Smile Pinki

by Komal Thakkar – George Washington University

I’m sure everyone has seen an advertisement to help a child with a cleft lip. Cleft lip is a birth defect where the tissues of the upper jaw and nose do not join correctly during the gestational period. While it is not known to cause health problems, children with cleft lips find themselves rejected by society and leading hopeless lives as outcasts. Although children are born with cleft lips everywhere in the world, you rarely see unrepaired clefts in the United States and Europe as they are repaired soon after birth. In developing countries, they remain unrepaired since most families are too poor to afford a surgery. Cleft lip is thought to be caused by genetic or environmental factors.

The Smile Train is an organization that attempts to give hope to these children and provide them with free surgeries. It is a United States based non-profit organization that provides the tools necessary for local doctors in 76 countries to provide free surgery. One surgery costs only $250 and can be performed in less than an hour.

Recently, I watched the 2008 Oscar-winning documentary called Smile Pinki. Pinki is an adorable five year old girl born into poverty in India. Her cleft lip has inhibited her from leading a normal life until her family is introduced to Pankaj, a social worker. He travels through the country to find children with cleft lips and encourage them to come to a clinic where they will provide free surgery. The absolutely precious children in this film, who do not go to school out of embarrassment and fear, are finally given a new life with a simple surgery at the GS Memorial Hospital, one of the many Smile train centers in India.

Although it is a mere 40 minutes long, it shows so many compassionate, heartfelt moments like when Pinki sees herself for the first time after her surgery. Megan Mylen, the film’s director, does a fantastic job of capturing the pain they experience, their gratitude for the services, and their sense of hope after the surgery. It is an absolutely uplifting film that I strongly urge everyone to view.

For more information, the link for the official website is below.

http://smilepinki.com/