Smile Train Signs First Partner in Burundi
New York, NY — Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft charity devoted to providing free cleft surgery to children in 76 developing countries around the world, is pleased to announce that it has signed the organization’s first hospital in the African nation of Burundi. This exciting step comes as Smile Train works to extend its reach in Africa and achieve the organization’s goal: that no child should be forced to live a life of pain and isolation because of a cleft.
“We are thrilled to be working in Burundi,” said Dr. Gitahi Githinji, Regional Director, East Africa. “We are excited that we will now be providing surgeries to children there who otherwise would not have received care.”
The first grant awarded was to the Centre Medico Dentaire and will be overseen by Dr. Alphonse Rugambarara, an experienced cleft surgeon. Dr. Rugambarara brings a wealth of experience to the program - he is an oral-maxillofacial surgeon and was Chief of Department and Professor of Oral Surgery and Oral Pathologies at the Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire. Dr. Rugambarara has also served terms as a member of Burundi’s Parliament and in the President’s Cabinet.
Smile Train currently has 130 partners in Africa and has performed a total of 13,721 surgeries since inception in Africa. The need in Burundi is great: the country has over 300 cleft births a year and the backlog there is at approximately 9,000 children awaiting surgery. There are over 27,000 cleft births every year in Africa and the the backlog is over 787,000. As Smile Train works to alleviate the suffering of children in Burundi, challenges in the country are ever-present. Approximately 80% of Burundi lives in poverty and famines and food shortages often occur.
ABOUT SMILE TRAIN
Smile Train is the world's leading cleft charity with thousands of partners and programs in 76 of the world's poorest countries. Our mission is to help the more than 4.7 million children in developing countries who are suffering with unrepaired clefts. We provide free cleft surgery to children from poor families that give children not just a new smile, but a new life. Now in its tenth year, Smile Train has now helped hundreds of thousands of children.
