The Selfie and Wefie that makes everyone smile - ASUS Ph with Operation Smile Foundation for #4theSmile campaign

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ASUS Philippines, in partnership with the Operation Smile Foundation, aims to changes lives through its #4theSmile campaign

There’s no argument that the Philippines is widely-considered as one of the happiest places in the world. And we’re not only talking about the breath-taking tourist spots or the multicultural experiences that this wonderful country has to offer. It’s also because of the signature Filipino hospitality — that renowned enthusiasm and excitement whenever we meet new people, coupled with warm welcomes and wide smiles that we wear on our faces, regardless of what’s happening in our lives. 

This is why when the act of taking selfies took the entire world by storm, it especially became such a hit among Filipinos from all walks of life. Whoever we are and where ever we may be, a memorable experience would never be complete without it immortalized with a selfie or, now, a wefie – that captures everyone’s shared experience in one frame. It’s how we identify ourselves and is the best way to capture our world-renowned smiles. 

Transforming lives, one smile at a time

But admittedly, some people need a little help in sharing those beautiful smiles with the world. The non-profit medical service organization of Operation Smile Philippines (OSP) says it is estimated that in every 3 minutes, a child is born with a cleft – a split or opening in the roof of the mouth which affects their speech, hearing, and other day-to-day functions. 

Since 1982, Operation Smile Philippines started working their magic in the Philippines through various medical missions and programs for children with this condition, beginning with gathering donations and volunteers and in the process, creating significant changes in these kids’ lives. Its medical volunteers have shared how participating in this cause has made quite an impact in their own lives as well. The foundation has officially been around for 35 years as a non-stock, non-profit later, since its registry in 1988.

The Face of a Thousand Smiles

Last August, ASUS Philippines recently announced its partnership with Operation Smile Philippines at the much-anticipated launch of the ZenFone 4 Series in the local market. In line with its hero tagline, "We Love Selfie & Wefie," , ASUS Philippines’ 10th year anniversary, and together with 35 years of the Operation Smile Philippines, the global tech giant introduced #4theSmile campaign. The said campaign wishes to bring smiles to the 4,500 Filipino children who are born with cleft lips and palates each year, by inviting everyone to contribute and help create smiles.

By joining #4theSmile, each participant will help push further the advocacy that Operation Smile Philippines has been supporting across different countries in the world. With each selfie and wefie taken by any of the ZenFone 4 series that is posted on Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #4theSmile, ASUS Philippines will donate and P1.00 to support a medical mission. ASUS Philippines aims to get roughly around the magnanimous number of 1,300,000 selfies and wefies combined before the year ends. 

“There is a relationship that exists even between strangers. ASUS Philippines is here to prove just that by turning selfies and wefies into shared moments that go beyond the people within the frame and actually touch other people’s lives for the better,” shares ASUS Philippines Country Manager, George Su, as he echoes their newest campaign philosophy – From ME to WE. “Through this new partnership, we want our selfie-loving audience to take their selfies and wefies to another level by sharing their smiles to brighten the lives of thousands of children with cleft lips and palates, and help bring these children’s smiles to the world.”

For more information on the Zenfone 4 series and the #4TheSmile campaign, visit the official website,welovephoto.ph and follow ASUS Philippines’ Official Facebook Page and ASUS ZenTalk Forum.

The ZenFone 4 Selfie is available on 0% interest for credit card transactions! 

Visit : 

ASUS PH Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ASUSph

ASUS PH Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ASUSph

ASUS PH Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ASUSph

Operation Smile sets huge, 5-site cleft surgery mission in PH

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750 indigent children expected to benefit

Operation Smile, a global children’s charity organization, is mounting a five-site medical mission in the Philippines to provide free reconstructive surgery to 750 indigent Filipinos with cleft lip and cleft palate over a period of nine days, commencing on the country’s independence day on June 12 up to the 20th.

In a joint statement, Operation Smile, Inc. co-founder and president Kathleen Magee and Operation Smile Philippines president Wigbert Funtanilla said multinational teams of cleft care professionals will hold simultaneous surgeries at the Ricardo Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Bacolor, Pampanga; Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila; Adventist Hospital in Cebu City; Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital in Bacolod City; and Brokenshire Hospital in Davao City.

Oral cleft is one of the country’s leading congenital defects, afflicting one in every 500 newborns or a total of 5,000 Filipinos every year. Of the estimated 140,000 born with the defect between 1982 and 2014, around 100,000 are still awaiting surgery.

The highly debilitating deformity disfigures the afflicted and impairs their normal speech. If they are not treated early, they are likely to lose their self-worth and become recluses and outcasts.

Operation Smile aims to attend to and eventually eradicate the backlog of cleft cases in the Philippines and ensure that new ones receive treatment before they turn one year old.

“Local resources alone will not suffice to achieve this tall goal at the moment so we are tapping the Operation Smile international network, via this annual mega mission, to augment our effort,” Funtanilla said.

“We have committed to help in any way we can,” Magee said. “We owe it to the Filipino people, whose ‘bayanihan’ spirit inspired us to grow Operation Smile into the global movement that it is today, mobilizing volunteers of different nationalities to treat cleft children of all colors and creeds – this is our gift and tribute to them.”

Magee, a nurse and clinical social worker, said she and husband, Dr. William, a plastic surgeon, established Operation Smile in 1982 following a medical mission in Naga City where they first saw the gravity of the cleft problem and the willingness of ordinary folks to help. 

“We came to treat 40 children and saw ten times that number waiting for us at the hospital; we had to turn back hundreds but promised them that we would return,” Magee recalled, adding that what sustained their enthusiasm during the mission and after were the people they don’t even know who dropped by the mission site to bring food and made themselves useful.

Operation Smile has been coming back to the Philippines every year since and, in 1989, helped set up Operation Smile Philippines so that quality cleft care can be delivered to indigent Filipinos year-round. 

The advocacy has spread across five continents. Operation Smile now has a corps of 5,400 highly trained, experienced and credentialed medical and non-medical volunteers from 80 countries doing missions in over 60 countries; an Operation Smile foundation similar to Operation Smile Philippines exists in 42 of those countries. 

An Operation Smile mission team usually comprises of plastic surgeons, anaesthesiologists, pediatric intensivists, paediatricians, dentists, nurses, speech pathologists, child life specialists, biomedical technicians, medical records specialists and patient imaging technicians. All are volunteers who take a leave of absence from their employment or private practice for more than a week to do pro-bono work.

The missions are mainly funded by private corporate donations. 

About Operation Smile:

Operation Smile, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is an international medical charity with a presence in more than 60 countries, whose global network of thousands of credentialed medical volunteers from more than 80 countries is dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children. Since its founding in 1982, Operation Smile has provided more than and other facial deformities. To build long-term sufficiency in resource poor environments, Operation Smile trains doctors and local medical professionals in its partner countries so they 220,000 free surgical procedures for children and young adults born with cleft lip, cleft palate are empowered to treat their local communities. Operation Smile also donates medical equipment, supplies and provides year-round medical treatment through its worldwide centers.