Xi turned five years old while he was in the hospital in Wenzhou, China. He had never had his birthday celebrated before. His family is poor and they don’t have money to buy each other presents.  So something like cleft surgery was always just a dream.

During his stay, the team asked all of the children to put their wishes on the wall; then they photographed them and sent the wishes to 1,000 WeChat followers.

WeChat is the world’s fifth biggest social media platform and is the dominant social media platform in China where Facebook is not allowed.

The Wenzhou and AfS staff all contributed to making sure each child got one of their wishes fulfilled.

Xi’s biggest wish – other than for cleft surgery – was a Star Wars ship. He knew that his parents would never be able to afford it, so imagine his joy and gratitude when all his wishes were fulfilled!   He got free surgery, and a Star Wars toy!

Not only that, the team also chipped-in to throw Xi his first birthday party – with decorations, presents and a cake!

As you can see this was a very happy day for Xi, and for those volunteers who made Xi’s wishes come true.

We can only make dreams come true with your help! Thank you for your year-end tax deductible donation from all of us at Alliance for Smiles.