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Daniel Matsiko is the first born to Rehema; whom she had hoped to be an early Christmas gift to her young family. Born at Murchison Bay Hospital, with no prenatal complications, he was a healthy baby at 3.2kg. Daniel was born with a cleft lip and palate, to the distraught of his mother Rehema. She had never seen a child witha cleft before and was wondering what she had done wrong during her pregnancy.

Her midwife, Joyce counseled her and emphasized that the baby was fine, clefts occur more often than they are publicized and they could be repaired.She wrote her a referral letter to CoRSUHospital immediately and when Daniel was discharged a day later, he was brought to CoRSU Hospital directly.

Daniel could not latch onto his mother’s breast, he cried a lot and had started to waste. At 3 days old, he had dropped from 3.2kg to 2.8kg and Rehema was stressed on how to help her child. Rehema’s mother, Daniel’s Grandmother had been an immense support during the first 3 days.

Since Christmas was a day away, the nutrition team decided to keep Daniel for a week under nutrition rehabilitation with a fear that the baby would be at risk and an immense stress to the family during the festivities. Daniel responded well to the nutrition supplements, gaining to 3.4 kgs within a week. He was discharged with a nutrition package of milk, sunseed oil and sugar to last 1 month. For the months, Rehema continued to express milk, supplement with the nutrition basket provided by CoRSU and maintained high levels of hygiene. When Daniel was returned for review, he weighed 5.8kg and was in excellent health. His surgery first surgery was done at weight of 7.4kg at 8 month and palate surgery at the 1 year.

At 2 years, Daniel started his speech and language therapy to aid with intelligible speech. Rehema is grateful to the CoRSU team. She says she had no idea on how to support her child and fears her son could have died without the support and comprehensive care. I could not believe that I continued to receive care without paying any money. My Special appreciate to donors who save poor mothers like. Smile Train and Transforming faces are the primary donors for all cleft lip and palate surgeries at CoRSU. Daniel’s transformation is one of hundreds of inspiring cases that the cleft team at CoRSU continue to encounter and experience every other day. Mobilization drives in rural Uganda create the required level of awareness, CoRSU continues to receive cleft lip and palate patients from all over Uganda