Smile… You Deserve It! – Cleft Lip Mission in Lebanon

What is a hero? According to the common sense, it is a “person of distinguished courage and ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities”, it is also “a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal”(1) . With all the commotion around ecological achievements, how many times do we forget daily heroes, those who work among us, live among us, breathe next to us, those who, everyday, are performing big miracles on small scales.

Heroism? This is what we witness every year at BMG when hero doctors perform high precision surgeries on hero patients suffering from Cleft Lip. For the fourth consecutive year, BMG is proud to support the Global Smile Foundation headed by Doctor Usama Hamdan working with Doctor Ghassan Abou Setta and specialized experts from around the world and in collaboration with Talia foundation, on a mission to draw beautiful precious smiles in Lebanon. The Cleft Lip mission consists of performing free surgeries on patients, in particular children in order to offer them a better life and a brighter future.

What is Cleft Lip:

Cleft Lip is a facial and oral (cleft palate) malformation that occurs very early in pregnancy. It results from a lack of tissue in the mouth or the lip area of the fetus so the tissue that is available does not join together properly. The causes of cleft lip are unknown that’s why it’s very difficult to prevent. Most studies believe it might be of genetic and environmental factors. Some other studies believe it can also be caused by medication a mother might have taken during pregnancy.

Cleft lip or palate can cause many eating problems, ear infection or hearing problems, speech and dental problems. Many solutions exist to help the child breathe, eat or ease the pain and problems. However, it needs a lot of care, of means and follow up.

Cleft Lip Treatment:
To treat the cleft lip or palate, a team of different doctors and specialists is needed. It can ideally be a plastic surgeon, as well as a dentist, an orthodontist, a prosthodontist, an oral dentist, an otolaryngologist, a speech pathologist and therapist, a geneticist and other nurse coordinator and social worker. You cannot fix a cleft lip or palate unless you undergo a surgery. Sometimes many are needed. Sometimes, patient cannot afford it. All the time, the children suffering from cleft lip or palate have to go through physical pain on top of moral and psychological pain. Around 79 cases were presented of which 29 were done in 5 days while the remaining cases were scheduled throughout the year.

 

What is a hero? A hero is a doctor who decides to master the art of humanity by founding an NGO to care and collaborates with worldwide organizations to make a difference. A hero is a doctor who gathers a top of the range multi-disciplinary cleft care expertise to local communities. A hero is a hospital welcoming patients and heroic doctors. A hero is a child with cleft lip or palate who faces all kind of challenges with courage and hope.

Thanks to Doctor Usama Hamdan, to Global Smile Foundation, to Talia and to BMG, heroism takes another meaning.
Smile children… You Deserve It!

_____

(1) http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hero

www.gsmile.org

www.mcgrafi.me/BMG/

[justified_image_grid ids=734,735,736,737,738,739,740,741,742,743,744,745,746,747,748,749,750,751,755,753,756,752,757,754,759,758,763,762,761,760]