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A Healthy Smile is Just the Beginning®®
Freddy was born in 1997 with a cleft lip and palate. With very limited resources, his family didn’t know how to help their newborn. Until they heard about GSF.

Freddy and his family came to the Guayaquil mission that year and his cleft palate was repaired; 18 months later, GSF volunteers repaired his lip. Since that time, Freddy underwent four more surgeries to improve the appearance and function of his lip and nose.

Now, GSF is thrilled to see Freddy return to GSF not as a patient, but as a volunteer on our annual Guayaquil mission. Currently, Freddy is preparing to start university and aspires to become a lawyer.

When asked about his feelings towards GSF, its volunteers, and why he felt compelled to become a volunteer himself, he said, “I get very emotional when I think about all that GSF has done for me and all the other patients around the world. I feel love and such great joy for the radical changes they have made to my life, allowing me to enter the world with confidence. And I decided to volunteer because I felt it was the only way to show my gratitude and commitment to GSF, and to say ‘thank you’ for being there for me throughout my life, while still helping to bring positive change to the lives of so many.”

Watch Freddy’s Story

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