Kate's Triathlon for a New Cleft Clinic

Help sponsor my Olympic Triathalon to build a new cleft clinic in Ghana!

Visit our website: www.thesmileinitiative.org
Read our article in Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/deniserestauri/2014/03/31/a-new-african-smile-empire-hopes-to-educate-kids-and-save-lives/


Spencer and I, post-cleft surgery #1. 

MY STORY: 

In 1995, my little brother Spencer was born with a cleft lip and palate. As we grew up together, I realized how his birth defect would effect his entire life living here in the US, a developed country: bullying, speech therapy, innumerable trips to the orthodontist and plastic surgeon all marked Spencer's childhood. 

Last summer, in July 2013, I traveled to Ghana, to learn more about cleft care in the developing world. There, I found that the Komfo Anokye Cleft Clinic, providing free cleft surgeries to impoverished children in need, was defunct and limited, in terms of space and resources. 



THE SPECS:

-There are no dormitories; thus, mothers who could not afford hotels had to sleep on the sidewalks outside the hospital, as their child recovered overnight
-There are no bathrooms available
-There is no cafeteria within the hospital
-The waiting room is outside, forcing mothers to wait hours in the African heat.

We're trying to change this, and build a new clinic! I am doing my first Olympic Triathalon as an effort to raise funds for this new clinic. Check it out at St. Anthony's Triathlon.



Please help Spencer and I's dream come true in building this new clinic, one mile at a time. 

For more information, please visit our website!