Accra, March 9, GNA – The Ghana Cleft Foundation (GCF) Wednesday donated copies of an illustrated book that educates children about cleft lip and palate defect to the Adabraka cluster of schools, in Accra.
The colourfully-designed 34-page book, “Tani’s Wish”, was written by Ms. Yayra Goka, on commission by the Cleft Foundation.
The GCF was joined by Databank Foundation directors and staff for a session of reading “Tani’s Wish” with the pupils in class.
One of Databank Foundation’s projects is Read-Aid, which promotes a culture of reading among children.
Dr. Solomon Obiri-Yeboah, a craniofacial surgeon and leader of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital multidisciplinary cleft team, said the team had carried out an average of about 200 surgeries every year since its establishment in 2007.
Cleft is a common birth condition that leaves an opening in the roof of the mouth and splits the lip open. It can occur alone or as part of a genetic condition or syndrome.
Dr. Obiri-Yeboah educated the children about cleft defects and said: “Parents should not abandon babies born with cleft because all the structures needed to form the lip, palate and the gum are all there – they just did not fuse together.
“There are Ghanaian doctors who are capable of repairing the defect.
“We can make you and your child smile again.”
A $2 million-dollar West Africa Cleft Centre of Excellence is currently under construction at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi to provide care for affected persons and train specialists.
The project, which was announced last year, is at the initiative of the Ghana Cleft Foundation with funding from Smile Train Inc, the largest cleft charity globally that supports local cleft care professionals to provide services for affected persons at no cost.
Mr. Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, a director of both the Ghana Cleft and Databank Foundations, said: “What we’ve done today with this book donation is to kill two birds with one stone.
“We’re promoting reading among children, by using a book that teaches children about cleft and they, in turn, will share the stories with their parents so that they can make the right decisions if they have a child with such defect.”
He said copies of the books would be donated to other schools in the coming weeks.
The Ghana Cleft Foundation is headed by Professor Peter Donkor, an oral and maxillofacial specialist, and President of the West African College of Surgeons.
GNA