Lisa Pritchard, ReSurge volunteer nurse
Phan Rang, Vietnam -- Today is our last day of performing cleft palate surgeries and we have a whole day of patients scheduled. One of our patients is Le Thi, an eight-year-old girl whose story is incredibly sad. Her mother shared that Le doesn't attend school, when she did she was teased because her cleft palate made her speak differently. When children were mean and made fun of her, Le Thi would run away from school and head back home and refused to return. Le Thi’s teachers tried to convince Le Thi to return to school but the teasing continued and she could not cope.
When Le Thi’s mom heard about ReSurge, she spoke to Le Thi about the possibility for surgery and Le Thi agreed to be treated. We did not promise Le Thi’s speech would be completely normal but we assured her mother it would improve. Le Thi’s mom smiled and seemed more than satisfied.
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