29 Sep An Inspirational Story from Smile Asia
Father-daughter duo receives cleft lip surgeries in Myanmar
Smile Asia, Charity Partner of the 2022 Tour de Bintan, is a global alliance of charities working together to treat facial deformities. They raise standards of medical care by creating opportunities of collaborative learning and exchange of best practices. They deliver free surgical care through medical missions and care centres. These initiatives are also intended to build trust and bridge cultural gaps among different communities across the world.
The impact of their work can be seen in life-changing stories shared by their beneficiaries.One such story is of Aye Tawtar and her family from Myanmar. A Smile Asia volunteer recounts the following story as he interacted with the family:
“Aye Tawtar was only 2 months old when she first came to the patients’ recruitment session at Smile Asia’s Medical Mission in Yangon. She arrived with her father, who also had an untreated cleft lip. As her father did not have an opportunity to treat his cleft lip at a young age, his biggest hope was for Aye Tawtar to get a chance to receive surgery. The Smile Asia doctors deemed him fit to undergo surgery, but his daughter was unfortunately turned down as she did not meet the minimum age requirement. He turned down the offer to get treated in Yangon as he wanted to receive treatment together with his daughter”.
“It was a touching moment!” recounted the volunteer. Thankfully, Aye Tawtar Tun was scheduled for surgery a few months later when she turned 7 months at a subsequent Smile Asia Medical Mission in Naypyidaw.
“While we were celebrating the successful surgery of our daughter, the doctors from Smile Asia saw my husband’s cleft and offered him the surgery,” said Daw Zin Mar Tun, mother of Aye Tawtar. “I cannot express how happy I am now because both my daughter and my husband can have a healthy life”.
Now, we are proud to have Smile Asia as the official Charity partner of Tour de Bintan. Visit them at their booth in Bintan on Friday 14 Oct and find out how you can be a part of their cause for children around Asia.
