Meet Ashvini

Ashvini is a one year and four months old boy. Soon after his birth, the doctors realised that he was born with a cleft lip and palate. His father is a daily labourer earning less than Rs. 5000 per month. He is the only earning member in the family of 5. Ashvini’s mother is a housewife. The family was initially very happy when they heard that a male child was born in the family but the moment they came to know about his condition, they felt extremely helpless. The parents were worried and sad about their only child’s condition. They did not know whether they should celebrate the birth of the child or feel sad about his condition.

Family members as well as neighbors blamed and abused the mother for this condition. They accused her of not following all the advice of elders in the family and hence bringing bad luck to the family. They blamed the mother for giving birth to a scary looking male child and none of the relatives initially visited the family to see the new born baby.

However, Ashvini’s father stood like a shield and protected his only child and his wife during those difficult times. He requested his family members to leave the family at peace and not increase their pain if they can’t reduce it. As Ashvini began to grow, his health deteriorated. He failed to gain enough weight as he was not able to eat well due to his congenital condition and felt very weak.

Seeing the child’s health condition, one of their neighbourhood doctors suggested surgery for Ashvini and asked the family to visit the hospital in Durgapur. The family travelled for more than 6 hours to reach the hospital and they are glad that they made that decision.

Now they are very happy to see their son with a repaired lip. He needs to undergo another surgery for his palate repair later. The date for that surgery will be suggested by his doctor after 6 months.

We give thanks to all the incredible people who have supported our work to help children born with cleft.