Meet Javier

Javier is truly an amazing person. He was born into a very poor family and had a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Dr. Jorge Palacios, Interplast's Surgical Outreach director in Ecuador, repaired Javier's lip when he was 3. This began a series of surgeries that Dr. Palacios performed on Javier for free, including the repair of his cleft palate a few years later. Other children had mocked little Javier because he could not be understood. People with cleft palates have a very difficult time speaking because their internal mouth architecture is not conducive for forming words clearly. Without the ability to be understood, Javier's options in life seemed pretty limited. Once Javier had his cleft lip and palate repaired, however, there was nothing stopping him from pursuing his dream of becoming a popular radio DJ. He eventually got a job as a janitor at Scandoloso radio, a station popular with young people in Portoviejo. He worked his way up. Now, Javier is one of the most popular DJ voices in Guayaquil.