Meet Rose, an eight-year-old student from Haiti who loves to play. She has a very creative imagination, and loves to eat sweets and other Haitian cuisine.
Rose was born with a cleft lip—a birth defect that occurs when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form correctly during pregnancy. As an infant, she was not able to breastfeed properly and had an initial operation when she was just three months old. Now Rose has developed spacing problems with her teeth and gums. She also has some difficulty pronouncing words. Her classmates often ask questions about her lips, making Rose very self-conscious about her appearance.
On March 6, Rose will have an operation to repair her cleft lip. The surgeon will connect the muscles of her soft palate and rearrange the tissues in her lip to close the cleft. She needs $930 to cover these surgery costs, as well as her additional hospital care before and after the operation. Rose’s mother used to be a kindergarten teacher but now stays at home to take care of the family. With only one income to support Rose and her three siblings, the family does not make enough income to pay for these medical expenses.
With this operation, Rose’s lip will be better aligned. Her speech will improve and she will not feel self-conscious about the appearance of her lips. Rose will be able to continue her education and pursue her hopes to become a surgeon.