Children with Clefts Need Your Support
Your monthly gift helps guarantee lifesaving care for children and allows us to spend less time and fewer resources on fundraising.
![Boy from Kenya with a cleft lip](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/3_2__720x480/public/2024-03/staf-home-header.jpg?itok=ZNoAB6GU)
Changing the World One Smile at a Time
Over the past 25+ years, we have transformed the lives of more than 2 million children. With your help, we aim to greatly expand our reach in the next five years, putting more children than ever before on track to a better future.
Smile Train Patients
![boy hol](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/5_4__760x608/public/2024-03/staf-home-gallery-1.jpg?itok=zWcybFLw)
![Girl hold image of herself before cleft lip surgery](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/5_4__760x608/public/2024-03/staf-home-gallery-2.jpg?itok=AfEI7YuD)
![Girl holds up image of herself before cleft lip surgery](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/5_4__760x608/public/2024-03/staf-home-gallery-3.jpg?itok=qexi5Pe6)
![Older man holds picture before his cleft surgery](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/5_4__760x608/public/2024-03/staf-home-gallery-4.jpg?itok=_fuUBt1D)
Quick Links
What are Clefts?
Did you know that clefts cause difficulties eating, breathing, hearing, and speaking? Learn more about clefts.
Get Involved
Whatever your passion, there’s a way to turn it into smiles.
Where We Work
Learn more about Smile Train’s programs in 75+ countries.
Patients and Families
Learn more about cleft care and explore our patient stories and resources.
![Girl with a cleft lip](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2024-03/staf-home-understanding-clefts.jpg?itok=hKJ8e52e)
Understanding Clefts
When a baby is born with a cleft, their family should immediately locate the nearest cleft team to explore their best treatment options.
![Boy from Ethiopia gives two thumbs up](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2024-03/staf-home-patient-resources.jpg?itok=qwffYj4J)
Patient Resources
Smile Train aims to support families worldwide by creating, connecting, and sharing resources about cleft care.
![Smile Train medical partner hold boy before surgery](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2024-03/staf-home-find-help.jpg?itok=rtHYib6m)
Find Help
Cleft treatment is 100%-free for Smile Train patients. In many cases, free transportation to/from Smile Train treatment partners may also be available.
Medical Professionals
Learn more about the medical professionals we partner with and explore free resources.
![Smile Train surgeon from Ghana smiles in scrubs](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2024-03/staf-home-partner-programs.jpg?itok=VebcZJRW)
Partner Programs
All of our partners are united by a common goal: helping children who have no place else to turn. If this is your goal, too, we’d like to partner with you.
![Medical training](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2024-03/staf-home-training-programs.jpg?itok=fIYotweh)
Training Programs
Smile Train offers our partners a range of clinical training opportunities and resources in surgery, anesthesia, nursing, and comprehensive cleft care.
![New hospital opens in Central Africa](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2024-03/staf-home-funding-program.jpg?itok=6B8afBds)
Grant Programs
Smile Train funds more than 1,000 partners and programs throughout the world that help children in need receive treatment they could otherwise never afford.
![Group of children in choir pose](/https/www.smiletrainafrica.org/sites/default/files/styles/5_4__720x576/public/2024-03/staf-home-about-us.jpg?itok=vXNG-Le4)
About Us
Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, with a model of true sustainability — providing training, funding, and resources to empower local medical professionals in 75+ countries to provide 100%-free cleft surgery and other forms of essential cleft care in their own communities.