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| Image Source: facebook.com |
Every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft lip and palate. Every hour, about 20 babies are born without normal facial features, thus deterring the development of early survival skills, such as sucking, eating, and socializing. Every day, about 480 babies will never learn how to smile.
The latter reason is probably where Operation Smile took its name. Since its inception in 1982, the organization has grown to become the largest volunteer-based medical charity providing free cleft surgeries to many countries across the globe. To date, it has provided over 3.5 million comprehensive patient evaluations and more than 200,000 free cleft surgeries to infants, children, and young adults who were born with congenital facial anomalies.
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Through the years, the organization has moved across different stages—from being a mere movement to an international charity. But with this evolution came an inevitable transcendence. Operation Smile has become more than an NGO; it has matured to become a “mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery and related medical care for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.”
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| Image Source: pinterest.com |
Operation Smile believes that every child born with a cleft deserves equitable access to quality surgical care. After all, every child deserves a future filled with hope—a future that he or she can meet and welcome with a smile.
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| Image Source: pinterest.com |
Operation Smile is backed by philanthropists, like Alex von Furstenberg, who believe that children should not be deprived of the God-given gift of smile. Learn more about von Furstenberg’s supported charities by visiting this website.
