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It’s sometimes easy to grow weary of charities, weary of giving. All of us are blitzed from all sides with requests for donations to countless good causes. Maybe some of you feel that way about The Smile Train, the cleft charity which we and others in travel retail have so championed over the past two years.
But every time one begins to feel blase about any appeal for funds, one should think about the goodness of the people behind the cause (in this case the amazingly dedicated team at The Smile Train and their medical teams around the world) and – even more critically – the needs of the recipients.
I hope all readers of The Moodie Blog will take a look at the short video trailer to ‘Smile Pinki’ – the true-life documentary about the work of The Smile Train in India.
Please just click on the following link and spare 2 minutes and 58 seconds of your time.
As I mentioned in a former Blog, Smile Pinki is the true story of Pinki and Ghutaru, two young girls in rural India born desperately poor whose cleft lips have made them social outcasts. Their journey culminates in cleft surgery at the G.S. Memorial hospital. This life-affirming documentary has been short-listed for an Oscar in the Short Documentary category. The winner will be announced later this month.
As I also said before, take a look in the video at the unforgettable image of Pinki looking into her mirror and at her cleft (captured above). That image will stay with me for a long time. All of those travel retail industry donations to The Smile Train – and there have been so many – have gone directly (and totally) towards funding the US$250 operation that changes lives like the quite beautiful Pinki’s forever.