Help Children Born with Cleft in Guayaquil, EC

The Global Smile Foundation (GSF) team is heading back to Ecuador in March 2025 for our first of two outreach medical programs this year in the country. Our team of medical volunteers will provide afull range of cleft care services for our patients including:

• Health screening
• Surgical procedures
• Dental treatment
• Feeding and nutrition assistance
• Psychosocial Support
• Speech Therapy

We will spend 14 days in the country, and expect 75 surgical patients and 100 dental patients. 

Neythan's Story

Neythan's parents did not know that their son had a cleft lip and palate, so they were unprepared when he was born.

Despite the overwhelming love she felt for her newborn, mom Jazmin was overcome with worry. The road ahead seemed uncertain, and Neythan’s struggles with feeding left her feeling helpless. As Neythan’s mother, she wept not just for her own fears, but also for her son’s discomfort. When strangers in public cast judgmental glances at her baby, Jazmin’s pain deepened. The weight of it all took a toll on Jazmin, leading her into postpartum depression.

But hope was not far away. Living near Guayaquil, Ecuador, Neythan’s family learned about GSF from a cousin who had undergone cleft surgery with GSF two decades prior.

In September 2021, Neythan and his parents went to the GSF Outreach Program. Although Jazmin was understandably anxious as Neythan underwent his first surgery, she later said that the expertise of the GSF and Fundacion Global Smile-Ecuador teams made her feel safe.

Neythan has been receiving cleft care ever since, and you can see in his photo from 2024 that he is growing up healthy! Your support has been part of his story and we are so grateful Thank you!

We hope you will continue to be part of more healthy smile stories like Neythan's!

• Neythan Before and After Surgery (PDF)