Activities

In 2009, the project became fully operational. Surgical and medical instruments necessary for the creation of the specialized Center at the Hospital in Tarakan were supplied and three surgical-training missions were conducted by Smile Train volunteer doctors in July 2009, January 2010 and March 2011.

Thanks to the missions, 242 children were examined and 191 of them operated on: in most cases, given the complexity of the clinical situation, operations included, in addition to correction of cleft lip and palate, nose and dental arch repair. The whole staff of the Hospital of Tarakan (surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses) actively participated in both the preliminary phase of patient selection and the surgical operations.

Communication initiatives were also promoted in collaboration with the local media to raise awareness among the population about the opportunity of having children operated free of charge.

Moreover, in March 2010, at the “S. Pietro Fatebenefratelli” Hospital in Rome, Smile Train volunteers operated on a two-year old child affected by Tessier Syndrome, an extremely severe facial malformation. In the same period, two Indonesian surgeons came to Italy for an intensive specialized training course.