Adahara knew she was lucky to receive all the cleft treatment she needed from an early age. She's training to become a Smile Train partner because she knows not every child with a cleft is so lucky.
Magaly is the mother of David, age five, a Smile Train patient in Quito, Ecuador. She shared with us her son’s journey to cleft care and what Smile Train has meant for her entire family.
Aunt Rebecca did not trust that her sister would provide Samson with the special care he needed. So, she brought him back to the place he was born, the tiny-two room house he now shared with 13 relatives, all female.
Everyone told Gyana to abandon her daughter when she was born with a cleft; her husband threatened to kill himself if she didn't. Afraid for both their lives, she took the child and fled.