Smile foundation is determined to give children who have facial deformities a new face

Many children who had suffered from different types of facial abnormalities have been assisted by the Smile Foundation team.

To assist these children, who were either diagnosed with Moebius syndrome or other conditions that may cause facial paralysis, some of these children have scars from burns, which is why the team at the foundation have partnered with teams from Avela Foundation and the Signature of Hope to come up with ways to help these children.

Although some of these facial deformities are treatable through surgery, it costs the foundation millions of rands annually to conduct these operations to bring a smile back to the faces of the children.

The foundation offers these life-changing operations for free as most of the parents of the children who receive these surgeries have financial restrictions which limit them from accessing help early.

“Even though we’re a charity for children, we understand that parents want nothing more than to help their children in need and cannot do so due to financial restrictions. We aim to positively increase the quality of life for South Africa’s disadvantaged families by encouraging, informing, and educating the parents throughout the process,” the foundation said.

These operations are currently performed at 11 hospitals in the country.

“We are currently based in eleven of the best academic hospitals in South Africa. We continually support the teams of qualified compassionate medical staff by investing in further skills development programs, as well as the purchasing of much needed medical equipment for the departments specialising in plastic and reconstructive surgery within these hospitals,” the organisation explained.

The donations that are received from generous donors help the foundation build better facilities at these hospitals.

The foundation said that together with Avela Foundation and Signature of Hope, they have completed Phase 1 of the Burns Unit at Kimberley Hospital.

“With your support we aim to complete Phase 2 which will add an enhanced sense of calmness, contentment, and security assisting with the patients’ emotional well-being,” it said.

Editor’s note:

The team from Smile Foundation, including surgeons and hospital staff, are working hard every day to ensure that either born with a facial deformity or had an illness cause some kind of abnormality on their face and those who might have accidentally had their faces burned during a fire are assisted with a surgery that would help them regain their confidence.

Description:

The organisation heavily relies on donations to do its work has seen hundreds of children receive a life-changing surgery at no cost to their families.

Editor: Thato Mahlangu

Project manager: Anirlé de Meyer