Our Stories

Love always finds a way.

A mother’s account of her child’s journey to cleft care in her own words.

Magaly is the mother of David, age five, a Smile Train patient in Quito, Ecuador. She shared with us her son’s journey to cleft care and what Smile Train has meant for her entire family.

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.

Nkunda had to hide in the bushes on his journey to school every day. Something needed to be done. 

Soan worried her son would be discriminated against his entire life.

When Samnang was born with a cleft, her parents felt overwhelmed. But a midwife reassured them that, thanks to Smile Train, they had nothing to fear.

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.

Wendy was 17, single, and scared. She had just had a baby with a cleft, and any help seemed far, far away from her family's ranch in the remote Andes highlands. But Smile Train was there.

Auner was lucky to survive long enough to enter our partner's care. Now, he's thriving and smiling.