Help Me Smile Again!

My Jaw Surgery

My name's Chantelle. I'm from Victoria West in the Northern Cape South Africa. I'm 26 and blind. I lost my sight when I was only 6months old. Lucky for me a doctor managed to save some of my sight. In 2008 I found out that I had glaucoma. As the years go's buy the glaucoma takes a bit of my sight with it.

At around the age of 15 the dentist who use to come to the school for the blind in Worcester told me that I needed an operation to move both my jaws so that I could get braces. My family couldn't afford having me go for the operation while I was still in school, for fear that someone might bump into me or worse.

In 2008 my father retired and so we lost our medical aid.

Since 2009 I've been trying to find a job so that I could raise enough money to get this operation. Unfortunately our government brought in the BBBEE law which prevents some of us from getting a job.

I'm on a disability grant which are hardly enough for all my needs.

I've been looking at affordable medical aids that might be able to pay for my operation but, I'm unable to find any that I could afford and there aren't any medical aid for people living on disability grant.

With my jaws the way it is today, I'm unable to eat correctly and have to endure people's questions as to why I don't get my teeth fixed, biting myself by accident when trying to eat something and not being able to open my mouth wide enough when trying to sing a song.

It would be a dream come true to finally smile without worrying about what people would say or ask, be able to eat normally without worrying about trying to find a way to eat something and knowing that I can sing like any normal person.

It would mean allot to me if you could help to fund this operation I've been waiting for, for so many years.