Kean University Hosts The Year’s First Operation Smile

By Rosney Herrera | Published February 28, 2022

Kean University hosts several events throughout the semester and this year they’re scheduled to host Operation Smile on March 2, 2022, at East Campus.

Operation Smile is an organization created in the Fall of 2009 by a group of Kean University students. It works to educate the masses about and finance surgeries for children with cleft lip, cleft palate, and craniofacial deformities in developing nations worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the word ‘craniofacial’ is used medically to refer to the bones of the skull and face in the human body. Craniofacial anomalies are congenital deformities affecting the head or face.

Cleft lips and palates, for example, are among the most frequently occurring birth abnormalities. Others are quite uncommon. They all impact how a person’s face or head appears. Some of these disorders may also affect other sections of the human body. Treatment is tailored to the nature of the issue. Reconstructive and plastic surgery may improve the patient’s look.

With a new board of dedicated and active elected officials, the group hopes, in this semester, to raise enough money through fundraisers to fund at least five surgeries, each costing on average $240. 

The upcoming event, however, will not be a fundraiser. According to Thaer Farhan, the program’s advisor, it will be a general body meeting with an opportunity for the new board of officials to get to know each other, and to bring new students up to speed about what the organization does and how, and why.

In 2020, Thaer Farhan and his colleagues conducted a study to estimate the occurrence rate of craniofacial abnormalities in Iraq and how it relates to other congenital deformities.

“Only 2% of the population had a craniofacial abnormality,” Farnham said. There were 43 (54%) men and 37 (46%) women in the group. 

An additional internal congenital abnormality occurs in 55 of the 80 cases (69 percent), whereas 25 instances (31 percent) are unrelated, Farnham said. 

Like all other past Operation Smile events held in the school, the upcoming event will feature guest speakers, professionals at different capacities in the same field. 

“We have to thank these professionals because their services are often voluntary,” said Dr. Rita Mehta, who teaches Health. 

Mehta also mentioned that this year’s event will be a little different from previous ones because two of the children who have benefited from the organization’s work will be in attendance. 

“We have arranged to have two of our beneficiaries attend the event to tell their story,” said Mehta. “As we speak, we have completed the arrangements to have them flown from India” 

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