![Cleft Con logo](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-11/cleft-con-smile-train-title-50.jpg?itok=E3NdJBHs)
At Cleft Con 2021, Vulnerability is Strength
“It's amazing what your cleft journey will do to your life when you embrace it.”
Vivian Exemplifies Beauty Inside and Out
When Vivian started school, the kids laughed at her so much she didn't want to live. Then she met someone who told her she should become a model.
![Troy Reinhart wears a crown next to a pageant winner at Smile Train's old offices](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-10/troy-reinhart-miss-new-jersey-50.jpg?itok=UXl-u1My)
Troy Reinhart: 20 Years of Smiles
![Benjamin thinking in a field in Kenya after his Smile Train-sponsored cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-10/benjamin-k-thinks-outside-after-free-smile-train-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-kenya.jpg?itok=-d4oDesF)
![Kenyan Drake huddles with Smile Train patients in Mexico](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-08/kenyan-drake-in-mexico-with-smile-train-in-huddle-with-kids-nfl-philanthropy.jpg?itok=SJtAKfdh)
Kenyan Drake: NFL Star, Smile Maker
The Las Vegas Raider’s surprisingly personal connection to cleft care.
![Smile Train patient Demaris from Kenya holds a picture of herself before her free cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-07/damaris-holding-photo-before-free-smile-train-cleft-lip-cleft-palate-surgery-kenya.jpg?itok=g5glTJIO)
Determined Damaris
Even when the whole world seemed against her, Damaris persisted. And won.
![Dr. Luis Cuadros with a cleft lip and palate patient and his family on a New Mexico Navajo reservation.](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/cuadros-new-mexico-navajo-cleft-lip-cleft-palate-surgeries-with-patients_0.jpg?itok=h_bvdazb)
"It Is Possible": Celebrating Dr. Luis Cuadros
Thanks to Dr. Cuadros — and Smile Train — having a cleft on the Navajo reservations of New Mexico is no longer a sentence to a life of isolation and sickness.
![Nkunda before cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-01/nkunda-before-cleft-surgery-super.jpg?itok=N8aO5Rl3)
A Walk to Freedom
Nkunda had to hide in the bushes on his journey to school every day. Something needed to be done.
![Manny Ventura Smile Train supporter](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/manny-ventura-smile-train-supporter.jpg?itok=2_TheN41)
Manny Ventura: “What’s Your Battle Scar?”
"Being born “different” is exactly why you should achieve big goals and be full of confidence."
![Grace Peters Smile Train staff](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/grace-peters.jpg?itok=_sNoVSgK)
Grace Peters: Born With a Purpose
How Smile Train helped Grace go from a girl looking for answers to global cleft hero.
![Ayubu before cleft lip surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/ayubu-before-cleft-lip-surgery.jpg?itok=9wYWba9j)
A Smile That Brightens And Enlightens
Ayubu's classmates harassed him relentlessly for years because of a local myth about clefts. When he was 10 years old, his mother heard there was hope at a hospital less than an hour away.