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.
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.
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.
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.
During the 2014 Ebola Crisis, Dr. Jerry Brown reshaped the landscape of healthcare in Liberia, landing him on the cover of Time as their Person of the Year. Now, with Smile Train's help, he plans to do the same for cleft surgery.
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.