Brithany: Love, Grit, and Smiles
Raised by three strong women, she was born into resilience
Maga and her daughters Maria and Alicia don’t have much money, but they have love and grit in abundance. From the daughters’ children to the kittens and puppies and other critters they raise, the whole family does what they can to help nurture all the life that comes by their small bit of land.
Yet the birth of Maria’s daughter Brithany presented a radically new challenge. She had a cleft. It hadn’t appeared in any ultrasounds, and Maria had never seen anything like it before. Panic seized her. Still on the birthing table, she called home, desperate.
Maga was unfazed.
“Sweetheart, we will do everything we can,” she soothed. “I don’t know where to ask for help for the baby, but we will fight alongside her. We will move forward with her.”
They reached out to a local hospital, Jesus Nazarino, to see if there was anything they could do. The staff met the family with a smile and a shock: As a Smile Train partner, we will see to it that Brithany receives all the cleft care she needs at the best time for her, completely free.
The women were speechless, and endlessly grateful to the donors who made their baby’s miracle possible.
The doctors then scheduled Brithany’s cleft lip surgery for when she turned four months old, the soonest time they determined it would be safe for her. Maria trusted the cleft team, but felt that familiar fear creep back while her baby was on the operating table, away from her.
Once again, her mother was there to calm her, and very soon, Maria saw the most reassuring sight of all: her daughter’s dazzling new smile.
This is only the beginning of Brithany’s cleft journey. She is scheduled for a cleft palate surgery later this year, once she’s big enough to handle it. From there, her team may decide that she needs further surgeries or speech therapy or other holistic treatments. Whatever care she requires, she will likewise receive it 100% free at the exact time she needs it.
That’s the advantage of Smile Train’s sustainable model. Unlike other cleft charities that fly into and then out of other countries on short-term missions, we train, equip, and empower local cleft teams like the staff at Hospital Jesus Nazarino to make high-quality, personalized, comprehensive cleft care available to children and families in need according to the schedule that’s right for them.
Today, more than a million children around the world like Brithany are not only smiling, they’re thriving, thanks to Smile Train’s donors.
“Oh, Brithany is joyful, she is happy. She is always smiling,” said her aunt Alicia.
You can bring life-changing smiles to more children and families in need today.
