Today we met with Graham Banton from an extraordinary charity called Facing The World. The charity makes possible life-changing surgery for children in the developing world with craniofacial disfigurements. Ironically, their stories of state of the art surgery and life-changing treatment don’t always make the editor’s cut. We had a lively discussion about what can be done to give the charity – and what it does – a higher profile
Ali Hussein is one of the children who has been helped by the charity. In November this year Ali will be back in London for the tenth operation to rebuild his face after he was hit by a rocket propelled grenade in Western Baghdad in 2003. In the accident his jaw and the central part of his face were shattered and he was left blind in one eye. While he received treatment for his injuries in Kuwait, Ali was still left badly affected; his siblings barely recognised him and local children were scared of him. Through the work of Facing The World Ali received further surgery in the UK. Each operation resulted in significant physical changes and importantly the impact on his social well-being has been noticeable; today he is a cheeky and adventurous young boy.
As well as bringing children over to the UK for treatment, the charity’s goal is to increase the amount of training for surgical teams in the developing world. For example, Facing The World partner with Da Nang General Hospital in Central Vietnam. Today the hospital is a focal point of excellence for craniofacial surgery and they are well qualified to deal with the high number of birth defects which are attributed to the legacy of Agent Orange.
Facing the World has changed the lives of over 150 families from the developing world since it was established by surgeons in 2002. The surgeons, world leaders in their respective fields, give their time for free as do the mutli-disciplinary team that support them.
We are proud to be working with Facing the World as part of our pro bono initiative, A Just:: Cause.