Most of us who lay claim to the Islamic charitable heritage are probably familiar with the notion of a smile being the smallest form of charity. It’s unfortunate then, that regardless of what charitable heritage or cultural values were moulded into us when we were small, naive and impressionable, the majority of us today will confess (shamefully) to taking such a simple thing for granted. So here’s a reminder to us moody, emotional misers: for children who suffer from cleft lip and palate, a smile is something they will never take for granted.
The approximation is that globally, one in 600 children are born each year with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. The condition not only makes it difficult for sufferers to eat and speak, but socialising in itself becomes a challenge. Born to disadvantaged families without the means to afford the surgery, most of these children are shunned and rejected by their community. In the worst cases, such as with baby girls in some parts of rural China, a cleft lip is nothing less than a death sentence.
The issue, you’ll merit, deserves more attention than it is given, and here’s where the brilliant people at Operation Smile come in. Working across 70 countries worldwide, the NGO provides free reconstructive surgery for children born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. Over nearly three decades, they’ve provided more than two million patient evaluations and 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults.
‘We believe that all children deserve to live their lives with dignity,’ said Kathy Magee, who founded the organisation with husband Bill back in 1982 ‘And for those suffering from cleft lip/palate or other facial deformities, dignity begins with a smile.’ Their first mission was to the Philippines where the level of poverty and desperation had them wanting to come back in order to help those they were unable to at the time. ‘But the group that we were with said they weren’t coming back,’ says Kathy. ‘And that’s when Operation Smile was born. It was either us or nobody.’
Now the UAE has joined ranks with a long list of resource countries to aid the cause. Earlier in January, Operation Smile launched here with a fundraising office. In operation (excuse the pun) for barely a year, their brilliant fundraising and advocacy work has already funded two missions to Morocco and the Philippines. The missions have provided over 400 surgeries across both countries, and with the support of partners, Operation Smile UAE have also been supplying equipment to cleft centres in Africa and Asia. Now they’re hatching plans to launch a mobile awareness bus on a road trip all over the Emirates, which will provide consultations and care for children suffering from facial disfigurement in this region.
So the budding OSUAE has been active, but the support they’ve received has also been phenomenal. From student clubs raising money through cake sales, to local nurses, plastic surgeons and dentists, signing up to go on voluntary missions – the spirit of activism across the UAE has proved to be one to make us proud.
‘All of our medical staff are volunteers,’ Cathy says, drawing emphasis to the passion and good will of all those who step forward to help. ‘No one who goes on our missions gets paid for their work.’ And it’s not only those decorated with medical degrees who are able to be of use. Whoever you are and from whatever walk of life, the list of ways to get active are as extensive as they can be creative. For example, here at Time Out Abu Dhabi, we wanted to do our bit and took the initiative to spread the word. Behold, the word!
So in the run up to the festive season(s), here’s the pitch: For a mere Dhs880, a 45 minute operation can change a child’s life forever. Whether you’re looking forward to Eid or Christmas, or your rigidly secular new year’s resolution is to up the bar on being kinder to your fellow man, let’s smile and let smile.
For more info, visit Operation Smile at www.operationsmile.org.ae (050 617 6746).
