Thirty-three youngsters from the Western Cape have begun an exciting journey of being able to smile from deep within, following another life-changing partnership between the Vodacom Foundation and Smile Foundation.

For many children in South Africa, the ability to smile is severely restricted due to some facial anomalies resulting from conditions like cleft lip and palate, accidental facial burns as well as other rare phenomena like the Moebius syndrome. Such children frequently have to endure the stares and even ostracism of the public, resulting in psychological damage to the victims that can last a lifetime.

This week, however, thanks to Vodacom´s continued financial support, the Smile Foundation will be able to partner with the Dept of Health through the management and medical staff of Tygerberg Hospital, to secure the necessary surgery. Vodacom also funds the Smile Foundation´s psychosocial support programme.

All thirty-three have been undergoing life-changing operations at the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town to correct their specific facial anomaly during the 6th Vodacom Smile Week from 16 to 20 November 2009. As some of the parents are unable to afford the costs of such surgery, Vodacom has stepped in to help enable the Smile Foundation to make their dreams come true.

Today, the children and their parents had an opportunity to celebrate their good fortune when they were hosted by the Vodacom and Smile Foundations at a celebratory party in Ward D3 of the hospital.

In addition to receiving the usual party-fare, the children were visited by players from the Vodacom Stormers, who happily signed rugby balls and posed for photographs with them. The rugby visitors included Nick Koster, Morgan Newman and Conrad Jantjes.

Mthobi Tyamzashe, Chairman of the Vodacom Foundation, said, “Many of us take our ability to smile and express ourselves for granted, but for children with facial anomalies, this is not the case. Vodacom believes that all children deserve the chance to reach their full potential in life, and we are privileged to have been able to help these children to regain their self-esteem through the restorative surgery offered during the Smile Weeks.”

The Smile Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to arranging operations to assist young children with various facial abnormalities.

Marc Lubner, Executive Chairman of the Smile Foundation, says: “The partnership that exists with Vodacom and the Tygerberg Hospital through our Smile Foundation, is pioneering a new way South Africans are coming together to bring about positive change to the lives of the most vulnerable amongst us. We are proud and grateful that these sizeable players have put their trust in us to be able to organise and integrate the valuable resources of funds and medical talent to achieve a measurable result. The smile on our kid´s faces says it´s all worthwhile and everybody is a winner in the end. The shortest distance between us all, is a smile.”

The R350 000 contribution from the Vodacom Foundation towards the two Cape Town Smile Weeks in June and November forms part of a total allocation of R2 million to the Smile Foundation in the 2009/2010 financial year.

In May 2009, the Vodacom Foundation held the 4th Vodacom Smile Week at the Red Cross War Memorial Children´s Hospital allowing nineteen children to experience the joy of smiling.

During the 5th Vodacom Smile Week held at the Bloemfontein Universitas Academic Hospital in September 2009, thirty-six children from the Free State received facial corrective surgery.

The Smile Foundation is one of the beneficiaries of the innovative Vodacom´s ‘Tries for Smiles´ campaign that has successfully linked the company´s sports sponsorships to its Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme. This year, the Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa, the Smile Foundation, and Netcare Vodacom Smiles for You will benefit from the ‘Tries for Smiles´ campaign.

For every try scored by a South African team in South Africa during this season´s Vodacom-sponsored rugby tournaments, the Vodacom Foundation donated R25 000 to the beneficiaries, for the purposes of providing corrective surgery for children with facial and heart anomalies.

By the end of the season, 140 tries had been scored in the Vodacom Super 14, Vodacom Tri-Nations and British and Irish Lions Tour, translating into a total of R3.5-million. A cheque for this amount was handed to the three beneficiaries in September 2009.