When Menisco smiles, one could almost forget the difference that marks his lips.
His smile is warm and sincere, reaching all the way to his eyes.
But the seven-year-old boy is unlikely to forget it. For years, the comments from
other children in his village were a constant reminder.
“They say I am ugly,” Menisco shared quietly. “They call me ‘big cleft lip.’”
Sometimes he stayed silent when the mocking began. He would look down and
walk away without joining the other children at play. But other times, he answered
with a wisdom far beyond his years.
“You don’t know if your children too will have cleft lip,” he told them.
Even before surgery, Menisco carried hope that one day things could change.
“I said that it will be fixed one day,” he explained.
Watching her son endure rejection was painful for Julia, his mother.
“I really feel sorry, and I don’t know what to do because most of the kids reject him,”
she said.
One Day It Will Be Fixed
The family had heard surgery would be expensive, so they never tried to pursue
treatment. Then they heard on the radio that Mercy Ships was coming to
Madagascar and offering free surgery for children with conditions like Menisco’s.
At the HOPE Center, the outpatient care center where patients stay before surgery,
Menisco met other children with cleft lips for the first time. Together they played,
rode bicycles, and waited for the surgeries that could change their futures.
Menisco’s operation lasted nearly three hours and went well. After a few days of
recovery, he finally saw the repaired lip he had imagined for so long.
“I’m happy because my lip is fixed,” he said with a shy smile. “It’s done by Mercy
Ships.”
Julia’s relief was just as overwhelming.
“I’m happy, so very happy that my son’s surgery is done. Both of us are truly very
happy,” she said. “And I’m truly grateful to Mercy Ships.”
More than anything, Julia hopes her son keeps the same resilient spirit that carried
him through years of ridicule.
Menisco, cleft lip patient, after his surgery.
“I really see that he is a brave kid, always cheerful,” she said. “I truly hope he makes
it through school and has a bright future. And I don’t want him to change the kind
of person he is now.”
As they prepared to return home, Menisco already knew what he wanted to say to
the children who mocked him for years.
“Look,” he said proudly, “it’s fixed now. What will you say again?