Help Sought for Five-Year-Old with Cerebral Palsy and Severe Malnutrition in Ciego de Ávila

Cuban activist Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez has launched a fundraising initiative on Facebook to assist a five-year-old child in Ciego de Ávila suffering from multiple health issues and severe malnutrition. Doctors are considering hospitalizing the child due to his deteriorating condition.

The boy, Liuver Leandro Martínez Castillo, is afflicted with infantile cerebral palsy, hypoxic encephalopathy, epilepsy, and protein-energy malnutrition, with his weight and height below the third percentile. He is fed exclusively through a gastrostomy tube and is unable to stand.

"He's five years old, but looks like he's only 10 months," Rodríguez Sánchez described in a live video from Mexico, where he currently resides.

Challenges in Providing Essential Nutrition

All of Liuver's nutrition comes from blended foods administered via the tube, which is permanently connected to his stomach. According to the activist, "the special diet required for his condition is nearly impossible to maintain in Cuba right now," due to the nation's ongoing food crisis.

His mother, Kirenia, who has a degree in Early Childhood Education, has been unable to work since his birth because his condition demands constant care. As a single mother, she relies on the generosity of others to afford the medical supplies and special diet Liuver needs.

Setbacks Due to Theft

The family's situation worsened a few months ago when unscrupulous individuals took advantage of Kirenia's absence to rob their home. "Heartless neighbors watched Kirenia as she left for errands with Liuver, broke into the house, and stole the EcoFlow generator gifted by a small business, among other items," Rodríguez Sánchez recounted. The portable generator and solar panel, previously donated through another charitable campaign, were never recovered. "Fingerprints were taken, and there were clear suspects, yet no one was arrested," he added.

Community Support and Fundraising Efforts

Having previously organized fundraisers for this family, Rodríguez Sánchez announced a two-day fundraising effort without a fixed goal. He shared the mother's Bandec card number—9224 0699 9712 5683—for donations in Cuban pesos.

Donations in USD can be made via Zelle or PayPal, allowing the activist to purchase fortified milk, vitamin complexes, and supplements that can be administered through the tube in Mexico, with plans to send them to Cuba in early October.

Interested donors can confirm their contributions by contacting 59659518. "Let's provide a bit of financial relief in the tough life Liuver has been dealt," the activist wrote at the end of his post.

Previous Fundraising Successes

This is not the first time Rodríguez Sánchez has rallied the Cuban community for such causes. In July, he raised over 500,000 pesos for another child with cerebral palsy in Havana.

Cuban families with children suffering from this condition face shortages of medications, rehabilitation supplies, and deteriorating hospital infrastructure, challenges exacerbated by the country's economic and health crises.

Despite leaving Cuba in 2025, Rodríguez Sánchez continues to organize these collections from abroad, supported by people on the island, and documents each delivery with photos to build trust with donors.

In April, he raised a million pesos for a family in extreme poverty in Júcaro, Ciego de Ávila, and two months later, a campaign connected to his profile exceeded 1.5 million pesos for a child with severe autism in Holguin.

In July, he gathered more than 400,000 pesos in two days for eight-year-old Lía Isabel García Torres from Bayamo, who suffers from chronic respiratory diseases and lives in precarious conditions with her mother, lacking even potable water at home.