Smile Week restores lives

INITIATIVE: 18 CHILDREN ARE SELECTED TO UNDERGO CORRECTIVE SURGERY

- Brian Sokutu

When those around her smiled, little Amukelani, born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, could not do the same. Her mother, who was 18 at the time of her birth, was not emotionally prepared for her child's birth condition.

Amid her family's initial disappointment, the mother felt deep guilt over her teenage pregnancy and worried her child's medical needs would further more financial strain.

Among 18 toddlers chosen to undergo corrective surgery during the launch this week of Smile Week at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Amukelani's smile is to be restored, thanks to the Smile Foundation and Airports Company South Africa (Acsa).

With global statistics pointing to children born every three minutes with a cleft lip or palate, children face life-threatening health problems, painful bullying and isolation if their conditions are left untreated.

Their difficulties include being unable to feed properly, leading to malnutrition and thirst, with the risk of death nine times higher.