We had two visitors today. Councillor Duncan Lumley came as a prospective member and Lindsay Anderson was our speaker. President Anne presented engraved glass tankards to the District Badminton winners, members Graham Furnival and Mo Sadiq.
Lindsay spoke movingly about her work as a volunteer with Operation Smile. Operation Smile believe that every child suffering from cleft lip or cleft palate deserves exceptional surgical care. They operate in 400 sites in over 60 countries around the world using 5,200 volunteers from all around the world. A child’s cleft lip or cleft palate can be repaired for as little as £150 and in as little as 45 minutes. This transforms lives for both the child and their family.
Cleft palate is the third most common birth defect. The children are often hidden away and are often bullied. Lindsay told us about one case where a child turned up at the clinic with a bag over his head. The child had been made to wear the bag for four years. The mission will treat adults as well as children and each patient receives a full medical screening in addition to the surgery.
Lindsay takes leave from her job as a theatre staff nurse to go on two missions a year. The charity pays travel and hotel expenses but Lindsay has to raise £300 herself. She is now a nurse educator and part of her mission is to train local health workers to do her job so that more children may be helped.
Lindsay ended with a quote from another nurse, Maya Angelou: “They may forget your name but they will never forget how you made them feel.”