Save Yami's Smile

This is Yamilet.  Yamilet is a bright, happy ten-year-old girl who lives with her family near Asheville North Carolina.  She has lots of friends.  She likes art and science and helping her mother with housework.  But Yamilet has a serious problem that will require complex oral surgery and follow-up orthodontics to correct.  Left untreated, her condition will probably cause her to lose all of her front teeth.  Without prompt treatment, she could be left with a severely disfigured smile.  I started this GoFundMe campaign to help Yamilet’s family pay for the high cost of this treatment.  I went with them to one of three orthodontic evaluations they have undergone.  I saw the x-rays and listened to the proposed payment schedules.  For the surgery and orthodontics it will cost at least $8,000.  Both of Yamilet’s parents work full time, as many hours as they can, but to come up with this much money would be financially crippling.  I have never done anything like this before, but I can’t NOT do it.  I am asking everyone I know to make a contribution to this campaign, or to at least share the link with friends and family.  Small donations will add up and make a huge difference to the future happiness of a little girl.  

I know Yamilet and her family because, as a volunteer English Language Teacher, I have been her mother’s tutor.I have spent two hours a week in their home for the past four years.  I know Yamilet’s parents to be kind and resourceful.  I know how much they have risked and sacrificed to give their three children opportunities that they themselves never had.  I know how hard they work to provide them with a safe home, nutritious food, educational opportunity and a sense of responsibility for each other.As any teacher knows, sometimes we learn more from our students than they learn from us.  From Yamilet’s family, I have learned what faith and bravery look like.  They are devout Catholics and they have faith that somehow God will answer their prayers.  

The concept of crowdfunding is a modern idea that has come of age with the internet and social media, but it reminds me of the Bible story of the miracle of the fishes and loaves.  (Matthew 15: 32-39)  Starting with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, Jesus and his disciples fed four thousand followers so that they could return home without fainting from hunger.  This miracle didn’t end hunger.  It didn’t end poverty, but it solved a problem.Some people say that the true miracle in this story was that the people who had food were moved to share with those who did not, with the result that there was plenty for all.  You and I receive requests every day for donations to important causes.  If you are like me, you ignore most of them. How do we know that the money will be well spent?  How do we know that the beneficiaries are deserving?  The number of legitimately needy cases is overwhelming and it makes us feel hopeless.

well, I know Yamilet.  I know her family.  I know that there is a solution to her problem.  The treatment exists.  It may be difficult and possibly painful, but it is doable.  The only obstacle is the money.  So I am asking you to help me help them.  Save Yami’s smile!g