How Ajgari’s Life Took a Turn from ‘Cleft’ to ‘Smile’

Poor people from the slum areas of  India often neglect Cleft. The chief reason being the high expense of plastic surgery and associated treatments and therapies needed to cure cleft lip and cleft palate deformities. Also, a sad reality is the little or no access to proper medical care. Added to this is the lack of awareness among people suffering from cleft deformities.

We met Ajgari Khatun through our friendly associate Hemley Gonzalez who runs Responsible Charity. Responsible Charity is an NGO. It empowers families out of poverty in slum communities and villages in India. Our friend Hemley contacted us to get Ajgari’s surgery at our Kolkata Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre. We came to know from him about Ajgari’s struggle with severe cleft palate deformity. Our team readily agreed to offer as much support as we can.

In fact, Ajgari had severe cleft palate deformity.  Also, the size of her nasal cavity exposed was considerable. Added to this, she lives in extremely unsanitary conditions. Doctors found that Ajgari’s cleft deformity had extended to her eye-sockets. They said that the surgery could take place after a year so that her body could receive it. Besides this, Ajgari was too malnourished to receive her surgery. Hence she went on a protein-based regimen for two months. This diet plan was necessary so that her body weight met the long-awaited surgery criteria.

After the prescribed nutrition diet plan for two months, Ajgari went for the next round of tests. She needed medical support to strengthen her immune system. Since she was facing feeding difficulties. Doctors decided to feed her the first nutrition kit of fortified formula in a special feeding bottle.

Ajgari is full of energy and playful, just like any other child of her age. Our journey with her was full of happiness and fun. To enhance her social associations with other camp children, we made her interact with them without being bullied or harassed for her deformity. This was before the surgery. We captured her cheerful expressions while she was seen playing with our smile ambassador and guest of honour Ms Nandana Dev Sen, at the inaugural ceremony of Kolkata Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre.

Finally, after the inauguration, Ajgari received surgery at Flemming Hospital. Dr Manish Mukul Ghosh and his team performed the surgery. We are happy to share that her surgery was successful. She recuperated well. We provided the entire treatment for Ajgari free of cost. This we could do because of our kind donors.

We are thankful to Responsible Charity for identifying and bringing Ajgari to us for the free comprehensive cleft care treatment.

At Mission Smile, we’re working towards bringing more and more smiles to children affected with cleft lip and cleft palate deformities. We require YOUR HELP to support us. DONATE to Mission Smile.

 

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