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.
At one month old, Mirian weighed just four pounds. Five months later, with the support of our local partners, she had transformed into a happy, chubby baby.
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.
When Valery was born, her parents cried at the sight of her cleft. Now, thanks to continuing treatment sponsored by Smile Train, Valery fills their lives with song and music.
Nigeria's first female oral surgeon has dedicated her career to improving the lives of children with clefts across the country. She found a worthy partner in Smile Train.
Wendy was 17, single, and scared. She had just had a baby with a cleft, and any help seemed far, far away from her family's ranch in the remote Andes highlands. But Smile Train was there.
When Dr. Dau started as a Smile Train partner, he knew children with clefts were often abandoned or put in orphanages. As an orphan himself, he comes to work each day determined that no other child should experience that pain.