Hundreds of Filipino children born with cleft lip and cleft palate and their families celebrate a new beginning after Operation Smile’s Gift of Smiles mega mission renewed their hope for the future. Smiles were bright, hearts were warmed, and Canon Marketing Philippines, Inc. (Canon) was there to capture every beautiful moment.
Operation Smile started in the Philippines in 1982 and had its first mission in Naga City. Today, they are now in more than 60 countries and have treated more than 270,000 children around the world. With that, there is no stopping them to help the new generation bring back their smiles.
A partner of Operation Smile since 2011, Canon has been helping the foundation with their mission to give indigent Filipino children born with cleft lip and cleft palate an opportunity to live a full, productive life by providing free reconstructive surgery
Aside from its Print for Smiles program which raises funds for Operation Smile through large format printing services, Canon also documented the 9-day medical mission, which treated 633 children across the country. “Documenting the event is important. It enables us to visually share the significant moments,” says Roberto Manzano, Operation Smile’s Country Director of Development. “You see the beautiful smile on a child’s face after the transformation, the joy in the faces of parents, and the compassion reflected in those of the volunteers and the donors, and there’s just no better way to effectively communicate all of that than through images,” he explains.
“We are lucky and very thankful to Canon for capturing these wonderful images of people of different races, the volunteers and donors, journalists, and people like us who are non-medical professionals, all coming together for this cause”. These powerful images continue to inspire others and send a message of altruism, compassion, and kindness.
“We are very happy to support this mission and help raise, not just funds, but awareness of the foundation and their missions, so that more people can help make a difference to these children’s lives”, says CMPI president and CEO Lim Kok Hin.
