NEWS UPDATE November 7, 2011

The 10th Anniversary of Smile China

A monument has been built by the Shanxi Provincial government as an appreciation of the many contributions of Smile China in the past 10 years.

30 complicated plastic surgeries have been done successfully by the medical team so that the children can smile again.

At the 10th Anniversary of Smile China, the medical team escorted by Dr. Wong paid a trip to a hospital built by the great Canadian physician Dr. Norman Bethune in Changzhi City, Shanxi province and carried out the life-changing operations on young patients in need, so that they can smile again and regain confidence. Since Dr. Wong’s first visit 9 years ago, the hospital has conducted around 300 plastic operations on children with cleft lips. This time, the medical team led by Dr. Wong includes surgeons, nurses and volunteers from Canada, the US, Australia and China. Besides successfully carrying out 30 complicated plastic surgeries, a large-scale academic conference was held to share the skills of plastic surgery on cleft lips and palate deformity with doctors in Mainland China.

One of the major events in this mission was picking up 6 orphans with cleft lips or palate deformity from another city of Shanxi Province to Changzhi for surgery. This project was handled by Laura-Jean Byers and her husband from Ontario, in remembrance of their 7-year-old daughter, Jenna, who passed away last year.

This medical mission would not have been possible without the great support of the sponsors including CN World and Mandarin Restaurant, especially Daisy Gu from Mandarin Restaurant who joined the medical mission team to take part in the voluntary work.

A Few Words About the Smile China Project

In Canada, the repair of the congenital deformity of cleft lip and palate is commenced during infancy. It is a multidisciplinary treatment involving surgeons, speech pathologists, orthodontists, and others. There are places in the world where patients with this deformity are not treated promptly due to financial reasons or lack of training of local surgeons. Rural China is one of these places.

I feel compelled to help by extending knowledge, skills and medical equipment to treat those children who are not as fortunate as us. I've led the Smile China medical team to the most remote parts of China. The experience was unforgettable. So many children's lives were forever changed and improved. The local surgeons were so eager to learn modern medical techniques. Still, there are so many that need to be helped.

I sincerely hope that you will be interested in knowing more about Smile China and how you can help.

Dr. Joseph K. Wong M.D., F.R.C.S.(C)