I was born with a cleft palate, a disability which I came to believe was my worst nightmare. My family tried to have me operated on, scrimping on everything they had, yet that first operation (not by Operation Smile) turned out to be a failure. I still couldn’t speak, but this impairment turned out to be my life’s blessing.
I used to have many regrets in life. One of those was “why was I born different?”
I tried to make friends, tried to talk, but nobody listened. Nobody understood and worst, everybody seemed to laugh at me all the time.
As a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a singer someday - and not just a singer, but a very good singer. When a teacher once asked who would like to volunteer to sing, I didn’t have second thoughts about going up in front and singing, knowing that would be the happiest moment for me.
Yet, when I looked around amidst my euphoria, I saw the joke in all my classmates’ eyes and I wished, from that time on, that I was never born.
What kept me going was the love and support that I saw and felt in my family, and my dream that one day God would let me sing. I kept hoping that one day a miracle would happen and my cleft palate would simply disappear.
That hope was realized when Operation Smile came to Cebu in the Philippines. It seemed that day was made for me. We were the last in a long line and I was the last patient.
The miracle didn’t stop there; I was operated on by none other than the head surgeon of that Operation Smile medical mission, Dr. Han Kai from China.
That very day Operation Smile changed my life and made a little girl’s dream come true.
With my head full of dreams and hopes, I joined one of the country’s biggest singing contests aired nationwide – the Little Big Star singing contest - winning weekly, monthly until I reached the finals. It was there that I realized that this was indeed a miracle, and for me that miracle was Operation Smile.
The rest is history, I went to tell the world my story in various newspapers, both local and national, such as the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, SunStar, The Freeman, Cebu Daily News, among others, appearing on top-rating television shows like Probe Team, Rate K, ANC’s Storyline, Gem Net, MagTV & Babaye.
I try to share my talent with those who would care to listen to my songs, but the best break I ever received so far, thanks to Operation Smile, was when I sang before the U.S. Senate on behalf of those children all over the world who are like me, who were born with cleft deformity, but have dreams of having the equal opportunity for a better future just like any another normal kid. And I received the best standing ovation.
Yes, perhaps, I can now say that I have made my mark and that I have achieved much more than other normal kids my age has ever dreamt of, like singing the Philippine National Anthem during the WBA Superflyweight Championship title bout between our very own AJ Banal and Rafael Conception of Panama.
But the greatest achievement is that I can now sing - sing for those who can’t, sing for those who dream, sing for those who need a miracle.
Thanks to Operations Smile, especially to all the volunteer doctors and donors who made not just my dreams and hopes come true, but also those of thousands of children like me all over the world.
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Tags: Patient Stories, Philippines
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