Local Updates

FACEBOOK EVENT

Look out,Operation Smile Singapore Student Chapter(OSSSC)’s very first event of 2011 is coming your way!

On the 6^th of March, the OSSSC National Executive Committee (NEC) will officially launch the Facebook page titled “I 'LIKE' TO SEE YOU SMILE”. This marks the beginning of a 3-month long project that aims to raise funds and awareness about Operation Smile among the local community. Simply ‘Like’ the page to do your part for Operation Smile - our corporate sponsors have kindly agreed to donate $0.10 for every ‘Like’ received. Do tell your friends to support this worthy cause and aid us in reaching our target of 10,000 ‘Like’s!

The “I ‘LIKE’ TO SEE YOU SMILE” Facebook Page is set up in lieu of the amazing contributions of Mr. Thaddeus Lawrence, a professional speaker, presentation coach and facilitator. On 6^th March 2011, he will be setting off on a week-long, self-supported footrace, braving 250km in the Atacama Desert, Chile for Operation Smile. In this month of March, visit the page to learn more about Thaddeus and his gruelling marathon. Work your creative juices by offering your best answers to the quirkiest questions posted on the page!

Student Chapters

Hwa Chong Institution (College Section)

14 February 2011 was not only Valentine’s Day but also a day in which greater awareness of Operation Smile was created within the school population. Mr.Justyn Olby, Head of the Student Programme in Operation Smile Singapore, specially came down to give a very motivating introductory speech about Operation Smile. Mr Thaddeus Lawrence was also invited to share more about his upcoming marathon for Operation Smile. His story and goals inspired many and we are glad the 40 or so students had a chance to be touched by Justyn and Thaddeus. The sharing session resulted in a lot of interested applicants for the Student Chapter and it is heartening to see so many people wanting to touch the lives of others, one smile at a time. We hope that Operation Smile and the true stories of cleft lip patients around the world will continue to resoundin other schools through talks similar to this.

Raffles Institution (Junior College)

For the past half a year, we have focused our efforts on raising awareness within the school population about Operation Smile. Several t-shirt sales were conducted within the school to serve as a form of publicity to raise funds. Currently, we are in the midst of preparing for an upcoming event in early April – the Raffles Smile Run 2011. This event aims to gather student and teacher volunteers to participate in a charity run for Operation Smile in the RI school campus. Through this, we hope to spread the awareness about our student chapter and Operation Smile and raise funds for needy children with cleft lips, palates and facial deformities to go through the life-changing surgeries.

Republic Polytechnic

We are proposing to have a large-scale concert themed “Mosaic”. The small pieces which make up a mosaic represent every effort we make for patients to smile comfortably. The performances are little pieces of art befitting the theme “Mosaic”. A song-and-dance item similar to that of Glee may be a part of the concert! Please indicate your interest to the OSSSCNEC via osssc.nec@gmail.comif you would like to collaborate with us on this project.

Guest of the Month

Kristabella, President of OSSSC NEC, catches up with the Founder of Operation Smile Singapore, Mr Gary Loh. Mr Loh is also the Founder and Executive Chairman of First Alverstone Partners Pte Ltd.

Q: When and why did you establish Operation Smile Singapore?
A: Operation Smile Singapore was established in late 2007. It was started as a way for Singapore to connect with the rest of the Operation Smile Chapters that had been established in the past 26 years. I felt that Singapore has a unique position because we can provide funds, medical volunteers, a logistic hub and most importantly, a gateway to Asia.

Q: What is your most memorable moment as a part of Operation Smile?
A: It would be the first mission to Uzbekistan where the team was fully funded and organized by the Singapore Chapter. It was also special because it was the 49th Country for Operation Smile to enter and it’s the first Central Asian Country.

Q: What do you do outside of Operation Smile?
A: My full time job is in Private Equity. I started the company in 2007 after having had a career in Banking and Stock Broking.

Q: What is your vision for Operation Smile Singapore?
A: My vision for Operation Smile is to be the leading chapter in Asia where we can extend our scope of work to including running Operation Smile Care centres. These centres would be fully funded by us and the local country business leaders. Therefore, besides the 1 week missions where we send in the medical volunteers team, we will have centres that can run 365 days a year. Such centres will increase the number of children we can help.

Q: What would you like to say to the students in the student chapter?
A: First of all, I would like to say that I am very proud of our Student Chapters and the activities that the participants have generated are amazing. Please keep up the good work and continue to spread the word about our organization and what we are trying to do. Second, I would like to say that all our young participants continue to think outside the box and let me know what more you think we can do to help you spread the message. Finally, we will get more of the students in the Student Chapter involved in future missions and it’s our aim to develop your leadership potential further.

International updates

Across the globe!

The Smiles Club at the Grove School in Connecticut sponsored a campus Hat Day where staff and students donated $1 or more to wear a hat for the day, and collected nearly $100 in donations. Later on, The Smiles Club held a bake sale which raised $250 more.

Operation Smile Club at Lexington High School, Massachusetts, has raised $20,000 to fund 83 surgeries since it was founded two years ago. Club members raised both funds and awareness through lollipop and smiley-face pin drives. They further collected $7000 through a benefit dinner which included a silent auction.

Isn’t it amazing how our peers across the globe are similarly devoting themselves to this common cause?(:

Operation Smile Train...?!?

Unveiling the truth to why Operation Smile has changed its name recently…

Extracted from Operation Smile’s official website:http://www.operationsmile.org/

On the 14th of February 2011, the boards of directors of Smile Train and Operation Smile, two of the leading cleft lip and cleft palate charities in the world, announced that they have voted to combine the two organizations into a single new entity, to be known as Operation Smile Train.

In a joint statement, Charles B. Wang, Co-founder of Smile Train and Dr. William P. and Kathleen S. Magee, Co-founders of Operation Smile, said, “We are delighted that our boards have voted to unite our two organizations. By combining our talented staffs and programs, we bring together the best volunteer doctors and other medical personnel, with the best in-country facilities, and will be able to reach more children than the two charities would have separately. Additionally, our merged resources and knowledge will enhance educational and research programs, laying the foundation for long-term, locally-driven progress in cleft lip and cleft palate treatment.”

Howard J. Unger, currently the Chief Operating Officer of Operation Smile, will hold the same title in the new organization and will have day-to-day management responsibility. Operation Smile Train will be headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, and will have an office in New York City.

With a combined history of over 40 years, Smile Train and Operation Smile have jointly provided 750,000 surgeries to children with cleft lips and/or cleft palates. Together, their operations span over 90 countries, where they also have helped provide related training to thousands of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other medical professionals.

William R. Fox, the current Chairman of Operation Smile’s Board, commented, “This is a natural combination that unites two of the leading cleft lip and cleft palate charities into what will be one of the largest surgical, humanitarian, non-profit organizations in the world. Over many years our two organizations have distinguished themselves by providing life-changing surgeries to hundreds of thousands of children around the world, while operating in a highly efficient manner. Operation Smile Train will continue this tradition. We are tremendously excited for what lies ahead.”

So are we! May Operation Smile Train scale greater heights to recreate even more smiles around the world.

Overseas Diaries

International mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh: January 15-23

Operation Smile’s second international mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh was a great success. Medical volunteers hailing from 11 countries including Bangladesh, Singapore,China, India and even Peru provided medical examinations for 148 patients and surgery for 98 children.

Part of this mission, were four of our very own Operation Smile Singapore students, including Karen Oung, General Secretary of the OSSSCNEC.

Karen shares her experiences on her first ever mission trip:

The 15th to the 23rd of January 2011 were a couple of extremely meaningful days for the 4 of us participating in the Dhaka mission trip as student volunteers. In Dhaka, we saw first-hand the efforts of Operation Smile Singapore and the entire National Chapter come to fruition; 98 cleft-lip and –palate patients underwent surgery; an experience that has changed their lives forever.

In all honesty, we arrived at the mission site not really knowing what to expect. It was clear from the start that we would be pretty helpless from the medical standpoint, since none of us had the necessary training or education. However, we are quite proud to say that we did contribute positively to the overall success of the mission. This was possible due to us taking on various roles such as that of Medical Records and Electronic Medical Records personnel and Patient Imaging Technicians.

The main responsibility of the Electronic Medical Recorder was to keep track of and generate operating schedules as changes were made throughout each day. Together with the Electronic Medical Recorder, Medical Recorders ensured that all surgeons, nurses and other medical staff were kept updated on each patient’s medical condition, such as patient allergies etc. Patient imaging, on the other hand, involved documenting the patients’ cleft-lip or –palate conditions at different stages in their treatment, namely pre- and post-operation.

It is difficult to put into words what exactly each of us student volunteers took away from this mission. However, it is perhaps the simplest answer to say that being in Dhaka and contributing, albeit indirectly, to the 89 miracles there has given greater meaning to the continued work we do as members of the Operation Smile Singapore National Chapter.

Check out the mission blog at http://tinyurl.com/4f986mx right now!

For reflections on the mission by our student volunteers, please visit: http://www.just-photography.com/blog/date/2011/02

Groovy Trivia

Approximately one in every 500 babies in Asia is born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate.

A cleft patient’s smile can be repaired in as little as 45 minutes, and for as little as S$360.