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.
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.
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.
Nigeria's first female oral surgeon has dedicated her career to improving the lives of children with clefts across the country. She found a worthy partner in Smile Train.
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.
A stranger pointed Natsir to the Smile Train partner hospital that saved his sons' lives. He has devoted his life since to paying the kindness forward to help other families in need.