All smiles after successful Durban North cleft pallet fundraiser
"Every three minutes, a child is born somewhere in the world with a cleft lip or cleft palate," said Ronel Visagie of Operation Smile.
A WHOPPING R11000 was raised through Stretch for a Smile, a donation-based pilates class aimed at raising funds for life-saving cleft pallet surgeries. The fundraiser was hosted by Durban North resident and Peach Pilates instructor, Sarah Marshall who joined forces with Terishka Maharajh from the South African Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists (SAAHIP).
Orchestrated around Phramacists day, SAAHIP hosts a fundraiser annually, to support Operation Smile South Africa (OSSA), a non-profit medical service organisation that has been providing free cleft lip and cleft palate reconstructive surgery since 2006.
“It was great to be involved in such a good cause,” said Marshall who hosted an hour long pilates class via Zoom to help raise funds for OSSA.
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Deputy treasurer of the KZN and Coastal SAAHIP, Maharaj, who organised the fundraiser said she was thrilled to raise enough funds to donate two smiles.
“It’s extremely heartwarming to know that during these unprecedented times we are surrounded by individuals who are willing to stretch deep into their pockets and contribute to this life-changing surgery. I’m extremely thrilled that together we will be finding two whole new smiles,” she said.
OSSA Marketing and Support Coordinator, Ronel Visagie said their medical volunteers provide over 6,000 free surgeries to children and adults throughout Southern and Central Africa.
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“Every three minutes, a child is born somewhere in the world with a cleft lip or cleft palate that’s about one in every 500-750 births. It takes medical volunteers at OSSA as little as 45 minutes to repair a child’s cleft condition, giving them a smile and the chance to live a happy and healthy life,” said Visagie.
OSSA’s Country manager, Lauren Bright added: “The word ‘surgery’ traditionally carries a lot of weight; most-associated with exorbitant hospital and doctors’ costs, but in as little as 45 minutes and for just R5,500 one child can receive life-changing reconstructive surgery.”
To find out more about reconstructive surgery to correct a cleft lip and/or palate, contact OSSA tollfree on 0800 0 76453 or WhatsApp on 060 855 7971.
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