A Celebration: 12,000 Smiles and Counting

We recently celebrated the completion of 12,000 cleft repair surgeries by our partner hospital Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (SRMC), Chennai, in association with Smile Train! SRMC is one our first partner hospitals in India and is a stellar example of a holistic and comprehensive cleft care centre.

Catch a few glimpses of this joyous occasion below:

Dr Jyotsna is one of our foremost partners, who has dedicated her life to cleft care. In the 17 years of association, she has worked extensively with cleft patients to ensure they get timely treatment. Today, she is a Smile Train partner in true sense, spreading smiles and inspiring all of us. Seeing her warm and affectionate ways with the kids is what made this celebration even more special.

The work that SRMC and Smile Train India have done over the last 17 years would not have been possible without the support of our government partners who helped spread the word in the state. They not only identified patients, but also created more awareness around clefts.

We were delighted to have Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Health Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, join our celebrations and reaffirm their commitment towards our program and initiatives.

To make this day even more special, over 800 patients joined us for the celebrations. Meeting them and hearing their unique stories of transformation was overwhelming. They joined the celebrations through a talent show and the confidence with which they performed was awe-inspiring. Their journeys of transformation motivate us to continue these efforts of spreading many more smiles.