Top Student Pema Dreams of Becoming a Doctor

Sunmaya went in for six ultrasounds during her pregnancy. None of them caught Pema’s cleft. She and her husband, Subal, only discovered it once he was born, and it made them both tremble with worry.

Subal went everywhere he could think of in search of cleft care for his son. The family lives in Panauti, a centuries-old town outside Kathmandu. Though filled with beautiful, historic temples, it offered no options for high-quality cleft treatment.

At home, Sunmaya worked herself to exhaustion trying to feed a baby who couldn’t nurse. “Whatever we fed him came out another part of his mouth. He even choked a lot,” she said. Desperate, she and Subal prayed that they would find a solution to his cleft — fast.

Just a few weeks later, they discovered B and B Hospital, their local Smile Train partner. On their first visit, the doctor told them: No more worrying; you’ve come to the right place.

At just a few months old, Pema received the first of three life-changing cleft surgeries, all completely free for his family. Sunmaya will never forget the moment she saw him after his first one: “My heart was finally at peace.”

Pema is now nine years old and thriving. He’s in the top five in his class at school, where his favorite subject is math — “because it’s very easy,” he said. When he grows up, he hopes to become a doctor. He likes the idea of helping others in need.

Sunmaya and Subal cannot overstate their appreciation for Smile Train’s donors, who they believe saved their child’s life. “We see them as living gods,” Subal said. “People with clefts needs special care, and what they do is so praiseworthy.”