NEWS UPDATE JANUARY 30, 2010

We are very delighted to inform you of our recent developments following a very successful trip to China.

PATIENT FOLLOW-UP:
In January Dr. and Mrs. Wong and Dr. Reimer visited Guangxi Medical Centre in Nanning for a post-op patient follow-up and were very pleased with the results of the 50 patients that were seen. The team at Guangxi Medical Centre and the families and children were delighted to meet us with new smiles.

In our last mission, two young patients were filmed in greater detail, one by Global television and one by our volunteer filmmaker, David Warry-Smith. The child filmed by Global Television was featured on the National News in October 2009 and also on 16 x 9 The Bigger Picture. The two children had excellent results and appeared happy and healthy. Their mothers were full of praise and gratitude. They reported that family and friends have responded positively, now supporting their efforts to keep their children, which is a complete turn around since the surgery.

Here is the link to our coverage on Global’s 16 x 9 The Bigger Picture. This story aired on December 13, 2009 and is episode 155.

http://news.globaltv.com/programs/16x9/video.html?releasePID=vahG68nQHWYazn6_1IPdr5dFgbyqMTzI

Here is a January post-op photo of the young child featured in this film.

We were all touched by the story of eleven month old orphan Ehua, who was adopted by a very special Mom who experienced tragedy in the loss of her twin sons last year. Ehua was abandoned because of his disfiguring cleft, and the villagers did not approve when his courageous adoptive Mother brought him home. She was beaming when she brought Ehua back to see us in January and she and Ehua and all the villagers are very happy and doing well.

SMILE CHINA PROJECT/SHANGHAI #9 HOSPITAL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE DEDICATED TO ACHIEVING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS IN CLEFT LIP AND PALATE SURGERY

We are delighted to announce a partnership program with the Shanghai #9 Hospital, a highly esteemed and leading hospital in China. The caliber and reputation that it enjoys make it an ideal partner as the Smile China Project evolves to meet the needs of the Chinese surgeons. Together, we are creating a Centre of Excellence to advance and improve surgical skills throughout China that will help address the great need for cleft lip and palate surgery.

The Smile China Project and representatives of the Shanghai #9 Hospital including the very celebrated and world-renowned Dr.Ti-Sheng Chang and the President of the hospital, Dr. Zhi-Yuan Zhang agreed on a collaboration complete with speech pathology and Chinese based fund-raising while maintaining the fundamental principle of humanitarian, pro bono work to benefit the impoverished children of rural areas who cannot afford treatment. Most importantly, it will provide a center for teaching, with top facial plastic surgeons from around the world adding to the expertise currently available at # 9 Hospital. Chinese surgeons and International surgeons will work together to raise the level of care provided to cleft lip and palate patients. We will focus on a more comprehensive care approach including the development of tools for speech pathology.

The spirit of the Smile China Project in collaboration with our exceptional partner, Shanghai #9 Hospital, will create a highly sustainable program built on excellence and humanitarianism. We are proud to continue in the footsteps of other great Canadians dedicated to improving the lives of the less fortunate.

PILOT MISSION:
The program will begin with a "pilot" mission during the month of May. This will be an opportunity to detail all the critical elements being reviewed on which we will develop our long term program. At this time, we will review teaching formats, archival systems, outreach plans, funding, media involvement, etc...all the essential elements towards making this a great success.

SHANGHAI EXPO 2010:
We are currently planning a day of participation at the Shanghai Expo 2010 where we will announce and celebrate the launch of the Smile China Shanghai #9 Hospital partnership with the theme: "In The Footsteps of Dr. Norman Bethune: Developing Surgical Excellence in China".

Shanghai # 9 Hospital and the Canadian Smile China Project are committed to establishing a Centre of Excellence in Corrective Surgery for Facial Deformities to serve the under-privileged children of China. On this, the 70th anniversary of the death of Dr. Bethune, the launch of the Centre in Shanghai stems from a decade of experience by Smile China and will serve as one of Canada's legacy projects for Shanghai Expo 2010.

	About Smile China	A Tragedy