Faces of Tomorrow

Oscar's Story

16-year-old Oscar reinforced why we are doing mission work. Oscar was born with a cleft lip and a very large cleft palate.

His lip was repaired when he was a baby. His mother told us that she had 6 children and her husband had passed away. She was very poor and having Oscar’s palate repaired was never an option.

Because of his wide cleft palate his speech was very poor - you could hardly understand him and it was also very difficult for him to eat. Consequently, he was extremely shy. Oscar and his mother arrived at the hospital on our second day.

They learned about our mission just the day before from a friend. Not knowing if they would be seen or if it was to late to be considered for surgery, Oscar and his mother risked it and took what little money they had and made the journey to Quito.

Oscar's palate pre-op

Oscar with his Mom

Oscar with Dr. Brian Rubinstein

They walked for over an hour to the bus and then took a 3 - hour bus trip. When they arrived they found one of our Peace Corps workers who brought them in to see Dr. Rubinstein.
Dr. Rubinstein examined Oscar knowing the schedule was completely full for the duration of the mission and that there was no time to add another surgery.

At that moment Dr. Rubinstein decided there was no way he could send Oscar home without helping him. Oscar’s palate was very bad and Dr. Rubinstein knew he could change this boy’s life forever. It was hard for him to even imagine what it must have been like to live with an unrepaired palate for 16 years.

He and Jim rearranged the schedule and made room for Oscar. When Oscar and his mother learned he would have surgery the next day, there was not a dry eye in the hospital.

His mother dropped to her knees and she and Oscar both cried and cried. Oscar’s surgery and recovery went very well. We look forward to hearing how Oscar is doing in the future.