Organization Spotlight: Smile Train

Love, Care and Consciousness are built into our DNA at DrTung’s.  It’s a concept we weave into every part of our business model — from our products, to our consumers, to our team, to our planet and to all sentient beings.  There are many, many organizations working diligently to make this planet a better place.  Some of these organizations have touched our hearts in very deep ways.  To share the amazing work from a few of our favorite groups, we’re spotlighting one incredible organization each month throughout the year.

The second organization in our series is…

Smile Train

changing the world one smile at a time

Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft-focused charity.  The organization began providing corrective surgeries in 1999 and has supported over 1.5 million cleft surgeries since then.

Smile Train uses what they call the “teach a man to fish” organization model. Rather than sending a team (or teams) to areas of need as with most mission-based organizations, Smile Train partners with local hospitals to provide training and financial support for local medical professionals to offer free cleft surgery and other forms of essential care to patients in their own communities.  This allows patients the opportunity to not only receive life-changing surgery, but ensures they also receive ongoing comprehensive care — speech therapy and emotional, nutritional, dental and orthodontic support — that is essential for the treatment of the whole patient.

Something to Smile About in 2021:

81,100+ children with clefts in 70+ countries will forever remember 2021 as the year they could finally smile.  

What are clefts?

A cleft occurs when certain body parts and structures do not fuse together during fetal development. Clefts can involve the lip and/or the roof of the mouth, which is made up of both hard and soft palate.  Clefts cause difficulties eating, breathing, hearing, and speaking.  Globally, 1 in 700 (200k every year) babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate.¹ 

Can they be treated?

In as little as 45 minutes, a skilled partner surgeon can perform a cleft surgery and change a child’s life forever. Patients see their smile for the first time, parents cry tears of joy, and lives and communities are changed forever.² 

Treating the whole patient

Smile Train is committed to treating the whole patient through programs that provide access to important comprehensive cleft care services.³  Children born with clefts need more than just surgery.  They may also need:

 1)  Speech Therapy: many children will need speech therapy to address language delay, articulation problems, and hypernasality.

2) Nutrition Services: children may have difficulties feeding — mothers and caregivers often need support to learn how to feed and support the growth of their baby.

3) Dental & Orthodontics:  missing, small, extra, and crooked teeth are common after surgery and dental services are vital for the full rehabilitation.

4) Emotional Support: children may have visible scars and/or differences in speech that can lead them to feeling different or experience self-esteem issues — counseling and support are essential for both children and their families throughout their development.

THE TAKEAWAY

We’ve barely scratched the surface of the incredible work that is being done all over the world through the Smile Train organization.  You can read more on their site or follow them on Social Media.  If their work resonates with you, we encourage you to share their story with your friends and family and donate if you can.  

As always, do what resonates with you.  One thing we can all do is to take a few moments each day to take care of ourselves and cultivate positive energy.  When you feel positive, you share that feeling with those around you — it’s contagious (in a good way).  Each of us adding positivity to ourselves and spreading it to those around us adds to the collective Love, Care and Consciousness of humankind.  Together we can make a difference to each other, to our environment and to all sentient beings. 

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.  ~ Edward Everett Hale