Give a little. Change a lot.
Cleft Care Mauritius – “Every Child with Cleft Lip and/or Palate Deserves a Smile.”
CLEFT FACT #1
Every minute, a child with cleft is born in the world. Cleft lip and/or palate occurs in about 1 to 2 per 1000 births in developing countries.
CLEFT FACT #2
The prevalence of cleft lip and/or palate varies according to ancestral origin and socioeconomic status, ranging from 1 in 500 in individuals of Asian origin and 1 in 2500 in those from African origin.
CLEFT FACT #3
Babies born with cleft lip and/or palate can get corrective surgeries as early as 6 months old. Early surgical interventions help to improve their hearing, speech and breathing.
WHO WE ARE?
Smile Train Association is a non-governmental organization created in 2017. It started the Cleft Care Mauritius project to give advice and non-medical support to parents whose infants are born with cleft lip and/or palate or to any child or adult who still has a cleft problem.
Our Mission
- To help give a smile to all children and adult born with cleft.
Our Vision
- To sensitize people about cleft
- To provide support and advice about surgical interventions and other treatment for cleft
- To counsel and propose assistance to adults with cleft
Our Objectives
- Screening of all patients with cleft for required surgical interventions and/or other support like rehabilitative care
- Providing advice and support (medical and non-medical) on feeding, handling, precautions, medical examinations by medical specialists, dental care, orthodontics and speech and language therapy
- Facilitating surgery procedures locally and abroad by providing both financial and logistical support to parents who choose to do surgeries of their children with the association
- Promoting national awareness on cleft with support of local media, social media campaigns and workshops
- Continuously building a local network system of health professionals and specialists who can provide advice and support to those with cleft across Mauritius
Our Team
Cleft Care Mauritius is run by a team of very committed volunteers who come from different areas of expertise.
Karoun GOOJHA
President & Co-Founder
Robert YIP-TONG
Vice-President
Medhinee CHUREETUR
Liaison officer/ Secretary & Co-Founder
Nusrat DAMREE
Child Psychologist/ Assistant Secretary
Cedric YEUNG
Treasurer
Nitishah NAUGAH
Consultant Speech and Language Therapist/ Assistant Treasurer
Yasheer SOOHUN
Consultant Occupational Therapist
A network of local specialists is available to provide:
- Dental care
- Orthodontics advice and care
- Hearing assessments
- Speech and language therapy
- And other appropriate care