Each year, about 1 in 700 children are born with cleft lip and palate, or an opening in the lip and roof of the mouth. It is one of the world’s most common birth anomalies.
Beyond aesthetic concerns, cleft affects a child’s ability to eat, speak, and participate in community life.
Families in Bolivia have traditionally had to wait for fly-in-fly-out medical missions-- an emergency solution unable to provide the ongoing, full-circle of care children need to thrive.
Bolivia’s immense mountain ranges, dense rainforests, and stark socioeconomic realities are challenging. Skilled, trusted and resourceful local cleft professionals support courageous parents in ensuring that all children achieve full rehabilitation and can pursue a full life.
We wanted to show this to new audiences in a digestible and engaging format and to demonstrate to our supporters that their contributions are making a tangible impact to cleft care in Bolivia and beyond.
It was our goal to introduce viewers to a real family on their journey – literal and metaphorical – to access full-circle, local cleft care. We wanted our audience to feel connected to the family, hopeful about their future, and to understand how the care team is rallying behind them.
In countries with a robust healthcare system, it is common to meet someone with cleft and never realize it – a result of their access to timely, ongoing care. From the perspective of many charities, before and after surgery photos are a primary way to demonstrate a child’s tangible transformation. In this narrative, a cleft surgery is the pinnacle moment of a cleft care journey.
Addressing all barriers that hold children back from experiencing full rehabilitation and community inclusion is at the heart of our work. Being well-understood by classmates after participating in speech therapy and orthodontic care are examples of how effective cleft care requires the ongoing support of a skilled, multidisciplinary team.
Our storytelling strategy was to establish balance; avoid over-simplifying and not leave the audience overburdened. We wanted people to glimpse the process that leads to Gonzalo’s hopeful future.
For viewers unaware of our organization, we wanted to show that:
1) cleft requires different interventions that support one another; and
2) a dedicated team of professionals is working together to facilitate those interventions so that Gonzalo can access the care he deserves
We wanted our existing supporters to be inspired by seeing how their support is changing the lives of children. We wanted viewers to get to know this family and connect with their story -- a story representative of the experience of many rural Bolivian families.
Gonzalo and his family must journey from the remote Altiplano (Andes Highland) to the clinic in Cochabamba for their regular, coordinated cleft care appointments. With the interpretation and cross-cultural support of the Bolivian team social worker, we met and connected with Gonzalo’s Quechua-speaking parents, Filomena and Luciano.
Before our arrival, the social worker laid the groundwork for us to navigate challenges such as the local blockade protests that regularly cut-off rural communities from the outside world for days at a time. Gasoline shortages also required our team to be resourceful and improvise to reach Gonzalo’s home.
Our cleft care and filming team navigated some of the same transportation realities as Gonzalo’s family -- it demonstrated areas where our program makes the process easier for families, and areas where barriers can still be reduced.
To tell this story, we used a cinematic style in 4k and immersive audio to pique the interest of the viewer. We wanted it to be unlike the charity stories viewers have seen before. It was important that viewers felt like they too were a part of this journey and could emotionally connect with Gonzalo’s family.
This video served as the centrepiece for a public engagement strategy that included social media, paid advertising to increase video reach, and email and mail touchpoints with our supporters.
See the supporting written story for Gonzalo’s Journey 🚌.
Above all, we achieved our objectives by ensuring the family and team members appearing on camera felt respected and included in the storytelling process. Other highlights include:
Numerous anecdotal conversations with supporters highlighted the video’s strength in communicating how ongoing care can be possible in complex contexts.
*When watching Gonzalo's Journey, we encourage you to click the gear icon and switch the quality to '2160 4K' for the best viewing experience.
