In the tourism paradise of Bali, Indonesia and surrounding islands there is a lot of poverty and hardship. Children with cleft lip and palate live deprived of normal lives and struggle with impaired speech. Many of these children are hidden by their families, not allowed to go to school or participate in community activities. Because they are not able to eat and drink properly unless helped undernourishment as children leads to health issues. Rotary Club of Vancouver has participated in two Global Grants from The Rotary Foundation to provide surgery for the many affected children.Children are born with cleft lip and palate usuually because of genetics, interfamilial marriages, poor diet/nutrition or poor prenatal care during pregnancy. Since 1994 Rotary Club of Bali Nusa Dua has been helping children born with cleft lip and/or palate deformities. As of May 2023 over 2,200 operations have been performed at a total cost of US$820,000.
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Expenses include operating theatre, hospital support staff, medicines, hospital room, patient/guardian accommodation, dental care and off island transport. Operation costs $442 USD for a single operation and $653 USD when both cleft lip and palate are repaired together. The total cost per patient is in the range of $710 USD for a Bali patient and $1,270 USD for a patient from a neighboring island.
Training of Bali-based plastic and/or oral surgeons is at the Chang Gung Craniofacial Center in Taipei, Taiwan.
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The additional training is at one of the world's leading cranio-facial clinics to maintain and develop greater surgical skills to benefit the program for years to come.
Rotary Club of Vancouver joined with Carnegie-Collier Rotary, Pennsyvlania and District 7305 in Pittsburgh in a grant with Bali Nusa Dua Rotary.
Rotary Vancouver has been part of two Global Grants of $31,500 towards the $255,715 program has helped over 2,000 kids live normal lives.
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