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.
Doha is ready for her next big challenge — building an infrastructure for sustainable, local cleft care in her native country as Smile Train’s first regional director for Morocco.
Aldrian weighed just over 3 lb. when was born and couldn't feed because of his cleft. It fell to his grandmother to keep him alive and get him healthy enough for surgery.
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.