Past Smile China Missions

Smile China has a simple mission - to put a smile back on the faces of children born with facial deformities.

Smile China was borne of simple beginnings. It started with Dr Joseph Wong, a Mississauga facial plastic surgeon, based out of Credit Valley Hospital (CVH). During previous trips to remote areas of China, Wong noticed infants, children and adults with cleft palate and cleft lip conditions.

In Canada, the repair of this congenital deformity, a multidisciplinary treatment involving surgeons, speech pathologists, orthodontists and others, happens automatically during infancy.

But, in many places around the world, children from poorer families in remote regions refused treatment for financial reasons or lack of local expertise.

See the results of our Mission in 2005.

Smile China thanks you very kindly for your donation in 2005. The money you so generously offered helped Dr. Joseph Wong and his medical team give the gift of a smile back to 62 children in the poor, remote city of Shangrao, China. The change in the self-esteem and self-confidence of a child who has had a facial deformity repaired is immeasurable. We hope this update will offer a glimpse into the success of this mission, and how your donation has helped to change a life.

See the results of our Mission in 2004.

In the second mission in September, 2002, Dr. Wong and his team traveled to an even more remote part of China in the extreme northwest portion in a region historically known as the "Silk Road" - one of China's poorest areas. Forty (40) surgeries were performed including a number of them on orphans who were abandoned by their families.

Again, the Smile China Project team also used their time in China to instruct the local surgeons on the latest North American techniques in repairing facial deformities.

See the results of our Mission in 2002.

In its first mission back in March 2001, the Smile China Project team - made up of Dr. Wong, and two operating room nurses - traveled to two cities in northern China in remote mountainous areas in the foothills of the Himalayas. News of the arrival of the Smile China Project team spread quickly to the surrounding areas, and families and children trekked from as far as 1000 miles away to line up for a chance to have the surgery. Thirty-two (32) cases were done in ten operating days, but many, many children had to be turned away.

See the results of our Mission in 2001.

Please read our News Update.