Smile Pinki

India / 2008 / Megan Mylan / 40 mins

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll never forget this heart-warming and true – story of a brave little girl who waited six long years for a life-changing surgery that took just 45 minutes.

When she was born with a sever cleft, everyone in her village thought it was a curse from God. With no education and unable to read or write, Pinki’s parents had no idea that her cleft could be fixed. Even if they did, with a household income of less than a dollar a day, they could never afford the surgery their daughter so desperately needed.

Not allowed to attend school, tormented by other children who threw rocks at her and called her Cut Lip, Pinki faced a long and difficult life filled with pain and heartache. There were times her father thought his daughter would be better off dead.

But one day, a social worker told them about a free cleft surgery program for the poor. Pinki and her father set off on foot, to find the Smile Train partner in Benaras, India, that would give Pinki not just a new smile, but a new life.