Tendral Meytok Gurung, from Nepal, was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate in April 2008.  Not being able to care for her and fearing her deformities were a curse, her family left her in a basket in a woodshed to die, in the same building where her brother – born with the same defect – had been left to die.   

In the summer while trekking through the Upper Dolpo region in northern Nepal, Buddhist monk Lama Tenzin Choegyal learned about Tendral and rescued the little girl.  Tendral’s family has three other healthy children and agreed to let Lama Tenzin care for Tendral. 

He took her on a 30-day journey across mountains to an orphanage he established in northern India for orphans and underprivileged children in the region.  Lama Tenzin and his family founded an organization called the Children’s Education Development (CED) Society. The children receive an education and are returned back to the villages so that they can share what they’ve learned; helping to elevate/educate the other villagers. Lama Tenzin became concerned about the survival of Tendral because of the difficulty she had drinking from a bottle. 
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Seven-month-old Tendral arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, with guardians Lama Tenzin and his sister Samchue Negi on December 8.  Operation Smile, in partnership with Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD), provided Tendral with free reconstructive surgery on December 18.  Operation Smile CEO and Co-founder Dr. Bill Magee performed the four-hour surgery to repair Tendral’s cleft lip and cleft palate and said, “By helping a child, what we do is send a message about humanity to the world.” 

Released from CHKD on December 20, Tendral is recovering well.  Tendral joins more than 200 other patients treated through Operation Smile’s World Care Program.  She will now be able to eat, drink and speak normally.  “This little baby, she will be back some day, one of the most beautiful and educated,” Lama Tenzin said.  “It’s not changing the life of one child.  It’s changing the entire history of Upper Dolpo.” 

In Nepal, Tendral’s name means “harmony flower,” and everyone involved in helping this baby hopes she blossoms into a happy and healthy girl.  Tendral will leave Norfolk on January 17 and return to Lama Tenzin’s orphanage.  For more information, visit   www.himalayankids.org

 

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