Smile Train aims to make a difference, one child's smile at a time like this boy in the picture, who just had his cleft operated.

MANILA, Philippines — Leihanna Mae Enverga, an eight-month-old baby girl, was crying in her mother’s arms with a fresh gash in her upper lip. The image would’ve been saddening if not for the circumstance that led to her bouts of crying.

Baby Leihanna was born with a facial cleft, a deformity that occurs in one out of every 500 Asians. The gash, however, is a result of an operation, which successfully reconstructed her facial features and saved her from the pain and heartbreaks of having such a condition.

Unrepaired cleft lips and palates has become a big problem in developing countries. Children born with them are often discriminated and mocked in their schools and in their communities. Fortunately, charitable organizations like Smile Train has taken the initiative to provide reconstructive care to indigent children with cleft lips and palates for free.

“In many countries, parents do not understand and see the condition as a curse,” shares Priscilla Ma, executive director of Smile Train. “It’s not life-threatening but [on the other hand] it’s really not much of a life if one lives with this type of condition,” she adds.

One reason for the condition may be attributed to genetics, which raises a child's likeliness to inherit the disfiguration by 40 percent. Also, the mother’s pre-natal condition. The lack in folic acid and certain vitamins as well as smoking and drinking can contribute to the child’s deformity. This is especially true during the crucial first trimester of pregnancy.

“During this time, the head comes together to form the roof of the mouth and the palate. If it doesn’t come together during this time, then it’s not going to,” Ma explains.

For 12 years now, Smile Train has been providing free surgeries in over 80 countries all over the world, including the Philippines. “We estimate that there are 4,500 Filipinos born with a cleft annually, that's on top of the over 120,000 Filipinos with unrepaired clefts,” Ma shares.

To date, Smile train has provided over 650,000 free cleft surgeries around the world with the help of over 1,100 partner hospitals. The organization has had a hand in over 4,400 surgeries nationwide through 50 partner organizations, which taps equally-dedicated volunteer surgeons. One of these partner organizations includes the Philippine Band of Mercy (PBM), which conducts seven to eight operations daily.

Thanks to organizations like Smile Train, children like Leihanna are given opportunities in life similar to kids born without clefts. “What we’re doing is really giving [these kids] a second chance, to have an opportunity to attend school sans the ridicule and become part of the community where they can live in peace,” Ma says.