tfw99 - March 1st, 2007

I’m writing to you from Chennai, India’s fourth largest city, and home to one of Transforming Faces Worldwide’s most innovative projects. The Sri Ramachandra Medical College (SRMC), in partnership with TFW, offers free Community-Based Cleft Rehabilitation for one of India’s many rural and largely impoverished areas.

Rehabilitation is extremely important for children with cleft lip and palate so that they can eat and speak normally after surgery. This project brings speech therapy and orthodontic follow-up to rural areas, making cleft care much more accessible for rural families.

Now, children must no longer travel hundreds of kilometers for rehabilitation in the city; instead we are bringing the treatment out to them!

I set off for rural Thiruvannamalai district, where the community project is based. Kids are partnered with trained community volunteers who track their progress and make sure that they attend their sessions.

I was lucky enough to meet some of the children receiving orthodontic follow-up at the local clinic. The kids proudly showed me their smiles, and their parents told me how happy they are to have follow-up services in their area. Before this, many parents had to miss their daily wages so that children could travel for their monthly appointments.

The people of Thiruvannamalai and the community volunteers have really “bought in” to the project, and they have done much to raise awareness of CLP in the area. Volunteers have begun identifying and referring other newborns with cleft lip and palate from the community, so that they too will get the treatment they need. It was really inspiring to see how much of a difference the project has made in the lives of the children!

Until next time,

Laura