Kwandao Pengta is 15 years old and lives with a cleft lip and a cleft palate. She comes from one of the conservative Karen villages in Lamphun Province, which is located 220 kilometres from Chiangmai, Thailand. Kwandao is a grade 9-student from Tung Hua Chang School and her family is headed by her father, who has a visual impairment. Her family has little in the way of monetary resources.

Initially, Kwandao’s father did not agree for her to undergo cleft repair surgery, because he was afraid of the response from the spirits that form part of local traditional beliefs. Mr. Saard, Kwandao’s teacher, helped to explain the procedure and convince him that Kwandao needed medical treatment.

He was eventually convinced, and Kwandao was sent to the MNC Hospital where she underwent surgery. After receiving the procedure, Kwandao now looks much improved. Her teacher tells us that she is much happier now, as she previously thought that she would have had to live with her condition until she died. Kwandao feels more confident to live with others in her community, and she is able to speak more clearly. She is participating in the rehabilitation process with ongoing speech therapy sessions. Kwandao’s family members and friends have expressed their grateful thanks to this TFW-sponsored project.