Our Stories

Even knowing help is available isn’t always enough to remove the stigma of having a cleft.

Their Walk for Smiles Fundraiser recently raised an incredible $16,000+ for Smile Train and we wanted to know more about the key to their success.

How a mother found the strength to raise eight boys on her own and a son found the strength to smile.

She's 36 years old, a mother of four, Zambia's first female plastic surgeon, and a Smile Train partner. Here's how she does it all.

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.

Aunt Rebecca did not trust that her sister would provide Samson with the special care he needed. So, she brought him back to the place he was born, the tiny-two room house he now shared with 13 relatives, all female.

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. 

How one man built a legacy of smiles that will last for generations — on both sides of the operating table.

Meet the brother-sister duo transforming cleft care in the mountains of Ecuador.

After a rough beginning, Jenious' life is now filled with puppies, music, and kung-fu.