Yang Yunying, a 19-year-old girl who suffered from neurofibromatosis, is from a mountainous village 1430 meters above sea level in Yunnan province, China. The first symptoms appeared when Yunying was 1-year-old. It started as a small lump, slowly it grew in size and a huge turgid tumor emerged on the right half of her face. 

People born with craniofacial disorders such as cleft palates and cleft lips often face hardships growing up due to bullying and social pressure. In some cases, congenital disorders like microtia may even result in deafness. The Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation in Taiwan aims to help people with these conditions, by providing companionship, scholarships and plenty of self-betterment opportunities. Stephany Yang takes us to meet some of the people they assist.

As parents, it hurts us to see our child suffer from a physical disability; but we are grateful to the NCFPI for the support you have provided him. 

The COVID-19 situation in Taiwan has been difficult these past few months. So does our local partner Vietnam, which was once a global model for epidemic prevention is brutally defeated by the COVID-19.

Novel, a 14 year old teenager from Indonesia, was born with serious bilateral cleft lip and palate. Novel had his first surgery when he was at the age of 1, then he underwent another 3 surgeries between the ages of 4 and 7. Unfortunately, none of these surgeries worked out very well. Novel and his mom were traumatized and didn't want to try surgery any more.

My daughter, a 3 years old Vietnamese girl, was born with severe cleft palate. The past three years have been very tough, but we never give up. To provide Xiao Juan’s medical expenses and huge family living expenses, my husband and I move from a remote village to a big city. We come home to see my mom who looks after Xiao Juan when we are not around and Xiao Juan once a week.