The Power of Listening: Meet a Volunteer Supporting Families in Kenya

For nearly 20 years, Operation Smile volunteer Nancy Ngetha has supported patients and families through the emotional and social challenges that can accompany cleft care. By listening, answering questions and creating a safe space, she helps families feel seen and supported.

Care Beyond Surgery

For many families, the birth of a child is a moment filled with excitement and anticipation. When a baby is born with a cleft condition, parents also face unexpected questions, concerns and emotions. In Kenya, Nancy Ngetha works as a psychosocial provider to help families navigate these experiences. She creates a safe space for parents and caregivers to talk about what they are feeling, ask questions, and better understand what comes next.

After nearly 20 years of volunteering with Operation Smile, Nancy has supported countless patients and caregivers through the emotional and social challenges that can accompany cleft care. Her approach begins with something simple but powerful: listening.

“When families first arrive, they are carrying more than their child,” Nancy says. “They are carrying questions, fears and experiences that deserve to be heard.”

During surgical programs, Nancy helps families talk through their concerns, and shares updates with empathy. She makes sure families feel heard, respected and supported throughout their experience.

Those conversations can be an important first step in processing complex emotions.

“How did you feel, from day one, when you saw the face of your baby?” Nancy asks families. “Some of them say, ‘I felt bad, I felt shocked, I felt ashamed.’ Others say, ‘I was rejected by the family members.’ Whatever you felt is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation, but we are here to give hope and to see how your baby can be helped.”

These conversations give families an opportunity to express difficult emotions without judgement and helps them understand how they can move forward.

Supporting Families at Every Step

Psychosocial care is an important part of comprehensive care. While surgery addresses a physical need, patients and families often also need support as they navigate the emotional and social aspects of their care.

Psychosocial providers like Nancy help families from the first conversation before surgery through recovery and their return to everyday life. They create opportunities for patients and caregivers to share concerns, ask questions, and access the support they need at each stage of their journey.

“My role throughout the week is to make sure there is emotional safety for the patient, for the guardian or the parent,” Nancy says.

Creating that sense of safety can be especially meaningful when families are experiencing unfamiliar circumstances. By listening and offering practical tools and emotional support, Nancy helps patients and caregiver feel more prepared and confident through their care journey.

And the support does not end when a patient leaves the operating room.

Alongside surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, speech therapists, nutritionists, dentists and other members of the multidisciplinary care team, psychosocial providers help address the needs of the whole patient and family.

Creating Space for Connection

For Nancy, some of the most meaningful moments of her work come from simply being present with families.

“It is very fulfilling listening to those mothers and giving them a smile back. You know even though they might cry, I always see them smile,” Nancy says.

After nearly two decades with Operation Smile, Nancy continues to demonstrate why psychosocial support is an important part of a patient’s care journey. Her work ensures that patients and families feel seen and supported and gives them a safe space to process their emotions during a life-changing moment that can feel overwhelming. Sometimes, care begins with something as simple as knowing that someone is there to listen.