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The Children of Sumatra was set up with the aim of helping children suffering from cleft lip and palate living on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Many families there are too poor to pay for a simple operation that can transform their child’s future. In Europe and America we are almost unaware of this condition as it is corrected within the first year of a child’s life but in Indonesia this is not the case and the condition affects 1 in 300 children. Here are some of the children we have been able to help...
Before & after operations
The Siti Appeal - we urgently need your help...
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Siti is a very courageous young girl who we are helping with a separate appeal to fund vital operations to improve her quality of life. She has suffered for 15 years after part of her face was eaten away at the age of 5 by a gangrenous noma.
Siti underwent her first operation in Bandung, Java on the 9th November. Unfortunately there were major complications and we have now taken Siti to Holland for further operations. She will be having a small operation on Friday to remove a bone graft and cover her jaw bone. Then in about six weeks she will have her face reconstructed. She is healing well now and starting to gain weight.
Although The Erasmus Hospital in Holland is kindly covering the costs of the operations, Siti's international flights and living costs are very expensive. If you can help, please go direct to our online appeal or send a cheque made payable to 'The Children of Sumatra' to the address below and mark it on the back for 'The Siti Appeal'. Thank you.
Karin Perrson, a volunteer for COS, is also raising funds for this cause on behalf of us.
News update from Sumatra... November 2009 We are very proud to announce that on the 16th October we celebrated our 200th smile! A huge thank you to everyone involved in making so many operations and smiles possible. Read more here. We have just finished our intensive period of operations at Harapan hospital in Siantar and we are pleased to report that it was extremely successful. As in previous years we welcomed two teams of Dutch surgeons who work alongside our local surgeons. We completed a total of 53 operations on 50 children (3 of the children had 2 operations as they required very difficult surgical procedures). A few of the children are still healing in Harapan Jaya Rehabilitation Centre but most have now retuned home. I am now with Siti while she undergos operations to release her jaw. Unfortunately there were major complications after the first operation in Indonesia so we have flown to Holland for the treatment she needs. For more information and to support the appeal please go to: www.bmycharity.com/sitiappeal We will update you again soon. As always thank you for your support, Katie Pavett, Children of Sumatra |
Other videos...
Behind the Smiles
The Children of Sumatra 2007
Lobiga's Story
Bobby's Story
Location of our work
Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world, and the third largest in the Indonesian archipelago. Lying between the Indian Ocean and the peninsula of Malaysia and Singapore, Sumatra sits parallel to the fault line, which runs up the west coast. This is where two tectonic plates meet, and it was movement caused by the immense build up of pressure along this fault line that resulted in the tsunami in December 2004. Worst hit was the northern tip of Sumatra, particularly Aceh province.
The work of The Children of Sumatra started on the island of Pulau Weh (also known as Sabang) in Aceh province. We now work over a large area of Northern Sumatra spreading as far south as Pekanbaru.
Newsletter downloads:
September 2008 newsletter
Fernadis' Story
Porman's Story
Supon's Story
The Children of Sumatra, 59 Hartswood Road, London, W12 9NE, UK