Mothers like Nury feel helpless when safe and affordable surgery isn’t available for their children. Nury’s fear of what her daughter’s future would hold is why our comprehensive care centers are so essential to our work. They give us the opportunity to treat children year-round and offer families, like Luciana’s, hope of a brighter future. Your partnership with us delivers more than a smile – the kindness within your heart saved Luciana and her family from a lifetime of heartache and despair.
As soon as Luciana was born, Nury understood that she would face health issues and social isolation if her cleft condition wasn’t corrected. Nury quickly learned about Operation Smile’s comprehensive care center in Bogotá, Colombia from a pediatrician at the clinic where Luciana was born.
Care centres help us meet the need for cleft surgeries and a variety of other services young patients will need such as dental care, speech therapy, nutrition, psychology, orthodontics and pediatrics. They’re an essential part of our life-changing work, especially for children with complex cleft conditions like Luciana.
For Nury, Bogotá’s care centre gave her the reassurance and hope she desperately
needed as Luciana prepared for her surgery. The team at the care centre supported the family through Luciana’s surgery and follow-up care. Nury knew her daughter was in good hands.
Today, Luciana is a vibrant and healthy little girl who loves playing in the park just like any other child. Says Nury, “I am very happy, Luciana is really beautiful. As I hoped for, and as I imagined.”
