The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Wednesdsay March 28, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A3 Retired OR nurses brought smiles to faces o f Philippine children Pair part of team repairing cleft lips and palates B v Angela A n a e i a Blackburn B la c k b u r n By f? -- OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF A smile can change everything. It did for 187 Filipino children -- and two retired Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital operating room nurses. From Feb. 22 to March 4, Sheila Norgate and Sue Hendry worked around the clock with a 45member team, in a maternity ward converted to a makeshift surgical unit. They were repairing cleft lips and palates with Operation Smile at Brokenshire Memorial Hospital. That's in the 2.2 million-person city of Davao in the south of the Island of Mindanao, Philippines. By the time their team, and three other teams, boarded planes bound for home -- be it Canada, China or Kenya -- a total 700 children were wear ing smiles, some of whom had never worn them before. "The great big smiles the next day (after surgery) were just fantastic ... from the children and their par ents. It was sensational to be part of all that," said Hendry. The United States-based project has been operat ing on children bom with cleft lips and palates worldwide for two decades. Volunteer surgical teams are sent to countries around the globe where they address a deformity of birth, which often goes untreated, particularly for the poor. Nor is the disfigurement merely a medical condi tion for the children. It's usually a social stigma that can mean being shunned by their communities. Smiling seems to be simple, but for many in the world, it's a dream. Norgate and Hendry now sleep at night knowing that their 20-plus years of nursing didn't just spell a career, but helped make dreams come true. The local residents got involved with Operation Smile through local plastic surgeon, Dr. Julie Khanna, who's also participated. They'd been waiting for an assignment for two years after a couple of trips to Thailand fell through, but finally the call came. Three weeks later they hopped a plane in Toronto. They flew to Detroit, Michigan; Osaka, Japan; spent a night in Manila in the Philippines, and then landed in Davao. They spent their first day at Paradise Island and a beach barbecue, but after that it was all work. "The adrenaline keeps you going. It was an emo tionally charged time in the OR (Operating Room)," said Norgate. "It was almost inspirational," said Hendry. To qualify for the surgery, children had to be more than one-year-old and healthy. "Some of the families walked great distances to get there," said Norgate, recalling how they jostled to line up. Besides the operating rooms, there was a screen ing area, post-op, recovery room and playroom where nutrition and speech lessons were given. There was even a dentist on the trip. A cleft palate can spell speech, swallowing, even eating problems. A cleft is caused by an impaired joining of the genes. "The families were so appreciative, they were very caring parents," said Hendry. Most surgeries took an hour. "It was done a smile at a time," said Hendry. In two days, children were en route home, with stitch es that would dissolve, and a smile that would shine, in days to come. The children were afraid, facing surgery at the hands of foreigners, yet bonds were formed. "Having often been shunned by other children, when they came into the playroom full of children, who looked just like themselves, it was touching to see," said Norgate. Hundreds of teddy bears, shipped on ahead thanks to the efforts of the Oakville-based Teddies For Tragedies group, helped break barriers too. "There was a joy about the whole thing. Everybody had volunteered, everybody was pulling in the same direction. We were there for one thing only, for the children," said Noigate. "It was a special feeling, a totally different feel ing. It was changing a child's life, changing the whole future for the child, and for their parents. Their social standing would be so different," said Norgate. Photo by Riziero Vertolli Sue H endry and Sheila N orgate are retired surgical nurses who assisted in O peration Smile in the Philippines. They were p a rt of a team th a t operated on children with cleft lips and palates such as this child (above left) who posed w ith his m other a fte r surgery. 3 indoor riding arenas. Classes available for children, teenagers and adults all year round. · Weekday Lessons 4/S 107 or $3Q/Lesson · Friday Hoof-Pick Club 6pm-8:30pm $35 (Children 5-10 yrs.) ' · Saturday at Farm 10am-3pm S40 (Children 5-12 yrs.) · Summer Day Camps $ 195/Week or 550/Day · Summer Overnight Camps $401.25/Week w e b s ite w w w .b e r t in s t a b le s .c o m B E R T IN S T A B L E S Canada's Largest English R iding School 3445 D undas V V . iHwv. #5) Oakville (11/2 mi. W. of Hwy. #25) 905-827-4678 e -m a il: b e r tin @ w e b tv .n e t DeNuie Tours m U i Britain &Europe 1 800 668-6859 - Call for a free brochure. Reg. # 21032991 HAND CARVED 6 PIECE BEDROOM SUITE SALE END S SUND AY ACUPUNCTURE The Doctors at 1235 Trafalgar Rd., Suite 312, Oakville are pleased to announce their new addition to staff: Queen sleigh bed, 2 night stands, dresser, tri-view mirror, arm oire Regular price, $15334 Cynthia Bettridge D. Ac - Doctor of Acupuncture TCM nf CA.CT.H.S. Canadian Academy of Chinese Traditional Health Sciences Languages: English, Mandarin t i t ® I I I · p a in · · · headaches · TMJ · · digestive disorders im m une boosting respiratory disorders addictions acceleration o f the healing process post operative pain stress · Advanced Acupuncture Qigong Course Instructor Tuina $ 8739 AS SHOWN 8 4 2 -1 5 1 0 Attention Halton Teachers To Commute, or NOT to Commute? That is the question! For those teachers forced to make a pension/retirement decision before June 30th, this is a must attend open forum discussion. The objective is to alleviate uncertainties affecting vour retirement decision. This event will be held on the following two dates and will be hosted by pension specialist Pat Purbs and financial consultant John Gardine. IN T R O D U C T O R Y OFFER Class top pedestal table, 4 pierced back side chairs Regular price, $3915 Voted Monday, April 2nd, 7:00-9:00 pm Tuesday, April 3rd, 7:00-9:00 pm At Etcetera Etc. Restaurant, 2 4 7 5 Lakeshore Rd. W. Rronte & Lakeshore To register, call toll free 1-800-661-3250 Extension #488 24 HOI R RESERVATION HOTLINE Due to limited seating reservations are required in advance! 'peat/cud Sfuafou: P at B urbs M .EA , b .a . Financial Consultant 1 0 7 5 N o rth S e r v ic e R d .W e s t, O a k v ille . T e l: (9 0 5 ) 8 2 5 -2 4 5 0 STORE HOURS: M o n ., T u e s ., W e d . & S a t. 1 0 :0 0 a m to 5 :3 0 pm T h u r s . & F ri. 1 0 :0 0 a m to 9 :0 0 p m . S u n . N o o n to 5 p m $2499 9 0 D A Y S N O IN T E R E S T OR, 6 OR 12 M O N TH EQ U A L PAYM ENT PLAN W IT H N O IN T E R E S T O.A.C. Details in store. Jo h n G ard in er B.Comm., B.A. (Econ.). B.Ed Financial Consultant Imnton Group is a inrmhrr of Ihr Rarer Financial Corp. sp 1I n v e s t o r s IC r o u p SOLniONS BVILT AROl~SD 101TM if, Retirement Ptuiiung oitd Estate Planning, ngin E x a s of OR BJluxi in AoHs far orcr 1 MILLION Q w w w .e n n is c la r e in te r io rs .c o m