Three Times the Smiles

Fortaleza, Brazil
Being granted the gift of a child, in other words becoming a parent, is a blessing. Now imagine the gift of triplets; that is what the Lemos da Silva family was blessed with two years ago with the birth of their daughters, Lara, Larissa and Lorena. However, what they were not ready for was being told that all three of their girls were born mute, without the ability to speak at all. Two months into their lives, their mother Nubia, noticed that the girls had the ability to react to noise, despite their continued inability to speak. As a result, she took them back to the hospital only to find out later that they had been initially misdiagnosed and that in fact, they were not mute but had cleft palates, hence their inability to speak.

Nubia and Moezio, the parents of these vibrant two year olds, are humble farmers residing in a remote rural area on the outskirts of the Morada Nova Municipality in the State of Ceará, Brazil. They live off of what they are able to harvest on their land, selling anything that is left, which is usually not much. Therefore, paying for their daughter’s surgery or traveling to find the medical attention they required was simply not an option. This is where Operation Smile’s work in the most remote of areas around the world pays off, as the organization is able to reach families and children that would otherwise remain in obscurity.

Operation Smile has been providing free reconstructive surgery around the globe for children born with facial deformities for 25 years and in Brazil, it has been operating since 1997. This week, the organization is carrying out its World Journey of Smiles, simultaneously conducting 40 missions in 25 countries that will treat approximately 5,000 children with facial deformities.

When Nubia and Moezio were informed by the local health authorities that one of the missions was arriving at the Albert Sabin Children’s Hospital in the city of Fortaleza, they did not hesitate to pack some clothes and travel approximately 220 kilometers in search of the necessary medical care for their daughters.

Upon arrival, their children had to undergo the standard screening process to determine if they could be operated on. Doctors must examine each child carefully to decide if he or she is in proper health conditions to undergo surgery. After the triplets were seen by the doctors, the Lemos da Silva family had to wait two days until the screening process was completed for all children and a final decision was made. They had no place to stay, but thanks to the shelter home Casa de Acolhimento São Gabriel, which had partnered with Operation Smile to provide food and shelter to the organization’s patients and their families from the interior while they remained in Fortaleza, the family received free food and housing.

Every parent who has gone through the process of waiting to find out if their child could qualify for a life-changing surgery has experienced great anxiety. For Nubia and Moezio, those feelings of uncertainty were multiplied by three. During the wait to find out if the girls were selected, the parents were asked what they would do if only one of their daughters met the conditions for the surgery. Would they allow the one to undergo the procedure? Their response: “Absolutely, it would not be easy to accept, but it would be better to take the opportunity to be able to at least help one now and then continue fighting to help the other two in the future.” You can only imagine the joy on their faces when all three girls were selected.

Lara, Larissa and Lorena safely underwent surgery this week. These young toddlers are too young to understand what this surgery entails or what it will signify in their lives, but no one knows better than their mother and father, a couple dedicated to struggling together for their children.

How will Lara, Larissa and Lorena’s lives change? For one, they will one day soon be able to say, “papa,” a word they have never been able to pronounce. They should go on to be able to speak and eat normally, things many parents take for granted with their own children. These every day abilities that Nubia and Moezio have for two long years hoped and prayed their daughters could do, will now soon become a reality.

“We are so very thankful to Operation Smile and all the volunteers for helping our daughters; they have done something we thought was impossible,” stated the Lemos da Silva’s. “This experience has also inspired us to go out and help other children suffering from the same thing by helping spread the word of Operation Smile’s work.”

The triplets will return home with their overjoyed parents by next week, all of them filled with new hope, happiness and a future of endless possibilities.

- Erich de la Fuente, EDF Communications