Siyabonga has the brightest smile in Mpumalanga thanks to Operation smile! He was born with a cleft lip that was operated on by Operation Smile and fixed!
Operation Smile changes the lives of many children across the world, fixing cleft lips and palates of children in need. When Athalia gave birth to her son, it was the first time she had heard of or seen a cleft palate. She was scared but the doctors explained that it was correctable.
The doctors told her that there would be an Operation Smile mission taking place at the very same hospital later that year. So Athalia contacted the organisation and they confirmed she should attend the mission in a few months. Athalia took Siyabonga home but faced a fearful and confused community.
“My community asked why he looked this way, they didn’t understand. They were scared and wanted to know how he would end up in life,” remembers Athalia.
The community wasn’t the only challenge to be face, Athalia and Siyabonga lived 90 minutes away from the nearest town. Thankfully Operation Smile helped them get to the hospital for the mission. When she arrived at the hospital, she was surprised to see just how many children were born with cleft lips and palates.
“I was surprised, I thought it was only Siyabonga but it isn’t,” says Athalia.
After the operation Athalia took Siyabonga home to rest and the community showed fear of the unknown once more! “They thought his cleft had been fixed with flesh from his leg,”. She believes that educating communities about cleft lip and palate is important.
The operation has created a little boy with the brightest smile and not as shy as he once was. All she wants now is for him to be happy.
“The weight has been lifted.”
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