See Kai Smile

Mr. Liu could hardly wait to be the father he never had.

He explains, “I wanted to carry my son around on my shoulders and show him off.”

Yet, when Kai was born with a cleft lip and palate, Mr. Liu knew everything he’d hoped for may never happen.

“People said we should abandon him,” Mr. Liu recalls.  “An orphan myself, I wouldn’t do that, no matter how hard it got.”

Meanwhile, there was a lot of gossip in the village about the baby.

Mr. Liu confesses, “Someone said to me, ‘That baby with a broken mouth looks half human and half demon. What a burden in your life.’  His words made me angry. I clenched my fist and wanted to punch him.  But I held back and left with him in my arms.”

The couple began hiding their son inside, unless Mrs. Liu had an errand to run.

“Every time I took him out, people stared at him and whispered,” Mrs. Liu remembers.  She admits, “I hated that feeling.  So, from then on, I covered his face.”

Soon, Kai started understanding that something was wrong with his lips and refused to look in the mirror.

Mrs. Liu explains, “He said to me, ‘Kai is ugly. Kai has a bad mouth.’  I felt like he started rejecting who he was.”

Kai’s father adds, “He didn’t like having his picture taken, either.  One time he saw his picture and began to cry.  He was trying to tell me, ‘Dad, I don't like my face.’  I was afraid he'd grow up feeling inferior.  He wouldn’t have friends, be able to pronounce things right, or go to school. He’d never be able to find a job.”

Mr. Liu only makes $250 a month, and that barely covers basic living expenses.  As much as he wanted to get surgery for Kai, he couldn’t, and no one would lend him the money.  Then a friend told him about CBN.

Mr. Liu exclaims, “I told CBN about my son, and they quickly scheduled surgery for him.”

“Now he likes to take selfies, and he looks in the mirror and smiles,” Mrs. Liu shares.  “He says, ‘Look, Mom, Kai has nice lips.  Kai is handsome!’”
 
“Now, I can take him for walks.  He always laughs happily,” reports Mr. Liu.  “When we see friends, I proudly say to them, ‘Look, this is my son.’  They say he looks like me and has a sweet smile.  Everyone loves him and wants to hug him.”

Mrs. Liu concludes, “Thank you to the Operation Blessing donors for helping my son.  You changed him and gave him a new life!”