When Nazmul and Nipu learn that they are going to become parents, they are overjoyed. They are excited about their first child and can hardly await the birth of their little daughter. They already have a name picked out: Noor, the Bengali word for “light”.
But the happiness of the new parents is soon replaced by shock: When Nipu can finally take her baby into her arms for the first time, she is dismayed to see that a large cleft disfigures her daughter’s delicate face. Nipu and her husband Nazmul don’t know what to do. They know that Noor needs surgery. But they don’t have the money for the operation.
Noor is born with a bilateral cleft lip. In Germany, children with cleft lip receive surgery as early as the third month of life. But in Bangladesh, Nazmul and Nipu’s home country, many people do not have access or the necessary money to secure treatment for their children. Noor’s parents are no exception. They worry: How can they breastfeed their little girl now? And what will the others in the village say?
Suddenly, light comes back into the family’s life. An employee of our cleft treatment project in Bangladesh learns about Noor and visits the family at home. He tells Nazmul and Nipu about our offer of free surgery for children like their daughter. A weight is lifted from the parents’ shoulders. They gain new hope and receive an appointment to for their daughter to be treated at a cleft camp held in Rangpur by our surgeon Dr. Mohammad Quamruzzaman, Dr. Zaman for short.
Dr. Zaman closes Noor’s bilateral cleft lip. Noor is just three months old, a very good age to have this important surgery behind her already. The chances of her cleft healing well are optimal. Noor now has the best chance of leading a normal life, growing up healthy, having friends and going to school. And when she smiles, the sun rises!
