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.
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.
It broke Dr. Meza's heart to see his patients with clefts struggle to eat, speak, sleep, or even feel good about themselves because of poor dental health. So he partnered with Smile Train to do something about it.
Nurse Celeste always tried to avoid working with the babies with clefts in her neonatal ward because she felt unable to meet their needs. Then her son was born with a cleft.
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.