Sentenced to a Life of Ridicule and Despair

For many years, Lesly had tried to have a baby. Then her daughter, Evangeline, was born with a cleft lip. At that point, the baby’s father abandoned the family. All Lesly could think about was her baby’s wellbeing.

"I never imagined that she might be born like this,” said Lesly. “I told myself I would do everything I could to make sure she would be okay.”

Then people began to mock Lesly and her baby. “I felt bad because people made me believe that it was my fault that the baby was born like that.”

Lesly decided it would be easier to hide Evangeline to stop the abuse. “I haven’t even taken her to church because I did not want my daughter to be mocked,” explained Lesly.

Due to her condition, Evangeline began to lose weight because she couldn’t get enough nourishment from her formula. “When I started to feed her, the milk would come out of her nose. I wondered what to do,” said Lesly. “I said, ‘God, please don’t let my baby die.’ I said, ‘If something happens to her, just take me too.’”

Meanwhile, Lesly knew that paying for an operation to repair the lip was out of the question. "From the beginning I started looking for help but knew that operation was so expensive I could never afford it,” explained Lesly.

Then a relative told her to contact Operation Blessing. The organization paid for Evangeline to receive free surgery to repair the cleft lip and the procedure was successful.

“Now she smiles at everyone,” said Lesly. “It has been the best gift that I have ever received! I am thankful to people who helped us because they are like angels that God sent into our lives.”