Rebeca contracted bacterial meningitis when she was seven years old and became deaf as a result. At the age of nine she came to the attention of the WWCF as she was beginning to lose language skills. Because her language was still intact, Rebeca was deemed an excellent candidate for a cochlear implant. The implant converts sound into electrical impulses that stimulate the auditory nerve. Under the auspices of the WWCF Rebeca and her mother were flown from Guatemala to New York City where Dr. J. Thomas Roland, Co-Director of the New York University Cochlear Implant Program, performed the implant surgery. The WWCF arranged for Rebecca and her mother to board with a host family for her six week stay in New York. After a period of healing, the device was activated and Rebeca was able to hear sounds for the first time in two years. Using the device requires extensive training and the WWCF also helped arrange for audiology and linguistic training follow-up in Guatemala.

Bacterial meningitis is the most common cause of profound hearing loss in children. The cochlear implant is a two component device that bypasses the injured portion of the inner ear. An external component, similar to a hearing aide, records sound through a microphone and encodes the sound into electronic impulses that are transmitted to the implant. The implant itself is surgically implanted behind and within the inner ear. It receives the impulses and directly stimulates the auditory nerve fibers. Since the number of frequency channels that can be provided by the implant is much less than that of the normal cochlear, extensive training is required to gain maximal benefit.