how your shopping can make a better change for kids with a cleft palate in indonesia
At the birth of a child there is always plenty to smile about. Yet some children have no smile of their own. Around one in every six hundred children born in Bali has the disabling condition of a cleft palate or cleft lip. This leaves them disfigured and unable to smile. While the cause is not due to one single factor, diet and mineral deficiencies can contribute. But there is one factor that can cure, and that’s money.
Money allows children, even babies as young as six months old, to get the attention they need from qualified surgeons. The Smile Foundation of Bali has assisted over 1,200 children with craniofacial recovery operations since it began its services back in 2005.
The Bali-based Smile Foundation has introduced regional clinics so that children as far away as Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara can come for the relatively straightforward cleft palate surgery that can improve their quality of life. Some children suffer far more complicated craniofacial disfigurements. Through the assistance of the Smile Foundation, the Australian Craniofacial Institute in Adelaide can provide much more complex treatment, surgery and recovery programs for the children of Indonesia.
While the Smile Foundation is funded through private donations and the CSR initiatives of companies like Maya Ubud and Amadea Resorts, they need support to provide support. The services of a full-time counsellor to assist families through the process of rehabilitation and recovery from serious operations are required. Families often fear being far from home. They need the services of a counsellor to assist them in negotiating not just the practicalities of having a child in for surgery but also the relocation to a larger city and a more complicated daily routine of hospital and doctor visits. The foundation also needs to support its local staff who cook and clean at the Smile House in Sanglah and assist at the two Smile shops. These people are vital to the ongoing success of the foundation.
In order to meet these costs the SMILE SHOP was opened in Ubud in 2006 and has proved a success at raising funds that can keep the foundation meeting its running costs. The shop receives donations in the form of unused or lightly used second-hand clothing, especially children’s wear, books in Indonesian and other resale items such as toys.
Please visit the Smile Shop in Ubud on Jalan Sriwedari. They open from Tuesday to Saturday during normal shopping hours and half a day on Sundays. Their staff are volunteers who give their time to keep the shop running. They are good at helping you find the perfect items and also at assisting you to drop items off. Sometimes they can get something picked up from your hotel if you leave it clearly marked at the reception. The foundation can be contacted on +62 361 233 758 or through their website: senyumbali.org.