This cause is very near to my heart.
Like most new parents, mine were so excited to bring me into this world. But moments after I was born, they noticed something was different about me. My parents’ excitement turned into fear as the doctor explained that I had been born with a cleft lip and palate. They had never seen or heard of anyone who had a child with a cleft, and my parents had no idea what my life would look like: Would I live a "normal" life? Would they be able to give me what I needed? Would the other kids accept me? How would I speak? Eat? Most of all, how would they afford all of the surgeries I would need?
Luckily, my grandma used her well-known resourcefulness and found a life-changing doctor, Dr. Lawrence Berkowitz, who ended up providing my 20+ reconstructive surgeries at no financial cost to my family. Although the surgeries were many, and it certainly wasn't easy, my family and I are forever grateful to Dr. Berkowitz.
I can’t deny that being born in the U.S. was a huge factor in having found such great care. 1 out of 700 babies is born with a cleft lip and/or palate, and many children around the world don’t have such luck. The kids left with untreated cleft lips and palates face not only physical challenges, but also emotional and psychological ones. Due to the lack of education and access to care for those with cleft lips and palates, many kids often live in isolation, suffering from difficulty eating, breathing, hearing and speaking.
This is where Smile Train comes in. For the last 21 years, Smile Train has supported safe and quality cleft care for 1.5+ million children worldwide. What I especially love about Smile Train is that it is an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. With their “teach a man to fish” model, Smile Train provides training, funding, and resources to empower local doctors in 70+ countries to provide life saving surgeries and other essential cleft care to their neighbors in need, 100% free.
I decided to join Smile Train's Young Leadership Circle Board and fundraise for Smile Train to raise awareness about cleft and help provide smiles to children like me.
Thank you for supporting my fundraiser with Smile Train. It means so much to me, but especially to the children whose lives will drastically change with this care!
https://www.mysmiletrain.org/campaign/Sofia-YLC-Board-Member