Brother and sister, Tigist and Adane, were born with cleft lip and palate. We met the family in March 2022, when Ten year old Tigist was having her surgery for her cleft palate and her three year old brother Adane was having his first surgery for his cleft lip in the Amhara region.

Kumaaol was 11 years old when he received his last cleft lip and palate surgery through services accessed with Project Harar.

We first met Ayana when she and her mother Fatuma came to one of our partnering hospitals, Kadisco Hospital, to get both her cleft lip and palate treated at the start of May 2022.

During our recent programme at the Kadisco hospital in Addis Ababa, 6 month old Kassahun and his family accessed surgical treatment for his cleft lip and palate through Project Harar's services. After an 11 hour journey to the Kadisco hospital, they recount their story to our team.

We first met Gudina and his family on February of 2021, where he was finally able to access surgery for his cleft palate. Gudina was three years old. Following his surgery, delayed as a response to the impact of Covid-19, we interviewed him and his father over the phone to catch up with Gudina.

The story of one of the many displaced families living in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. In March 2022 Nyalam was finally able to reach treatment for both her son and daughter, who were born with cleft conditions.

Wendemeh and his brother Gatkuoth travel to the Debre Markos specialised hospital in Amhara to receive treatment for the first time at 15 years old. He and Gatkuoth recount their experiences pre-surgery, and how important it is to destigmatise cleft lip and palate and continue to spread awareness and educate people and schools.