{"id":2576,"date":"2024-05-01T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T16:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agatfoundation.wpengine.com\/?p=2576"},"modified":"2025-11-25T16:45:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T16:45:24","slug":"la-communaute-se-connecte-loperation-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agatfoundation.com\/fr\/community-connects-operation-smile\/","title":{"rendered":"Des sourires qui changent la vie : La communaut\u00e9 s'associe \u00e0 l'Op\u00e9ration Sourire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This time on Community Connects, a panel of members from Operation Smile join Marissa Reckmann, CEO, AGAT Laboratories and Director, AGAT Foundation to discuss life-changing surgeries around the globe.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Founded more than 40 years ago by Dr. Bill Magee and Kathy Magee, Operation Smile<\/a> is a leading global non-profit transforming lives of children born with cleft lip and palate in low- and middle-income communities. Today, operating in more than 36 countries in the global south, through a small team and a dedicated group of volunteers, they\u2019ve performed thousands of cleft lip surgeries, strengthened local healthcare systems, and increased access to life-changing procedures.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore you\u2019d hear stories of 20 hours on a bus to get to Operation Smile,\u201d says Mark Climie-Elliott, CEO, Operation Smile Canada. \u201cToday we have the capacity now built to be able to go to those communities so the burden that\u2019s on the family is lessened.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany hospital partnerships have been signed and agreed upon with local ministries of health. And that enables us to go do more training and education in advance and strength these local health systems. Over the next decade, we\u2019re going to help one million more children receive the care that they need closer to where they live.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As part of the work Operation Smile does, they\u2019re supporting healthcare systems with the ability to perform these surgeries in the future. But that also has a positive knock-on effect on the infrastructure as a whole.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have very stringent global standards that we adhere to,\u201d says Dr. Kevin Calder, a cleft surgeon who has worked with Operation Smile for over 12 years. \u201cWorking in collaboration with the local governments, specialists, training, medical education\u2026 it\u2019s really helping these countries to be able to build their own infrastructure.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s through that child with cleft that those communities now have a strong health system and an operating room,\u201d says Climie-Elliott. \u201cFor anyone in the community that needs it, now there\u2019s a surgeon there that\u2019s locally trained that might be able to help them.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Through a strong passion-driven team, Operation Smile are able to support children to get the surgeries they need. But some of the work goes beyond the surgery alone. One volunteer, Kelly Raymond, is a certified child life specialist. Raymond works to ensure \u201cchildren can be children when in hospitals,\u201d as she focuses on reducing fear and anxiety around hospitalization and medical procedures.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of the work we do is through play,\u201d says Raymond. \u201cHelping them [children] understand through play makes it less threatening and makes it a bit more easy\u2026 Our goal is to empower these children to overcome some of these fears and anxiety.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

AGAT Foundation is a proud supporter of global causes and life-changing initiatives like that of Operation Smile\u2019s mission. Aligned with our Support Streams<\/a> in Public Health & Wellbeing and Community Infrastructure, the partnership is a perfect match.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tell them [parents] the story of people like AGAT and of all of the donors across the country,\u201d says Climie-Elliott. \u201cI literally always say to the families, there\u2019s somebody in Canada who\u2019ll never meet you, but they love you. And it\u2019s that love that drives everyone together in our family.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hear more about Operation Smile\u2019s mission and how they\u2019re supporting communities worldwide in the latest Community Connects video below.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n