Voice and effects
VOICED BY RICHARD VAUGHAN
A team of travelling doctors is transforming the lives of thousands of Thailand's poorest children.
The youngsters all suffer from cleft palates, or harelips, and their parents can't afford the cost of corrective treatment.
But under the "Smile for Fathers" program, the children are getting free medical care to help them look and feel more like other children their age.
VOICE-OVER:
Cleft Palates and harelips. It's a condition that's both distressing and disabling.
It can make eating difficult, cause deafness and can badly hinder the development of proper speech.
In Thailand's far-flung Sisaket province, many parents live on the poverty line, and because the condition is not life-threatening its something most poor children have to live with for the rest of their lives.
It's these families that the project is targetting.
Called "Smile for Fathers" it brings together military and civilian doctors, who are putting their own money into the project. A large charity is also donating money to the cause.
Treatment is not difficult, but can have tremendous impact on the lives of those who need it. And it's free.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The lip is in really good shape after the operation. They will go back to society, go back to school again."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr. Piyoros Preeyanont, Duangkaew Foundation
Sisaket is an agricultural area, with a lack of adequate nutrition and health care.
The team is hoping to treat more then 130 children here, giving them a gift they could only have dreamed of.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai with English translation)
"She hated the way she looked. She was always begging for help. "
SUPER CAPTION: Sinam Kingkaew, parent
Their reward, say the doctors, will be a lifetime of smiles.
