s w e N e l i Sm
Issue 8
21895_NL
Welcome to your latest edition of Smile News
We recently went on a mission to Madagascar and met two sisters, Vaviroa and Nambina. When we first met them, the two little girls shyly hid behind their parents and barely said a word. Years of bullying had taught these girls that the world didn’t want to see their smiles. The girls’ parents knew that because both of their daughters were born with cleft lip, they would suffer deeply throughout their entire lives, experiencing social ostracism, bullying and even, physical pain. Surgery was out of the question. They had never been able to take their daughters to see a doctor, let alone afford two surgeries. But that all changed when Vaviroa and Nambina both received surgeries to fix their clefts. With the help of people just like you, Vaviroa and Nambina now have bright, beautiful new smiles. I can’t wait until we accomplish the same thing for even more children, in Madagascar and around the world. Hope you enjoy this edition of Smile News and thank you so much for your support of Operation Smile and for giving hope to children and families who had none. Dr. Bill Magee Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Operation Smile
Ju £150 ast 45 minnd a operat ute io chang n can child’s e a life
MADAGASCAR Sean McGuire, our Corporate Partnerships Manager was on our recent medical mission to Madagascar and made some new friends. We arrived on the first day of the mission at Hospital Joseph Ravoahangy in Antananarivo, Madagascar and were greeted by a sea of more than 500 people. Due to sheer lack of capacity, the team would only be able to perform about 140 surgeries during the week. This news would be devastating to many families who had travelled for days, often on foot, with little or no food and money. During the week, I made new friends. Fitahiana, a 9 year old boy with a cleft lip and his father, Adolphe come from a very poor family. Adolphe earns just 42p a day and Fitahiana’s mother had to stay at home to care for the rest of the family. Along with many other families they had saved for months for this chance of changing Fitahiana’s world. Often, children born with deformities are believed to be
cursed because of the sins of their parents. Their community fears and shuns them as they believe that they may become cursed by association. Adolphe told us that “Fitahiana doesn’t want to go to school and cries often because of the bullying”. Fortunately for Fitahiana and his family, he was scheduled to receive surgery and on the day of surgery, I stayed with him every step of the way, even helping him up onto the operating table. I could only imagine how scared he must have been surrounded by foreigners speaking jibberish, wearing strange hospital clothes, but he did everything we asked without hesitation. After surgery, I met Adolphe, and walked him up the five flights of stairs to where his son was recovering. His eyes were wide and I could tell he was eager to see his child. Fitahiana was sitting on the bed playing with a Spider Man