We are smiling...
We have a Smile House!

Rumah Senyum - the Smile House is now up and running see page two...

And, after a visit in March by Prof David, we have seven more patients who have been offered operations in Adelaide. The first group of three are already in Adelaide...

Our co-ordinator Oki in front of the Smile House.

Our Patients

Three Patients leave for operations in Adelaide
 

On the evening of the 31st of March, Arham and Rasih with their mothers and Ayu with her uncle, nervously left Denpasar for Adelaide for operations at the Australian Craniofacial Unit.

Arham, from Lombok, has been waiting since August last year for a chance to go to Adelaide for an operation to reconstruct his nose and repair his severely cleft lip and palate. Rasih and Ayu, both from Bali, were only seen by Prof David at his clinic on 15th March. A place was offered to Ayu, as a replacement for another patient who has had to delay her departure and an extra operation was offered for Rasih as Prof David considered she needed an operation as soon as possible.

This meant a hurried effort by them to quickly collect the necessary documents to obtain a passport and Australian visa. Yayasan Senyum staff had to rush into action organizing finance, applications, medicals and tickets. It was heart-stopping stuff as the authority to issue the visas only arrived late on Friday 30th and we collected the passports with the visas the next morning, the day of departure.

Our special thanks go to the Immigrasi Office and the Australian Consulate for help in obtaining the necessary documents. Also to the Singapore Association of Indonesia for financing two of the patients and everyone at the Smile Shop for having funds available for Rasih. Thanks also to Qantas for providing free seats for the patients and the Indonesian Consulate in Perth for helping the patients transfer from International to Domestic flights in the wee small hours of 1st April.

Future Updates will keep you posted as to their progress.

Rasih

Arham

Ayu

Gianyar Operations

In early March we were asked by Sanglah Hospital to find patients for a 'bulk' operation at Gianyar public hospital. A team of visiting doctors was about to come but they were short on patients. By contacting other yayasan in Bali we were able to bring seven patients at short notice to these operations held over three days. About 60 operations were performed by doctors from Jakarta, Surabaya and Sanglah.

It was a great team building exercise for us - other agencies located patients and provided patient transport to Denpasar for pre-ops, Yayasan Senyum provided accommodation and took the patients through pre-ops, assisted at Gianyar on the day of the operations and provided care after the operations for two patients at the Smile House. Rotary Club Nusa Dua provided the finance for the operations. Yayasan Senyum firmly believes in this sort of cooperation and the Gianyar Operations have been the start of ongoing relationships with other yayasan.

Donors...
 

Rumah Senyum - The Smile House

A generous donation by Sanford Chee has enabled us to rent a house close to Sanglah Hospital. It is not large but has made a huge difference to the Yayasan. Patients stay before and after operations. Since opening we have had a steady stream of patients, a somewhat noisy crowd at times but always very supportive towards each other and the staff.

The front room has become the office housing our computer and records and is the hub for all activities. We have a phone line and are connected to internet. Thank you Sanford Chee!

Prof David David declares the Smile House officially open!
March 2007

Thanks to our generous donors who have contributed since the last Update:

In the right spot!

Sometimes the right people are in the right spot just when we need them. Recently a little girl from Lombok came for a palate operation but had a massive infection in her ears and sinuses. She needed an immediate operation. She had no referral and to get one meant a five hour ferry trip, a bus back to her village and then a visit to the public hospital in Mataram and another five hours back on the ferry. No way did we want to put her through that.

Visiting friends of staff members just happened to be there when we heard and in no time they decided to put up the Rp.6,000,000 needed for the operation (without the referral).

Fantastic! She had the op, is much better and is now home again and will return in three months to have her palate done.

Aint donors grand!

How You Can Help - Donating or Volunteering - contact
Mary Northmore
Ketua Yayasan Senyum, Ubud, Bali
0361 975568 or hp 0811 395 963
Email: Click here

In Bali:
dedicated Rupiah bank account:
BCA Ubud, A/C No 1350249555 a/n Mary Northmore
dedicated US Dollars bank account:
Bank Permata, Menara Ubud branch, A/C No 5804194233 a/n Mary P. Northmore

Our Chairperson, Mary Northmore accepts a generous donation by the Singapore Association of Indonesia.

Medical News
 

Cleft Lip & Palate

Bilateral complete cleft lip	Unilateral complete cleft lip
Cleft palate	Incomplete cleft lip

Many people in developed countries may never have seen a cleft lip or palate. Operations to correct these conditions are usually performed in the first few months after the baby is born. Reviews and treatment are carried out by the surgeon, orthodontist, speech pathologist and audiologist until the patient reaches 18 years of age.

If not treated early, as happens in many developing countries, the condition causes problems such as difficulty breastfeeding and eating solids. Cleft palate, an opening in the roof of the mouth, while not so obvious as a cleft lip, severely affects speech, leading to low self esteem and learning difficulties. Once a child reaches teenage years it is unlikely that speech can be corrected so it is important that children have cleft palate operations as young as possible.

While it is known that these conditions occur in the first eight weeks of pregnancy, the causes are not yet well understood.

Volunteers

Rusmini

If you read the first Update you will remember Rusmini who went to Adelaide for facial surgery in June 2006. When we decided to start the Smile House and needed a housekeeper we sent a message to Lombok asking Rusmini to come and work for us. So she has moved from being a patient to being one of the team helping others to have operations.

Apart from all the work she does, cooking and keeping the house running, it is wonderful to have Rusmini around to reassure patients, especially those taking the big step of going to Adelaide. She is able to tell them of her experience of flying, of being a patient in a large hospital, of living in the hospital accommodation and about the staff at the Australian Craniofacial Unit.

Rusmini in the Smile House Kitchen.