick or too malnourished to get better at home, we arrange and finance hospitalization in the Hermano Pedro Hospital in Antigua.
• Orthodontic Care: Children with a cleft lip and/or cleftpalate need extensive dental and orthodontic care. This is especially true of the teeth in their upper jaw, which are often uneven, crooked and twisted. Since the lower jaw usually develops normally, the jaws do not close properly. Moreover, there is an increased risk of abnormal enamel formation (the external layer of the teeth), scientifically called amelogenesis imperfecta. Tess Unlimited works with its own dentist, Brosly Velasquez.
• Speech Therapy: The majority of children with an cleft palate have never learned how to speak properly. Working with our own 4 speech therapista, we are teaching them! We also welcome adults to join in our program. Furthermore, we organize a special summer-speech-camp in November, for children of ten years and up, who live in remote areas. For two weeks, they stay in a beautiful house in Antigua, and are provided with psychological guidance; speech therapy; drama, reading and writing classes and fun workshops like cooking, dancing and sports. This helps them develop more self-esteem and encourages them to show the world their beautiful smiles!
• Psychological guidance: Parents who have a child with a cleft lip or an clet palate have to try to overcome fear and their shame. Group therapy sessions, between parents of different children, also help them become more stable with their situation. Moreover, they realize that their children can have a bright future! We also have psychological sessions with somewhat older children, who have already experienced years of teasing and bullying. We think it is time they start to believe in themselves!
Tessa de Goede de Ordoñez is the Founder and Director of the Foundation Tess Unlimited.
For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.