100 Smiles in 100 Days

At Mission Smile’s Guwahati Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre (GC4) were regularly visited by parents who accompany their kids born with cleft lip and/or palate deformities. We offer free medical evaluation, advice treatment, guide needy beneficiaries through our nutrition program and conduct free cleft rectification surgeries to the selected candidates. Moreover, we conduct follow-up (review) camps to track the progress of the surgery recipients. In a word, at GC4 we provide Comprehensive Cleft Care to patients from Assam and other adjoining North Eastern states.

Emma (name changed), a 5-year-old baby girl from Sonapur in Assam, who was born with a cleft lip. A very cheerful and sweet baby, she is the youngest of her 5 elder siblings. While enquiring about her parent’s background we came to know that Emma’s mother got married at the age of 14 (an under-age marriage). But that’s not all, due to mounting social obligations; she was forced to marry a man who was almost 25 years older to her! Now, in a family of seven members, both the parents had to work hard to earn their daily bread. Emma’s father works as a manual labour while her mother is a vegetable vendor.

When Emma was born, her mother was inconsolable after seeing her baby’s cleft deformity. She had never seen a cleft child before! Her initial discomfort about Emma’s cleft deformity affected the mother-child bond, but gradually love took over fear, and she accepted her baby’s condition. Misfortune showed up yet again when the lactating mother was diagnosed with scabies and hence was not allowed to feed her new-born! But like it is said “time heals and makes a person stronger”, after her recovery, Emma’s mother became determined to get her daughter treated. She brought Emma to Guwahati Medical College and from there she was referred to GC4. Emma was selected for cleft rectification surgery but her surgery date was deferred as she was diagnosed with scabies.

Finally, after recovery from scabies, Emma was successfully operated on our Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre in Guwahati. It was perhaps the brightest day for Emma and her mother. The little angel embraced her ‘New Smile’!

We thank our team of doctors and medical/ non-medical volunteers as well as our donors and supporters whose contribution and determination to ‘do good’ helped us in gifting little Emma with a smile to last for her lifetime!

We want to help more children like Emma through this campaign by making it on-going.

So, we appeal to you to start a recurring donation to help fund ongoing post-surgery treatment for cleft children.

Amount does not matter; your participation does - for these children who need prolonged care and treatment even after their successful cleft surgeries.

Here’s the link to our project page: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/make-a-smile-gift/ to make a recurring investment in the futures of these kids.

Our goal is to raise 50 recurring donations in next 30 days and each one counts..............

Thank you for being there for Emma throughout.

Anupam Sarkar | Sr. Manager - Partnerships
M: +91-9007883789 | E: anupam.sarkar@missionsmile.org
Website: www.missionsmile.org

Links:

• 100 SMILES IN 5 DAYS -14TH INTL. CLEFT SURGERY MISSION AT GC4
• DIFFICULT CASES WEEK 2018 @ GC4: GIVING THEM A SECOND CHANCE
• COLOMBIA MISSION APR 2018: EXTENDING GLOBAL SOLIDARITY

Dear Smile Givers

I am glad that the 100 Smiles in 100 Days campaign is going beyond its suggestive target of 100 Smiles to bring the Gift of Smile to even more number of children. Thanks for supporting and sharing ,we had received disbursements of slightly over $ 1000 in March and April as additional support from new donors.

We used your donation to support the surgery of Ann (Name Changed) , 1 year and 10 months old baby girl who was born with a major cleft (If you are from a medical background - Tessier 4 Cleft). This severe form of cleft not only affects the lip and palate but changes the entire symmetry of the face and at times impairing vision, hearing etc. of the child.

We came to know about Ann from one of our cleft awareness camp near their village. Their village, Mondalgiri, is a kilometre away from Sunderban Tiger Reserve (home to Royal Bengal Tiger). It is an economically backward region with agriculture and fishing being the primary sources of income of the people. Her surgery would have been impossible for her father to provide for who is a daily wage earner. His meagre means supports a family of five hence providing corrective surgery for his daughter was a distant dream.

Ann’s condition had huge impact on her psychologically as she avoids playing outside and frequently sick due to infections. Words fall short to express the pain that Ann had to go through in her life without the surgery. The non acceptance by her grandparents, the cruel name calling all this could end with her surgery.

So tears welled in the eyes of her parents when we told them that the entire cost of surgery, stay and travel for them and their daughter will be provided free of cost. And, what a transformation has it been!

And when she came with her parents after a week of her surgery; the shine in her eyes truly expressed how much the surgery meant for her. Please see her pic attached.

Thank you so much for helping Ann with her surgery.

As you would see in the pictures in her pre and post surgery pictures attached below, you would find that the huge change that your donations has brought, makes all this worth it.

We know that she would need a few more surgeries to recover to the maximum possible extent. And, we are determined to do whatever necessary to help her recuperate fully- be it medicines, speech therapy, nutrition, and provide further corrective surgeries.

We want to help more children like Ann through this campaign by making it on-going.

So, we appeal to you to start a recurring donation to help fund ongoing post-surgery treatment for cleft children.

Amount does not matter; your participation does - for these children who need prolonged care and treatment even after their successful cleft surgeries.

Here’s the link to our project page: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/make-a-smile-gift/ to make a recurring investment in the futures of these kids.

Our goal is to raise 50 recurring donations in next 30 days and each one counts..............

Thank you for being there for Ann through out.

Anupam Sarkar | Manager - Partnerships
M: +91-9007883789 | E: anupam.sarkar@missionsmile.org
Website: www.missionsmile.org

 (PS: If you start your recurring donation, and likewise we receive 49 more in next one month, I promise to personally visit Ann’s home again to give her a bouquet of soft toys [for her summer vacations] as a token of your love for her that you have expressed through your recurring donation. And, yes, I will be posting the photos in our next report. Please feel free to share the project with your friends and until we talk again. Bye & Thanks again)

Links:

• Ann's Transformation
• Tamina's Cleft To Smile Journey