It Takes a Village — With the help of friends and advocates of Smile Train and his mother’s dedication to ensure he receives surgery at the soonest possible time, Baby Mao finally received free cleft surgery at Philippine Band of Mercy, a partner of Smile Train Philippines (photo on left from Cristalle Belo’s IG)
Every day, 540 babies are born with a cleft palate, a critical health problem that can lead to life-threatening problems such trouble eating, breathing, hearing, and communicating. Individuals born with a cleft palate and their families can receive full cleft care from Smile Train. Smile Train continued to provide free cleft surgery and care for individuals in need, including baby Mao, despite the hurdles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Novalyn, Mao’s mother, had initially given up hope. Mao was underweight and unable to have surgery during his first check-up at another institution. The pandemic broke out soon after, causing even more delays in seeking treatment. Novalyn was referred to Smile Train by Cristalle Belo, Tim Yap, and Javi Martinez after more than a year. Mao had surgical treatment his cleft lip in September 2021.
“This life changing procedure of baby Mao is truly such a blessing to their family, and we can’t thank Smile Train enough for making this dream a reality. Can’t wait to see the results after baby Mao has healed,” said Cristalle Belo on her Instagram post.
Baby Mao
In 2019, Cristalle Belo met baby Mao during one of her family-owned Belo Medical Group’s outreach activities. Baby Mao was not allowed to receive surgery then as he was not strong enough at the time.
Chef Xavier Btesh, who was there to support the outreach activities, also took an interest in Baby Mao’s case, helping to ensure he goes to his pediatric check-ups and gets his vitamins to be healthy enough for his eventual surgery through Smile Train.
“Para sa mga magulang, huwag pong mawalan ng pag-asa dahil nandyan ang Smile Train laging naka suporta para sa atin at para sa mga anak nating may cleft. Pero hangga’t maari, bilang isang magulang, bilang isang nanay, isa sa mga responsibilidad natin na alagaan ang sarili natin lalo na pag tayo ay mayroong anak na may cleft,” said Mommy Novalyn.
(“For all the parents out there, do not lose hope, Smile Train will always be there to support us and for our children with cleft. However, as much as possible, as a parent, as a mother, one of our responsibilities is to take care of ourselves especially when we have a child with a cleft,” said Mommy Novalyn.)
“Through Smile Train’s sustainable model of partnering with local hospitals and empowering local medical professionals, we are able to provide cleft care throughout the year. This model has allowed us to continue to carefully provide safe, quality and timely surgeries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kimmy C. Flaviano, Smile Train Vice President, South East Asia.
During the epidemic, Smile Train provided approximately 3,000 telehealth sessions for speech therapy and nutrition counseling, in addition to cleft operations. Smile Train has also released the first-ever Filipino language mobile speech app designed for those born with a cleft lip or palate to keep learning at home. Despite present hurdles, Smile Train is devoted to its vision of a world where everyone has access to adequate and thorough cleft care and may live a full and healthy life. Smile Train has financed over 65,000 cleft operations in the Philippines in just over 20 years.
Visit smiletrain.org for more details and to donate to Smile Train’s global projects. Visit smiletrain.ph, follow Smile Train Philippines on Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like us on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines to discover more about Smile Train’s local activities in the Philippines.
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