Cleft lip and palate occur in about 1 in every 800 births around the world. Certain areas of the world have higher or lower rates of clefting because of genetic predisposition to this common birth defect. Smile missions main focus is to repair cleft palates. Back to Top
Cleft lip alone is mostly a problem of appearance and not a functional problem. It is, however, emotionally scarring if left untreated. Cleft palate with or without cleft lip presents a severe feeding problem, often leading to malnutrition. Children with unrepaired cleft palates have speech problems with too much air coming out the nose and these children have quite a bit of trouble being understood in any language. All children with cleft palate develop chronic fluid in their ears, and many will have long term hearing loss if left untreated. Even in the 21st Century, it is not uncommon for children born with deformities to be put to death or to be hidden from public view. The emotional difficulties these deformities cause the children and their families are enormous. Back to Top
In general, modern surgical techniques of cleft lip and palate repair give very good results in terms of appearance and function. Repair of a cleft lip can be accomplished anytime after the first few months of life, and cleft palate repair after about 10 months of age. The palate hopefully is repaired before the child learns improper speech. These life-changing surgeries take between 1 and 3 hours, and involve only one surgeon per operation. Back to Top
The surgeries vary from country to country based largely on the in-country support staff whose job it would be to provide aftercare. We sometimes perform burn release surgeries to enable victims of burns to regain the use of a limb. We can perform uncomplicated orthopedic and urologic procedures. We have also removed tumors and corrected a variety of facial deformities. Back to Top
CSI is a volunteer organization. On our Smile Missions our medical volunteers all donate their time and many of them donate medical supplies as well. With the exception of one part time administrator, CSI's entire program is run by volunteers. Back to Top
Our Web site Volunteer page lists several current needs for assistance. Contact information, criteria for medical volunteers and volunteer application forms are included on that page. The Youth page has contact information for student volunteers.
