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Free Cleft Surgery for 600 Poor Chinese Children

Smile Train for Chinese Children

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Free Cleft Surgery for 600 Poor Chinese Children

Summary

The Smile Train is dedicated to helping the 1.2 million children in China who suffer from unrepaired cleft lips & palates by providing free surgery. They will get a new smile and a new beginning. progress reportread updates from the field

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More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

Approximately 35,000 Chinese babies are born with cleft lips and palates each year. Almost 1.9 million of these children need medical care to lead productive lives. Because of their defect, they are often abandoned at birth. The greatest tragedy is that cleft surgery is a relatively simple procedure that takes as little as 45 minutes & can cost as little as $250. This surgery provides new smiles, hope & a new beginning to children who otherwise would lead lives of isolation and shame.

Activities

Cleft surgery gives children a second chance at life. It takes as little as 45 minutes, but the impact lasts a lifetime. After years of living in shame and isolation, these children can finally go to school, find a job, and lead happy lives.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: $13,634
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $136,365
Total Funding Goal: $150,000

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources

Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

Children’s lives are changed forever. Dignity is restored to the family and the medical community benefits. Newly trained Smile Train doctors share their surgical skills with new doctors ensuring that cleft care will be available for years to come.

Project Message

The Smile Train helps us help our children. This training and funding helps doctors become self-sufficient, improving not only their ability to treat cleft, but all medical services offered in China.
- Victoria Moy, Smile Train managing director, China

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Michele Sinesky
Special Project Coordinator
245 Fifth Avenue
Suite 2201
New York, New York 10016
United States
1-212-689-9199
Email:

Project Sponsor

The Tech Awards

Organization

The Smile Train
41 Madison Avenue
28th Floor
New York, New York 10010
United States
1-212-689-9199
http://www.smiletrain.org

Learn more about The Smile Train and the project team.

Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in China and can also be found under Children.

For more information about China, read the Human Development Report on China or the Wikipedia entry for China.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on January 14, 2009.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on October 7, 2005

Latest Update from the Field

China Update

By Michele Sinesky - Special Project Coordinator, June 30, 2008 05:12 PM

The Smile Train is dedicated to helping the millions of poor children in the world who suffer from cleft lip and palate through free surgery and free training for doctors. The free surgery and related treatment that The Smile Train sponsors are performed by local medical teams in local hospitals in developing countries. This “teach a man to fish” strategy builds in-country capacity while helping very poor but very proud communities become self-sufficient, one smile at a time.

In 9 years, The Smile Train has helped more than 139,500 children in China, giving them a new smile and a second chance at life. The Smile Train partners with 389 local hospitals and supports 3 mission groups and its goal for this year is to help 30,000 poor children in China.

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