Senior Salma Khan Raise Money And Hope For Children With Cleft Palates

CCHS Senior Salma Khan with a child she met in Bangladesh. Photo Courtesy Of SALMA KHAN

BY RACHEL HAAS

Although it is common to be involved in different organizations and fundraisers at Cooper City High School, not everyone wants to go through the process of starting one, which can be very lengthy, especially if you’re trying to save lives. CCHS senior Salma Khan saw an issue arise in her home country of Bangladesh, and wanted her peers to know about it. Her position as Historian on the board of the National Honor Society allowed her to team up with the club to fundraise for a common defect in Bangladesh, known as Cleft lip. Cleft lip is a serious birth defect that occurs when one’s mouth fails to develop in the mother’s womb. “Cleft” means a gap, or split between two things, and a palate is the plate that goes behind your top front teeth all the way back to your mouth.  Babies born with this defect tend to have issues with feeding, hearing, dental, and speech during their lifetime. When she found that over half the population in Bangladesh had cleft lip, Khan went on a mission to make a change.

“I saw the challenges these kids were facing in Bangladesh, and I knew that I needed to bring the struggle back home,” Khan said.

It all started when Khan’s parents urged her to visit her home country this past summer in Bangladesh. Her mother knew it would be a life changing and meaningful learning experience for her daughter. Since Bangladesh is an undeveloped country, someone who is used to technology and innovation can gain a different understanding of life by visiting. Just as her mother and father had intended, it turned out to be a lot more than just a trip. While strolling the streets of Bangladesh, Khan had noticed a young female teen appearing over and over along a certain section of a sidewalk in the main city. Out of curiosity, Khan lingered around the area and saw the girl get progressively tired and weary after she returned to the sidewalk. Since it was such a small neighborhood, Khan asked around about the young girl. The locals told her that the girl worked as a sex slave in order to raise money for her brother’s Cleft lip defect. This sparked the match inside of Khan, and she knew she had to be the voice of a positive change. When she returned to the US, she went online looking for foundations that helped her home country. It wasn’t long before she found the “HOPE Cause” in South Florida, a nonprofit organization, run by kind–hearted people seeking to serve homeless and struggling individuals and families. Without hesitation, Khan started attending their meetings and events to start her movement. One particular event triggered her; the Cleft Lip Cause.

A child with the defect attended the “HOPE” meetings in search for hope and support. While holding the young boy and speaking to his family, Khan was brought to tears. His parents explained that he only had months to live. Immediately, she realized that this child needed money fast, and that she would be the one to raise it.

“It felt so personal, and I made a promise to his family that I would help,” Khan said.

Having to uphold this big promise, she put together a plan to present at the upcoming NHS meeting. When she gave notice to the members about this family she was helping, everyone was more than willing to help her. It became a school-wide movement, with a growing amount of posters, signs, and announcements on a daily occurrence. The massive amount of dedication shown by the collectors affected the total amount collected immensely. The entire school population was aware of the cause and extremely generous. During lunch and between classes, affiliates maneuvered around, collecting money everywhere they went. It wasn’t until Khan started to count the money that she realized the massive amount of support she was receiving. She returned to the HOPE foundation and sought after more children. One promise turned into two, and then to three, and so on until she was providing for six kids. One cleft lip surgery is approximately 250 dollars, and in only nine days, her fundraiser raised a whopping amount of 1,500 dollars, enough to save all of the children and keep her promises to their families.

Green wristbands, which were given when people donated three dollars or more, started to circulate around the entire school, showing support for the cause. Recently featured in the Sun Sentinel for her accomplishments in raising a significant amount of money and making a difference, Khan is a perfect example of one person making a difference in the world. However, Khan is still not finished, and continues her efforts in helping the world.