Smile Train is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. Headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries, training local doctors and providing hospital funding for the procedures.

History

Smile Train was created in 1998 by Brian Mullaney and Charles Wang, who had previously worked with

Operation Smile Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization founded in 1982 by husband and wife William P. Magee Jr. and Kathleen (Kathy) S. Magee. It is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In addition to providing cleft lip and palate rep ...

, another charity focused on correcting cleft lips and palates. They felt the most efficient way to provide cleft surgery was to train and support local doctors rather than to fly in Western doctors to provide surgeries in poor, developing countries. Local doctors would also be able to provide care year-round rather than the limited engagements of the "mission-based" model. In 1999, Smile Train approached Court B. Cutting of New York University's Virtual Research Laboratory to create training videos, which could be used to train local doctors on how to perform advanced cleft surgery techniques. The 3D models used in the videos were based on the

CT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or ...

of two Chinese patients. Smile Train distributes the DVDs to local doctors worldwide. The DVDs are available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. In 1999, Smile Train began providing corrective surgeries in China. The charity worked with the then-American and Chinese presidents,

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

, in the planning of Smile Train's first operation in China. Smile Train began working in India in 2000. In 2011,

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

, a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actress and former

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

, became Smile Train's first goodwill ambassador.

Early recognition and criticism

In a 2008 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' article, economist

Steven Levitt Steven David Levitt (born May 29, 1967) is an American economist and co-author of the best-selling book ''Freakonomics'' and its sequels (along with Stephen J. Dubner). Levitt was the winner of the 2003 John Bates Clark Medal for his work in th ...

of ''

Freakonomics ''Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything'' is the debut non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and ''New York Times'' journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Published on April 12, 2005, by Wil ...

'' fame indicated that the organization's model and its technological innovations "likely make Smile Train one of the most productive charities, dollar for deed, in the world." In 2009, the documentary '' Smile Pinki'', which was sponsored by Smile Train and directed by

Megan Mylan Megan Mylan is an Oscar-winning documentary film director, known for her films ''Simple as Water', Lost Boys of Sudan (film), Lost Boys of Sudan''

, won the 2008 Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject). The film shows the story of a poor girl in rural India whose life is transformed when she receives free surgery to correct her cleft lip. Smile Train worked with the Scottish charity

KidsOR Kids Operating Room is a Scottish charity founded by Garreth and Nicola Wood in 2018. The charity create capacity for paediatric surgery across the world by installing paediatric operating rooms, training workforce and addressing critical gaps i ...

to revamp 30 operating theatres in Africa. This encompassed three in Nigeria, including in

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

, revamping an operating theatre there in the city's Armed Forces Specialist Hospital in 2022. In 2008,

CharityWatch CharityWatch, known until 2012 as the American Institute of Philanthropy, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Chicago, Illinois, created in the United States by Daniel Borochoff in 1992, to provide information about charities' financial effi ...

criticized then-president Brian Mullaney's $420,209 salary and questioned the 2007 company's tax form, which said Mullaney's salary came from temporary restricted funds designed to go toward overhead. In 2009,

Givewell GiveWell is an American non-profit charity assessment and effective altruism-focused organization. GiveWell focuses primarily on the cost-effectiveness of the organizations that it evaluates, rather than traditional metrics such as the percenta ...

could not assess the impact of Smile Train's activities based on the charity's 2008 tax form and other publicly accessible information. Mullaney departed the charity in 2012.

External links

Official website

References

{{Cleft lip and palate Charities based in New York City Children's charities based in the United States Health charities in the United States Non-profit organizations based in New York City Oral and maxillofacial surgery organizations Organizations established in 1999 Medical and health organizations based in New York (state) 1999 establishments in New York (state)

History

Early recognition and criticism

See also

External links

References