Today was day two of surgery on our mission in Nghe An!
Twenty-one children received cleft lip and palate surgeries.
As
I walked into the child life playroom this morning, two shining brown eyes
gazed at me from across the room. I saw that they belonged to Nam Van Nguyen,
an eight-month-old boy who lit up with a severed smile every time I played
peek-a-boo with him.
Nam’s
asymmetrical smile, defined by a unilateral cleft lip and palate, prompted many
outside of his family to stare and ask Nam’s parents what was wrong with him. As
a result, Nam’s parents were nervous that Nam would experience seclusion from
his peers as an older boy. After hearing that Operation Smile was coming to
Nghe An, Nam’s parents, both rice farmers, had traveled two hours to the
hospital by bus in hopes of finally providing their son with the chance to
avoid this incessant discrimination. Nam’s mother hoped that Operation Smile
would finally make her child look normal so that he would be allowed to go to
school some day.
Nam’s
parents were thrilled when they found out that Operation Smile could operate on
their son’s cleft lip. Although Nam’s mother was very nervous when the
anesthesiologist took Nam into surgery, she was really happy with the results.
As she held Nam, who proudly showed off his new smile, she stated that she was
“looking forward to going home and showing her baby to the rest of the family.”
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| Nam, an eight-month-old boy, has a unilateral cleft lip and palate. (Arielle Sasson) |
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| Nam smiles after getting surgery to repair his facial deformities. (Diana Amini) |
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| Nam, here with his mother, shows off his new smile. (Diana Amini) |
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