A few days ago I sent you an eletter sharing the news of a unique new program at the Clinic: our Clean Water Filter Distribution Initiative.

Today, I’m excited to highlight another aspect of the Clinic’s programs you may not know about (and how you can become involved!).

Every September, our Padrino program gives students across Southwest Nicaragua the tools they need to start the school year strong — and this year was no exception.

Back to School, Fully Equipped 

Thanks to our Padrinos, 75 students received uniforms, backpacks, and school supplies for the new academic year, along with health exams to make sure each child started the year in good health.

Investing in More Than Supplies

But this year, on September 4, we went a step further. Our team held motivational talks with our Padrino students focused on academic development, performance, and personal growth — helping them set goals for the year ahead. We also spoke directly with parents about the critical role their continued support plays in their children’s education, because we know that lasting change happens when the whole family is involved.

Celebrating Our 2026 Graduates

By the end of 2026, our Padrino program will celebrate 28 graduates: 10 from primary school, 7 from secondary school, and 11 from university. Each one represents years of steady support — from you, our sponsors — and a family’s hope for what’s next.

Caring for the Whole Child

But, there’s more…

Alongside school supplies, we provided every sponsored family with deworming medication, toothpaste, and other basic health and hygiene supplies — small things that make a real difference in a child’s health and ability to learn.

We want to applaud and thank our entire Clinic staff and our local volunteers for their time and dedication throughout this school-year distribution. And of course, none of this would be possible without our Padrinos/Madrinas — the donors who choose specific children to walk alongside through this health and education program.

The Need Continues

We still have 9 children on a waiting list for the Padrino program, along with more than 28 children with disabilities waiting to receive physical therapy through this sponsorship. Each waiting child is a reminder of how much further we can go — with your help.

If you are interested in becoming a Padrino sponsor and helping change a child’s future, we would be honored to have you join us. Follow this link to make a monthly gift of $25 or $50 and sponsor a named child. You will receive updates on the child’s progress and see how your support helps make a meaningful difference during these critical years of growth and development.

Thank you for making this possible. Because of Padrinos like you, children across Southwest Nicaragua are starting this school year healthier, better equipped, and more supported than ever.

Thank you,

Julia C. Guth
Chair of the Board, Roberto Clemente Health Clinic
On behalf of The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic Team

[email protected]

Waterborne illness is a serious concern for many of our 130 Padrino children and their families. Most participating families collect their water from shallow wells near their homes, where contamination can put household health at risk.

Each family has now received a simple tabletop water filter. By pouring well water into the filter, families can produce clean drinking water right in their homes—an affordable, practical step toward safer daily living.

The benefits extend beyond improved access to clean water. Having safe drinking water readily available can help families rely less on soda and other packaged drinks, saving money, reducing sugar consumption, and decreasing plastic waste in their communities.

A Project Made Possible by Generosity

I want to especially thank Board member Jack Weston for his generous donation, which made this project possible, as well as our water filter sponsoring partner, Buy Food with Plastic.  Thank you both for your support in bringing clean water within reach for beneficiary families.

Measuring Real Impact

To measure how positive an impact this project can be, we first established a health baseline for the participating 130 families using family surveys and urine samples. We know that factors like water intake and existing chronic illnesses can influence urinalysis results, so we accounted for these factors in both our surveys and our screening records to the best of our ability — giving us a relatively clear and honest starting point to measure progress against.

Filters Delivered, Education Provided

During the past two weeks, our team delivered filters to all 130 participating families and provided hands-on instruction in their use, care, and the health benefits of clean water. This education is essential to helping families make the most of this new resource and sustain its benefits over time.

What’s Next

We’re excited to track this program’s progress over the next year and to present the results to you, our donors, and to the Ministry of Health. We hope this project marks the beginning of a lasting effort to bring easily accessible, clean water to families throughout Southwest Nicaraguan communities — bettering the health of everyone involved.

Unique Nica Clinic programs like these — clean water filter distribution, physical therapy for children with disabilities, deworming, and health and education support for kids — depend entirely on donors like you. Your gift today helps keep these programs going into 2027 and beyond.

Thank you to all our donors for making projects like this possible. With your continued support, we hope to bring clean, easily accessible water to even more families across Southwest Nicaragua — and to keep tracking, and sharing, the difference it makes.

Thank you,

Julia C. Guth
Chair of the Board, Roberto Clemente Health Clinic
[email protected]

We’re writing with news of a donation that will ripple far beyond our own clinic walls.

Last month, Caplin Point Pharmaceuticals and its Nicaraguan subsidiary, NeoEthicals, donated 20,000 capsules of tamoxifen to The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic. We were able to pass this gift directly to the National Oncology Center, where it will support cancer patients across the country.

What This Donation Means

Tamoxifen is a cornerstone hormone therapy used to treat and prevent the recurrence of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, one of the most common cancers affecting women in Nicaragua. Many patients at the National Oncology Center struggle to afford consistent access to this medication, and a gap in treatment can mean the difference between remission and relapse. A donation of this size — 20,000 capsules — represents months of therapy for a great many patients who would otherwise go without.

This is exactly the kind of partnership our small clinic is proud to help broker: a pharmaceutical donor with medication to give, and a national institution with patients who need it, connected through the relationships we’ve built over two decades of working in Nicaragua’s health system. Our Medical Director, Dr. Hazel Ruiz, and our Operations Director, Enmanuel Jarquin, traveled to Managua to collect the capsules and personally deliver them.

We are so pleased that our small nonprofit was chosen as the recipient and conduit for a donation this generous and this needed. See below for photos from Dr. Ruiz and Enmanuel’s visit to Managua.

Why It Matters to Us

Since 2004, The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic has provided emergency care, primary care, health education, and nutrition support to families along Nicaragua’s Tola coast, many of whom have no work and no way to travel to a clinic. Our team of 25 professionals — doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and ambulance drivers among them — works around the clock alongside our child sponsorship, diabetes care, and clean water programs, and we remain 100% donor-supported.

Facilitating this tamoxifen donation is a reminder that our impact isn’t limited to our own patients. When we can connect available resources to the people who need them most — whether that’s a family in Tola or a cancer patient at a national center in Managua — we do. It’s a small piece of logistics on our end, and a significant piece of someone’s treatment on the other.

Thank You

Our team cannot do this without your help. We are completely dependent on donations to operate our Clinic 24/7 with our dedicated staff. Please consider our Nica Clinic in your fundraising. You can donate here.

Thank you,

Julia C. Guth
Chair of the Board, Roberto Clemente Health Clinic
[email protected]

Since 2004, The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic has stood beside families along Nicaragua’s Tola coast, offering emergency care, primary care, health education, and nutrition support around the clock.

Our team of 25 professionals — doctors, nurses, pharmacists, ambulance drivers, a volunteer program director, and staff running our child sponsorship, diabetes care, and clean water and filter distribution programs — shows up every day for families who often have no work and no way to travel to a clinic.

We remain 100% donor-supported, and your generosity is the reason this team can keep working around the clock. Thank you.

Caring for Children with Disabilities and Developmental Challenges

One part of our work that rarely gets attention is our support for the poorer children in the region, children with disabilities, and children with mental health challenges.

Last month, Medical Director Dr. Hazel Ruiz arranged dermatological evaluations in Rivas for three children in our Padrino (Sponsor a Child) Program. One girl, previously evaluated by our pediatrician Dr. Acevedo, was referred for dermatological follow-up and diagnosed with facial vitiligo. She has begun an eight-week course of topical treatment, with a check-up to follow.

A third patient, already under the care of Dr. Baltodano for alopecia areata, is showing real progress: hair is regrowing and the affected areas are shrinking. The process is slow, but the results so far are excellent, and we’ll complete her treatment over the coming month.

Dr. Ruiz also noted that psychological care has been arranged for each of these children — as well as for other sponsored children and rehabilitation patients — with coordinated assessments and ongoing follow-up.

How You Can Help

Expert attention and follow-up for the children in this region is made possible only by donors like you. Every gift helps our team keep showing up — for emergencies, for chronic conditions, and for the quiet work of tracking a patient’s care through to the end. Thank you for standing with the families of Tola.

To your health,

Julia C. Guth
Chair of the Board, Roberto Clemente Health Clinic
[email protected]

I hope your summer is in full “upswing”. I want to share a few accomplishments from our team at the Roberto Clemente Health Clinic that I’m especially proud of this season.

Re-Certified for Three More Years

Over the past several months, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health introduced a new set of requirements for health non-profits like ours. Our Clinic underwent multiple rounds of inspections and feedback as a result. I’m proud to share that thanks to the diligence and follow-through of our entire team, the Clinic has been re-approved to operate for another three years, and we’ve officially received our certificate from the Ministry of Health. This is a direct reflection of the professionalism and commitment our staff brings to their work every single day.

A Successful Community Blood Drive

Once again, the Clinic sponsored a community blood drive, and once again, our community showed up. We’re so grateful to everyone who rolled up their sleeves to give the gift of blood, and to our team for organizing another successful event.

A Bigger, Brighter Entrance

With the newly paved Coastal Road running right past our front gate, we took the opportunity to re-landscape our entrance and install a new sign. The new sign is bigger and brighter than our old one, lit up at night, so the Clinic is easy to find for the patients, families, and visitors who depend on us.

For the latest news, faster – please follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram. To donate to our programs, click here. We are there 24/7 for this region, working only with donor-supported funds.

With my heartfelt thanks for your time and attention,

Julia C. Guth
Chair of the Board, Roberto Clemente Health Clinic
[email protected]

Americans just honored fathers across the country.

Tomorrow, June 23, Nicaragua does the same.

In between these two days, we want to reach you one last time with a simple ask: become a Padrino.

As Nicaragua celebrates Father’s Day tomorrow, 22 children are still waiting for someone to say yes. Will you say Yes, and change a child’s life?

Con mucho cariño,

Dr. Shawn Borich, CEO