Our Stories

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.

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. 

Angelica was 15 years old, single, and had just given birth to a baby with a cleft. All she knew about clefts was how she had seen people with them harassed without mercy. But she promised to never give up on the little life before her. 

Monica has been through more than any child should, but today she shines bright.

Stella breastfed her seven other children without problems, but Maria’s clefts caused the milk to come out of her nose and made her choke.

When Oscar was born with a cleft, his family found a mission-based organization to provide him with the surgery they could not afford. But when a complication arose, they had already left the country. Thankfully, Smile Train's local partners are always there. 

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.