One of Rotary Club Bali Nusa Dua’s major emphasis is to provide free cleft palate and hare lip surgery to children on Bali. Since Rotary Year 1994-1995 Rotary Club Bali Nusa Dua (RCBND) has provided a total of 1,353 hare-lip, cleft palate and cranial facial operations to underprivileged children and young adults on Bali and surrounding islands through the end of August 2012.
In Rotary Year 01 July 2010-30 June 2011 RCBND together with RC Zwartewatersteden, The Netherlands, received a RI Matching Grant of US$47,500 to continue and expand this vital program. The Matching Grant funds are now exhausted however RCBND is continuing to fund operations out of its own account while it searches for a new Global Grant partner(s).
Currently there are approximately 8,000 children on Bali who were born with hare-lips and / or cleft palates. The major reasons for such a high incidence of this deformity are inter-familial marriages, poor diet and poor prenatal care during pregnancy. Whilst we understand that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” we are not currently in a position to tackle all issues which lead to this deformity.
RCBND began cleft lip and palate operations in 1994 and through 1998 performed over 300 operations. Operations were suspended in 1999 due to the Asian financial crises. Operations resumed in 2000 with a local plastic surgeon, Dr. Asmarajaya, who donates his time for free surgical procedures for as many children as his schedule will permit. More difficult cases are collected and once a year the renown Dr. David David of the Cranio Facial Institute in Adeleide, Australia, comes to Bali at his own expense to lead a team, together with Dr. Asmarajaya, to perform these difficult operations. Rotary Club Nusa Dua Bali provides the money to purchase the needed medicine, supplies such as x-rays, a hospital room and to pay for the support staff assisting Dr. Asmarajaya.
Rotary Club Bali Nusa Dua will continue to sponsor as many cranio-facial surgerical procedures for severely handicapped individuals as possible. In many cases, an individual will need as many as four operations (until his/her facial structure stops growing) to correct his/her deformity. Our club aims to ensure that each child will be given followup procedures as needed. As new children to come into the program a continuous flow of funds into this program is essential. We forecast that the funds needed to continue the program over a period of 12 months to be approximately US$50,000.
The cost per procedure has, as of January 2012, increased to: Rp. 5,000,000.- to Rp. 5,500,000.- (approximately US$ 500.00 – US$ 600.00)
Imagine… for about US$500.00 you can change the course of a child’s life. If you would like more information on this project or information on how to make a donation please send an email to: cpalate@rotarybali.org
