Join the movement – get fit and help children born with cleft conditions receive life-changing surgeries.
Starting on World Smile Day (Friday, 4th October 2024) and continuing until the end of November, it’s your chance to get active, have fun, and use your fitness challenge to raise funds from family, business colleagues and friends.
Run your first 10km or half-marathon, climb a mountain, swim a mile, lose 10kg – any challenge you want to set yourself ! – and get friends and family to sponsor you every step of the way, to motivate you to reach your goal and help provide more surgeries to children born with cleft lip or palate.
Every 3 minutes …
… a child is born somewhere in the world with a cleft condition. In first world countries, corrective surgery is usually done within the first 18 months of life. But in Southern Africa, where safe surgery is not always freely available or accessible, a child may have to wait years for the chance to live a normal life.
What happens if cleft conditions are left untreated?
Change despair to hope
Depending on the severity, cleft conditions can be repaired in just 45 minutes. Your donation makes new smiles possible.
You don’t have to act as if you care
You just have to care enough to act
In 1982, Dr William (Bill) Magee, a plastic surgeon, and his wife Kathy, a nurse and clinical social worker, travelled to the Philippines with a group of medical volunteers to repair children’s cleft lips and cleft palates.
What they found was overwhelming. Over 300 families arrived, hoping their children would receive surgery. But the team could only treat 40 children.
“People pushed their babies at us,” recalls Kathy. “They tugged at our sleeves with tears in their eyes and begged us to help their children.”
As they were leaving, the Magees promised they would return to help more children – and Operation Smile was born.
Today, Operation Smile is an international medical charity with a network of medical volunteers from more than 80 countries, dedicated to helping children born with cleft palate and other facial abnormalities.
Share our vision
We dream of a world where no child suffers from lack of access to safe surgery. As long as there are children in the world who need our help, we’ll do whatever it takes to give them the quality care they deserve.
How your support helps
News & Stories
Story of faith and perseverance – Kayol’s 8-year journey to cleft surgery
Kayol’s story is testament to a father’s love and how faith and perseverance combined to change a child’s life.
40 children receive life-changing surgery at Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital
From 24-28 July at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg, Operation Smile and The Smile Foundation joined forces for a Madiba Smile Relay surgical programme to help children born with cleft lip.
Weekend dental programme attracts schoolkids
A total of 81 children benefitted from the recent weekend dental programme at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Nelspruit.
Our global family
With more than 6,000 active medical volunteers from all around the world, Operation Smile is one of the world’s largest volunteer-based nonprofit organisations. Our supporters are people from all walks of life, who believe that anyone born with a cleft condition deserves safe, effective, and timely surgery and care.
