After Pamela's delivery, the nurses told her that her son, Sebastian, only had nine days to live. She was devastated. She didn’t know where to turn. Then she was referred to Smile Train's local partner, Fundacion Ninos que Rien.
Neilsen helped a mission organization that flew doctors into Madagascar to provide cleft care, but he knew local doctors were as capable as those flying in.
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.
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.