Overcoming Barriers to Care in Madagascar: Naly’s Story

Naly was born with a cleft palate. His parents were acquainted with the challenges this poses for feeding and eventually for clear speech – a cousin was also affected by cleft years earlier. Like their relatives, they felt that they had nowhere to turn.

When Naly was 18 months old, the family learned that a surgical mission was coming to town – what luck! Mom and baby spent 2 weeks sleeping at the host school waiting for Naly to be called. Sadly, the foreign team left before they could operate on Naly’s palate.

The next year, the cleft mission was a 12+ hour bus ride away, over treacherous roads. Dad took a leave of absence from work to accompany the family. Again, they waited for 2 weeks, each day praying fervently that their son would be helped. On the last day, they were among the devastated families who were told that they would have to wait yet again.

In 2023, Transforming Cleft’s local partner, Clinique Fanantenana, started offering year-round cleft care, provided by local professionals, near their home on Madagascar’s northwest coast. Naly’s family was very suspicious after their previous experiences. Thankfully, Naly’s care started the very same week his mom first reached out to the clinic.

On the day we visited, his parents proudly shared that their son’s teacher had called them to congratulate them for his much-improved speech!

Comprehensive Cleft Care in Madagascar, propelled by skilled local teams, is picking up momentum.

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