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Arifase’s cleft lip stopped her from living like a normal child and made her life a misery. When Arifase should have been making friends and having fun, she was hiding her face at home.

She was ridiculed and ignored by other children for looking different. Arifase was missing out on her education and a chance of a better life because she was too afraid to go to school. Her childhood was being taken away – she just wanted to look like the other children in her village.

More than 200,000 children are born with a severe cleft condition each year — often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected. And in too many cases, their parents can’t afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life.

That’s where we come in. Since 1982, Operation Smile  — through the help of dedicated medical volunteers — has provided free surgeries to children in more than 50 countries, healing their smiles and bringing hope for a better future.