Give A Smile benefits

CAUSE: Members of the Rotary Club of Terrace End around the breakfast table. PHOTO: HARRY HAROLD HAMOSO

Children born with cleft pallets in the Philippines have been given a helping hand thanks to a Rotary fundraiser.

Four lucky youngsters will be able to receive the corrective surgery needed after the Rotary Club of Terrace End raised $1000 at a recent breakfast meeting.

Club member Allan Gillingham said the money will go through the charity Give A Smile, an organisation active in the Philippines, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

The charity arrange operations for children born with palate deformities - one of the most common birth defects in the world.

"For each of them it will be a life-changing experience, allowing them to overcome difficulties in eating, breathing and speaking and taking a normal part in childhood social activities. They commonly will not attend school or hold a job."

The charity aims for 500 surgeries a year, and relies on donations like this to make them happen.

The operation is simple and the effects, both emotionally and physically, are immediate.

Although the operation costs just $250, the rest is done mainly with the help of volunteers.

The charity co-ordinates plastic surgeons who donate their time and acquire the use of things like operating theatres from locals who donate these.

Cleft pallet can affect children of any race and gender, with one in every 700 born with this condition.

There are 240 children on Give A Smile's waiting list, and they have already performed more than 1200 operations in the 16 years they have been operating.

Give A Smile was established in 1999 after New Zealander David Cowie visited the Philippines. He saw a small boy, Ruel, who was emaciated and lying in a facility unable to give him the help he needed.

The little boy had infections, viruses and he was dying.

He also had a cleft pallet which made it difficult for him to swallow.

With Cowie at the visit was Annie Ambil, whose husband was the Governor of Eastern Samar. They gave the boy lifesaving help and Cowie raised enough money for Ruel's surgery.

The Ruel foundation was established, and their Give A Smile programme began.

To donate visit www.giveasmile.org.