![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.
![Harkirat with camera](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-05/harkirat-with-camera-after-free-smile-train-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-india.jpg?itok=o0o6CZiZ)
Harkirat Singh Paras: From Quiet Kid to Successful Entrepreneur
He didn’t speak until he was 18. Now, people flock to hear him talk.
![Rajesh with his mother](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-05/rajesh-with-mother-savitri-after-free-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-india.jpg?itok=NExNlqME)
![Sesnie hugging a boy after cleft lip and cleft palate surgery in Ethiopia](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-04/sesnie-hugging-cleft-lip-cleft-palate-patient-ethiopia.jpg?itok=UGvLse46)
"I Am Resilient!" Meet Smile Train's Program Manager for East Africa
A conversation with one of our heroes.
![Saksham is holding an image of himself before cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-01/saksham-holding-before-super_0.jpg?itok=YBOFWnED)
Saksham: Hope Is Always Alive
A boy from India is starving and his parents don't know what to do.
![Maria before her cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-01/maria-before-surgery-super.jpg?itok=cIdu5sXn)
It’s Never Too Late to Dream
Maria has been waiting for cleft surgery since 1953. When the opportunity came, her son wanted her to pass.
![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.
![Saraswati holds a Smile Train fan](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/saraswati-holds-smile-train-fan.jpg?itok=w5hqUR0-)
Nourishing Saraswati
Saraswati's parents tried everything to feed their baby, but no matter what they tried, the milk still spilled out her cleft. She constantly screamed with hunger, and they didn't know how she'd make it. Then a friend told them about Smile Train.
![Three siblings in India have cleft treatment](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/one-family-india-three-cleft-surgeries.jpg?itok=DQP2AbQE)
One Family Needs Three Smiles
Kamlesh learned to live with his cleft. His three children could not.
![Kamse living with an untreated cleft lip in Kenya](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/kamse-before-cleft-surgery.jpg?itok=sREJDK6G)
A Student Of Resiliency
Kamse was excited for his first day of school, but, when the day finally came, he was taunted all day long. Kamse ran home and begged his grandfather never to make him go back.
![Dr Adenwalla cleft surgeon pioneer](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/dr-adenwalla-cleft-surgeon.jpg?itok=ETbxN0vT)
Dr. Adenwalla: A Smile Maker
Half a century. Hundreds and hundreds of lives saved. One legendary doctor.