Over the past year, Smile Train India’s toll-free cleft helpline, funded by GSK Consumer Healthcare India has helped families across India find their nearest cleft treatment center and has been a dependable source for sound cleft information. When rumors began circulating about a stay at home lockdown mandate for India, the team was worried that these vital services would end, and that families would once again be in the dark.
Thankfully, the Smile Train India team acted fast and provided helpline veteran Gomathi the capability to continue these services from her home.
Gomathi’s phone rings daily with calls from distraught parents of newborns with clefts. These parents find solace in talking to her and take comfort in knowing that help is close at hand.
For Gomathi, helping parents and children is more than a job — it’s a full-time calling. “Knowing that I am able to comfort parents of babies with clefts, even in these uncertain and difficult times, gives me great satisfaction,” she says. “I don’t hesitate to answer calls even at night and over the weekends.”