Smiling at the End of the World

Hilaria was terrified when saw her son’s face for the first time. It wasn’t that the sight of Camilo’s cleft bothered her. Rather, she and her husband feared that they would never be able to afford the care their baby needed to grow up healthy and happy, would never even be able to access it, because they live at the literal end of the world — the island of Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of the Western Hemisphere, far from any major city.

But they didn’t worry for long. They soon discovered that a local, multidisciplinary team was already in their community, waiting to greet them with open arms and give Camilo all the cleft care he would ever need, completely free. Thanks to Smile Train.

Our unique, locally-led, sustainable model makes bringing cleft care to the four corners of the earth —and everywhere in between — possible. Not long ago, Dr. Diego Steinberg, a Smile Train partner surgeon in Buenos Aires and a member of our South America Medical Advisory Council, traveled south to train surgeons, ENTs, speech therapists, nutritionists, and other cleft team members in the island’s two largest cities in cleft care. With his training, plus assistance from local Smile Train staff, cleft-affected families on Tierra del Fuego no longer need to travel long distances to access essential cleft care. It is available close to home 365 days a year.

“We decided to… give back by doing what we need to do, which is healing the faces of children with clefts. It is something very beautiful for us. It makes us feel good and gives meaning to what we do,” reflected Dr. Steinberg.

“We decided to… give back by doing what we need to do, which is healing the faces of children with clefts. It is something very beautiful for us. It makes us feel good and gives meaning to what we do,” reflected Dr. Steinberg.

For families like Hilaria’s, Dr. Steinberg’s efforts were so much more than “something very beautiful.” They saved her child’s life. “When we found out that Camilo could have surgery, we felt very happy, because we did not want him to wait any longer for surgery than was necessary,” she said.

She was especially impressed by the holistic spirit animating every aspect of care across the team, including caring for the parents. On the day of Camilo went into the OR — a day Hilaria will always remember as the most anticipated and most anxious of her life — that extra human touch meant everything to her and her husband. We “were always very well accompanied. We felt that they were very well trained, and that gave us confidence.”

When the team at last wheeled Camilo out, she saw only a future smiling back at her, bright as the sun reflecting off the snowy mountaintops surrounding them.

“I… thank God for life and the doctors for my baby being able to eat well. You love your children as they are, but now with the surgery, his life is going to be much easier,” Hilaria said. “For Camilo’s future, may he be a very happy baby, and we will be there to accompany him in his new stage with his beautiful smile.”
 

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