Will you help change sadness to joy for someone like Zivezile?
27 km for 27 Smiles
Help change lives with Operation Smile at the Prescient Freedom Paddle – a 27 km race around Robben Island in celebration of freedom, endurance, and unity on Freedom Day, 27 April 2025.
Please support Paddling for Smiles as we turn every stroke of the paddle into a chance to fund life-changing surgeries for children born with cleft conditions. With your help, we want to raise enough to give 27 children brand-new smiles.
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.
How your support helps
News & Stories
Cipla Team joins Pondo Trail Run to fund more smiles
The Pondo Trail Run which takes place this year from 28 May – 1 June offers runners the chance to traverse one of the world’s most untouched coastlines while raising funds for The Pondoland Conservation Trust and the Cipla Foundation’s Miles for Smiles initiative....
South African Healthcare Experts support Pan-African Surgical Conference
Africa has the fewest surgeons and anaethetists per capita worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. For every 10,000 people, there are just two doctors and 11 nurses and midwives, compared to 41 doctors and 113 nurses and midwives in North America.
Best way to start the New Year!
For the first time, little Kgomotso actually looked forward to going back to school this year. Thanks to the surgery he received from Operation Smile, he can now face his classmates with a big, confident smile on his face. Last year, he was teased and bullied...
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.
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.
