The 2023 Smile for Mothers in Lanzhou volunteer medical service finally concluded on 18 June bringing smiles to 116 children who had previously suffered with cleft lip and cleft palate. Wellington College Hangzhou contributed to this good deed by donating 20% of the raffle proceeds from this year’s Summer Carnival. This marks the third time that the College has worked together with this charity organisation to support children in achieving confident, beaming smiles. 

Retrospect

In retrospect, the Smile for Mothers project in Lanzhou, Gansu Province was a great example of teamwork that involved 51 medical volunteers and 32 social volunteers, who worked together with concerted efforts to screen 172 patients and perform 116 surgeries.  

From the inception of the project in Lanzhou and symptom screening on 15 June, to the official start of the surgeries on 16 June, 116 operations were completed by the afternoon of 18 June. Children are now able to smile confidently thanks to the care given by the volunteers of Smile for Mothers. We are glad to see that our kind deed contributed to this endeavour and is widely recognised by the charity itself and wider society.  

About Smile for Mothers

Smile for Mothers, previously known as Operation Smile of China, is the first-level charity brand by China Women’s Development Foundation. Founded by Dr Han Kai and Dr Lin Jing in 1990, Smile for Mothers aims to help children with cleft lip, cleft palate and facial deformities from underprivileged families to empower them with smiles, dignity and an opportunity to chase dreams. To date, Smile for Mothers has operated free surgeries for nearly 50,000 children with cleft lips and cleft palate in 64 cities and 28 provinces in China.  

In current times, Smile for Mothers has become a prestigious charity aid project and has been accoladed as the Best Volunteer Organisation in the Country by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China, and Dr Han Kai, the founder, was also honoured as a “National Moral Model”. 

At Wellington College Hangzhou, we emphasise the importance of social responsibility for our pupils and encourage members of our community to contribute to charitable causes. We pride ourselves on the support we provide through individual pupil initiatives, house events and whole school annual events where we generate funds and collect items to donate to those in need. It is how we cultivate talent with empathy and demonstrate Wellington and Huili values of kindness, responsibility, respect, integrity and courage.