Vivian Exemplifies Beauty Inside and Out
When Vivian started school, the kids laughed at her so much she didn't want to live. Then she met someone who told her she should become a model.
![Benjamin thinking in a field in Kenya after his Smile Train-sponsored cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-10/benjamin-k-thinks-outside-after-free-smile-train-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-kenya.jpg?itok=-d4oDesF)
![Smile Train patient Smile Rai with his parents, who are holding a picture of him before his free cleft surgery in Nepal](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-09/smile-rai-with-family-after-smile-train-free-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-nepal.jpg?itok=UkUr4Lj3)
Destiny’s Smile
Even knowing help is available isn’t always enough to remove the stigma of having a cleft.
![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.
![Mrighna with her mother after free Smile Train cleft surgery in Nepal](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-07/mrighna-with-mother-after-free-smile-train-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-nepal.jpg?itok=eJUmQDrP)
A Mother Learns to Trust
Bringing Smiles to the Amazon with Yaçuri
![Training doctors to provide free cleft lip and palate surgery in Asuncion, Paraguay.](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-05/training-in-paraguay-for-free-cleft-lip-palate-surgery-in-asuncion.jpg?itok=wxWVIyks)
Smile Train’s Next Stop: Paraguay
Building a sustainable, local foundation for success in our newest partner country.
![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.
![Sushila holds the image of herself before cleft surgery](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/sushila-holds-her-before-image.jpg?itok=mzKin1NC)
A Smile Educates
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.
![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.