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.
Lourdes was born in Yaruqui, Ecuador with a cleft lip and a rare condition in which skin was formed over her nostrils. Lourdes received six reconstructive surgeries when she was young, but the treatments stopped prematurely when her parents’ insurance company stopped covering her care.
When it came time to choose a medical school, Andrea Astudillo of Cuenca, Ecuador joined her older brother, Cristian Astudillo Carrera, at a teaching hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico.
When Cristina learned her son would have a cleft, she sought comfort and support, but found none, even from the local community. Until she met Dr. Dávalos. In the 10 years since, they've changed what it means to have a cleft in Ecuador, together.
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.