Zabriena’s Smile is a Dream Come True

Danna has always known that you have to work hard if you want dreams to come true, and she was more than willing to put in the effort. While studying, she split her time between classes and the fast-food job she needed to make tuition.

When she learned she was pregnant, both she and her husband, who was in school learning IT, were ecstatic. Danna knew earning enough to give her child a good life would mean putting her education on pause for a while, but it was a sacrifice she was happy to make. She banked long shifts at the restaurant until she was seven months pregnant and could no longer handle being on her feet all day.

The couple didn’t know how they would afford those months without her income, but their tiny house was so filled with expectant joy that there was no room left for worry. Danna diligently took her pre-natal vitamins every day, and her ultrasounds seemed to promise a healthy baby-to-be.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the moment Danna had dreamed about her entire life arrived as the midwife handed her a crying, gorgeous bundle of joy… that also had a hole between her nose and jaw on her right side. Danna and her husband could only stare at her face, stunned. They had never seen anything like it before.

Shock turned to panic when little Zabriena choked at her first feeding. She couldn’t swallow because only half of her mouth had a roof. And if she couldn’t swallow, she couldn’t eat, and if she couldn’t eat... 

Their midwife stepped in and calmly explained that Zabriena had a cleft, a birth condition that affects about one in every 700 babies. And that she will eat and grow and be healthy because there is a place nearby, the Noordhoff Craniofacial Institute (NCF), that offers free cleft surgery for children.

The family went at once. As promised, the team at NCF greeted them with warm smiles and assurance that their midwife had spoken correctly: Because they are a Smile Train partner, Zabriena really will receive not only cleft surgery, but all the other holistic cleft care she will ever need to eat, smile, and thrive — including orthodontic treatment, speech therapy, and, yes, nutritional support — 100% free.

The family left NCF that day with the equipment and knowledge they needed to feed their baby and get her to a healthy weight for surgery, and a sense of hope that they thought had left them in the maternity ward.

Knowing Zabriena would be okay freed the new parents to finally enjoy their special girl, her infectious energy, her playful spirit, her effortless strength, her magical giggle. When neighbors stared and whispered at her child in the street, Danna just kept on walking, knowing they were acting only out of ignorance.

Five months later, the team at NCF had some good news for Danna: her hard work had paid off. Zabriena had reached a healthy weight for surgery. They scheduled it right away. 

The day came quickly, but once Danna and her husband handed her baby over to the team, time seemed to stand still. Any amount of time your baby is in the operating room feels like an eternity. 

When the doors swung open and the doctors handed their baby back at last, the couple was stunned again.

Danna wasn’t only overjoyed, she was also proud. She couldn’t help but notice that Zabriena cried less than the other children in the ward.

As if there was any doubt that she had inherited her mother’s strength.

Now two, Zabriena is a world-class big sister who loves to draw and dance with her aunts and uncles.

Danna now works in the local market with her mother selling fruit and vegetables when she can; her husband works in a kitchen. Though they don’t yet have the time or the resources to return to school, they haven’t lost hope of creating a better life for their children.

After all, every look at Zabriena’s smile reminds them that anything is possible.

“I hope she grows up to be kind, and I hope she becomes a doctor,” she said.

When she learned that Smile Train corporate partner Dentsply Sirona had financially supported her daughter’s cleft surgery she shared:

“Thank you very, very much, Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona, because you significantly lessened our expenses. It really makes a big difference to us.”

- Danna

All of us at Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona have no doubt that, with her parents and the team at NCF as role models, Zabriena will grow up to work hard, have confidence, and see all her dreams come true.