Smile Network International (SNI) is targeting the Lake Chapala region on a mission to sponsor life-altering corrective surgery for people born with cleft lips and cleft palates.
The Minnesota-based non-profit organization has partnered with the Family Development Agency (DIF) in Chapala, Jocotepec and Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos; the Ribera Medical Center (RMC) and the Puerto Vallarta & Riviera Nayarit Foundation to schedule evaluations and free surgical procedures for as many as 50 disadvantaged children and adults afflicted with the congenital malformations.
“Kids born with these conditions are often left out of mainstream life. They face frequent infections, malnutrition, speech impediments and social stigma,” said SNI founder Kim Valenti, who happily escaped below-zero weather in Minneapolis to promote the program at a January 17 press conference in Chapala.
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