Destiny's Journey from Silence to Song
A story of the miracles you make possible for World Hearing Day
When Destiny was born with a cleft, Juliana scrambled to find help. She knew her granddaughter would struggle to eat and make friends, but it was clear from the first day that her cleft would cause issues beyond anything she could have anticipated.
To her astonishment, the baby also strained to speak, and even hear. Juliana recalls having to shout everything to her.
Like the dangers of having a cleft, the true dangers of hearing loss go much deeper than most people realize until they experience it in their own family. Children who have difficulty hearing often won’t develop emotionally. They can’t express their thoughts or fully learn or participate in their culture.
Thankfully, Juliana’s daughter gave her the number for the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), their local Smile Train partner, when Destiny was still a toddler.
The specially trained staff there understands the link between hearing and clefts and provides hearing assessments and care as a fundamental part of cleft treatment.
Today, Destiny can hear and speak and spends her time singing, dancing, and smiling with friends.
And so can countless other children with clefts. That’s the difference Smile Train’s sustainable model of empowering local medical professionals makes. That’s the difference Smile Train’s donors make.
"Smile Train, I really appreciate and I thank God for [them], that God of Heaven will continue to bless and establish them," Juliana said. "And these children that they are supporting, that they will grow up and show their appreciation towards Smile Train."
