The first Smile Week of 2022 will empower 23 children at Universitas Academic Hospital from the 7th – 11th March 2022, and the foundation celebrates 4000 changed lives.
South Africa (09 March 2022) – Over 4000 life-changing smiles. 21 incredible years. One simple mission: transforming the lives of children affected by facial abnormalities and severe burns through the best possible surgical and psychological care.
It seems like yesterday that Madiba took the first step to help one child access the specialist facial reanimation surgery she so desperately needed. A simple step that birthed Smile Foundation has impacted over 4000 families in South Africa.
Smile Foundation passionately continues to keep Madiba’s legacy alive. This March, 23 brave children will undergo surgery and 23 families’ lives will change forever at Universitas Academic Hospital, commencing on the 7th March 2022.
Two of the children receiving surgery include 15-month-old Olivia and 7-year-old Lindokuhle.
In 2020, Olivia from Johannesburg, who was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, was supposed to undergo her first surgery at just three months of age. Because of lockdown, her procedure was postponed, putting her at risk of weight loss because of eating difficulties. Olivia’s mom, through desperation, reached out to Smile Foundation, who helped Olivia get her cleft lip repaired; the transformation was remarkable.
This Smile Week, Olivia and her parents will be travelling to Bloemfontein, where she’ll be undergoing cleft palate surgery so she can speak and eat like most children instinctively do.
Lindokuhle from Warden in the Free State – a beautiful 7-year-old boy, was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Lindokuhle is booked for a FAAM Flap to close the fistula in his palate. Before his first surgery in 2015, his mom said,
“Seeing my child like that, broke my heart. I was afraid for him and also afraid of how the world would treat him because he was different from other children. It was a big struggle to feed him because the food came through his nose. Then, in 2015, he had his first cleft lip repair, he was so beautiful after that and the feeding much better.”
Though his speech is still an issue, the surgery on his palate will help solve the problem. Restoring his confidence and giving him a happier future.
In the spirit of optimising the ability to smile, Smile Foundation has also had some work done to its smile. To mark its milestone anniversary, its smile-shaped script logo has been given a makeover. It now sports a modern sans serif font with a ‘smile’ emoji in its name – bringing an instant smile to mind on first noticing it. 🙂
Furthermore, Smile Foundation has also extended its mission to include burn reconstructive surgery, given the vast number of children affected by burns in South Africa every day.
“It is with immense admiration and gratitude that we acknowledge every medical professional at Universitas Academic Hospital and administrators, sponsor, volunteers, colleagues, and friends who have sacrificed their time to changing lives and making miracles happen.” – Kim Robertson Smith – CEO at Smile Foundation.
Together, we can help children overcome obstacles and live a life inspired by confidence and possibility.
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