For many poor children, corrective facial surgery opens the door to self confidence.

“The only wish in my life” says the middle-aged woman, who wishes to stay unnamed, “is to give her a smile.”

She believes that an illness during her pregnancy resulted in her daughter being born with a cleft-palate.

Her husband left her because of the child’s malformation, and she is too poor to afford any corrective surgery for her daughter.

A long waiting list

It is 2.30 p.m. on December 15. A corrective surgery for cleft lip and palate gets underway at the General Hospital in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang.

The first beneficiary of Operation Smile Vietnam (OSV)’s campaign for the Mekong Delta launched early this month is a seven-month-old baby.

After crying for a long time, she is given anesthesia and goes into a deep sleep. Her thin body makes it hard for doctors to locate her vein, while her little mouth causes difficulties in using knives, scissors and needles to suture her cleft lip.

Around 45 minutes later, the surgery ends.

Doctor Nguyen Chi Cuong says he never feels the same before each surgery because the needs are different each time. This time, since it is rather “a cosmetic surgery” in nature, perfection is one of the requirements.

However, such surgeries are not only for beautifying, but also for bringing smiles to the faces of children for the upcoming Lunar New Year festival (Tet), giving them the confidence to socialize with the community, says Director Nguyen Manh Hung of the surgery sponsor Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel).

At 18, Tran Thi Dieu Hien, who is from Dong Thap Province, seems to be the oldest patient amongst 150 children awaiting surgeries for cleft lips and palates at the general hospital.

Hien’s mother says since they are poor, they could only afford surgery for suturing her lip over the past 18 years, while the palate keeps causing difficulties in her speech, and even eating and drinking.

The difficulties do not stop there.

“I feel so hurt when some days she runs home crying after being teased by other children” the mother says.

“Hien has almost never had a chance to keep her head up [when walking outside of home], she says. She does not dare to talk to strangers, either, because “no one understands what she is saying.”

Director Lam Hoai Phuong of the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology in Ho Chi Minh City (NHOS-HCMC) says in Vietnam one of every 500 newborn babies has the defects. It is estimated that around 15,000 children are living with the facial deformity, she says.

The causes can include chemicals, heredity, nutrition and diseases that the mother suffers during her pregnancy, according to Phuong.

Except for heredity, other causes can be prevented, Phuong says. Whatever the cause is, the defects still can be treated if the baby receives timely surgery, consultancy and speech therapy, she adds.

The timely surgery for cleft lips is when the baby is six to eight months old, and nine to 12 months old for the palate.

However, it is not easy for the poor to afford the measures, Phuong says.

The mothers hardly receive enough nutrition or they often suffer from diseases during pregnancy. And even after their children are born with defects, the families are too poor to even consult with doctors about the problem.

Operation Smile

Since 1989, the non-governmental OSV, part of the US-based Operation Smile Inc., has helped more than 12,000 Vietnamese children and young adults with cleft lip and palate deformities through local and international surgical missions.

This year more than 300 children with deformities in the Mekong Delta region will receive free surgeries from December 15, 2008 to January 2, 2009 with the cooperation of NHOS-HCMC and a VND1.4 billion (US$82,000) donation from Viettel.

The first day the campaign was launched at the Tien Giang General Hospital with 150 children from the provinces of Tien Giang, Hau Giang, Ben Tre, Long An and Dong Thap.

Surgeries are planned to be performed at three sites – Tien Giang General Hospital, Kien Giang General Hospital and Vinh Long General Hospital.

Each surgery normally takes 45-60 minutes and costs $150 for medicines, hospital fees, meals and transportation during the operation, according to OSV.

Operation Smile was founded by Dr. William Magee, a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse and clinical social worker.

Source: Lao Dong