Thanks to our wonderful donors, Smile Train's programs in China continue to grow and expand as we head towards the new year. Desperate children who would otherwise never be able to afford life-changing cleft sugery are able to receive new smiles and new lives through your generosity.

Links:

• www.smiletrain.org

Shandong Province, China -

"I once read a saying in a magazine: defective children are angels from Heaven. Because God favors them too much, signs are made on their body so that they can be found at any time." - Smile Train Patient, Li Dungang

Li Dungang received Smile Train surgery on June 12, 2006 at Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College: a secondary cleft lip surgery at the age of 23. A hardworking student, from a family of poor, rural farmers, Li Dungang was lucky that his parents were able to save enough money to provide him with his primary cleft lip surgery as a child. However, as he grew older, his face changed and the scarring on his lip became more visible, leading to taunting and humiliation. Li Dungang found comfort in his studies, determined to forge his own path,

I knew that as far as a rural child was concerned, to do well in school was the only way to notch up a success...I knew that I had to make a greater effort than others if I wanted to go to college: it was a common occurrence to get up to study at two or three o’clock in the morning. Only by this way could I change my destiny."

All of the studying paid off and Li Dungang was accepted into college. He struggled to pay his way through school living primarily off of a month's supply of rice pancakes that his mother would make for him on his routine visits home. As he celebrated his acceptance into China University of Political Science and Law, tragedy struck and his mother fell seriously ill requiring him to send what little money he earned on the side back to his parents for her medical bills rather than towards his education. Li Dungang returned home to visit his sick mother and visited our Smile Train partner once more to follow up on his previous surgery. While he was there, he explained his situation and how he feared he would have to drop out of school in order to help his parents through the even more difficult times. The staff introduced him to the new Smile Grant program and he received a small grant that he could use to help his family while he returned to school. Smile Train staff also nominated him for a scholarship through the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation. He was awarded the scholarship to cover the rest of his education and graduated with a degree in law. With the guidance of Smile Train Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Regional Programs Dr. Shell Xue, Li Dungang was able to secure a job at a Shandong Province Court where he is now thriving and taking every opportunity to help those in need.

"In my life, I try to help people around me who are in trouble. I smile at strangers as much as possible, it brings me and them a sun-like warmness and sedateness. Life is a mirror, when you smile in front of it, it will also smile and the same for when you cry. It all depends on your attitude towards life."

We are proud to report that Smile Train partners have provided free cleft lip and palate surgery to 208,711 Chinese children since 2001.

In addition, Chung Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan will be hosting The 6th International Workshop on Surgical Techniques in Cleft Lip & Palate and Maxillofacial Surgery from September 27-29, 2010 (http://www.acpa-cpf.org/educmeetings/). Smile Train has sponsored scholarships for 160 partners from around the world to attend.

Tian, China, Hebei Priviledge Hospital, After

The Smile Train is proud to have awarded 140 Special Ancillary Treatment Grants to partner hospitals throughout China in May 2010. This funding will give our partners the support they need to offer important cleft-related ancillary treatment for free for Smile Train patients. Children, who cannot afford treatment, will now be able to benefit from free speech therapy, orthodontics, dental work, and other kinds of ancillary care. This support will also help our partners purchase new medical equipment that will allow them to improve the safety and quality of cleft care they provide and will help them increase the number of patients that they treat.

Key Accomplishments in China • Over 202,377 children treated since 2001. • 26,506 projected surgeries this year. • 397 partners throughout China. • 85 Smile Grants distributed to partners. • 36 Awareness Grants distributed to date. • 80 Ancillary Treatment Grants provided to date. • 140 Special Ancillary Treatment Grants provided to date.

Baojing Lai, Age 1, After

This week Smile Train Vice President DeLois Greenwood will be visiting 5 Smile Train partner hospitals outside Beijing! We look forward to continuing our Chinese partnerships and providing free cleft lip and palate surgery to anyone who needs it.

Key Accomplishments in China • Over 154,018 children treated since 2001. • 1,690 children treated this year so far. • Over 415 partners throughout China. • 85 Smile Grants distributed to partners. • 36 Awareness Grants distributed to date. • 80 Ancillary Treatment Grants provided to date. • Backlog: over 80,000 untreated clefts in China.

This has been an exciting year for Smile Train in China. We are currently working with 397 Chinese partners and last year completed 35,700 surgeries! We estimate that we will provide 39,000 surgeries this coming year. Later on this month, Smile Train Co-founder Charles Wang will travel to China to meet with Smile Train surgeons. We are also beginning a new initiative in China called the Smile Grant program. Grants will be distributed to needy families in order to help offset the cost of food and travel to the hospitals. We are estimating that this program will help 5,000 children and their families. The Cleft-Free Gansu Project is coming to a successful close after Smile Train provided over 3,000 surgeries. This inspired local doctors to begin similar project in Jiang XI Province.

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.

• China (TIFF)
• China (TIFF)

• China_Field_Report_2006.pdf (PDF)
  

Beijing, China: November 15, 2005 -

The Smile Train today announced a major expansion of its free cleft surgery program in China. Smile Train plans to double its network of partner hospitals and increase the number of free cleft surgeries 100% by adding 135 new hospitals over the next 18 months. Any Chinese hospital or clinic in China that operates on children with clefts is invited to apply for this free cleft surgery program. Every hospital that meets The Smile Train's Safety And Quality Protocol will be accepted into the program. To apply, hospitals should contact the China Charity Federation or The Smile Train at www.smiletrain.org.

The Smile Train also unveiled a new 1-800 phone number that indigent children with clefts and their families can call to register for free cleft surgery. The Smile Train guarantees that every indigent child with a cleft who needs cleft surgery can receive it for free at a Smile Train partner hospital.

To register for this program, children simply need to go to any of the 135 Smile Train partner hospitals located in every province of China. Call a toll-free number: 800-810-0059 to register for free surgery. Or visit www.smiletrain.org. The Smile Train guarantees that every indigent child with a cleft that applies can receive free surgery no matter how poor they are or where they live.

The World Health Organization estimates there are approximately 35,000 babies born every year in China with cleft lip and or palate and there is a backlog of hundreds of thousands of Chinese who have never received reconstructive surgery for their clefts. The majority of these children are too poor to ever afford the cleft surgery they desperately need.

Today's announcement is a major expansion of an existing Smile Train free cleft surgery program launched in China in March of 2000. Since then, The Smile Train, working closely with its trusted partner, China Charity Federation (CCF), has provided free cleft surgery for more than 80,000 children in China and free training for more than 4,000 medical professionals. This past year, The Smile Train provided free cleft surgery for more than 14,000 indigent children in China.

Following several years of hard work by tens of thousands of charity and Civil Affairs workers, and thousands of medical professionals, we have accomplished a great deal working with our partners at The Smile Train. As a result of our country-wide network, 80,000 children are smiling today," said Fan Baojun, President of CCF. "But there is still a long way to go and there are still many children who need our help."

Unlike other American charities that send teams of American doctors on missions, the Smile Train partners with Chinese doctors and hospitals and helps very poor but very proud communities become self-sufficient. Each and every Smile Train surgery is performed by a local Chinese medical team at a local Chinese hospital or clinic that also shares in the cost.

More than 375,000 Americans and American companies and foundations fund The Smile Train which receives no government funding.