Reflections - Lorraine Clarkstone

To be invited to take part in the Aussi Bangla Smile Project in Bangladesh was a great honour and an exciting journey I looked forward to with eagerness and trepidation. I was eager to undertake it because it is privilege to work in a profession where you can travel to places of tremendous need and make a major difference to other peoples’ lives. I was also apprehensive because I knew the project would be confronting and disturbing and I wasn’t sure if I could handle the despair of some lives.

What I found will remain with me forever. Most of the people are very poor but they smile and laugh, love each other and treasure their family. They walk along holding hands, sometimes with their arms around each other, even the men. I saw mothers or fathers calmly care for their children in the wards and in Recovery, without fuss or disquiet. They placed complete trust in us, a tribute I will treasure. Words can’t describe how it feels to be part of such a momentous change in their lives. A cleft lip is an imperfection that is so visible, so confronting and so life changing to Bangladeshi people. We changed the lives of some people and my contribution will forever be valuable to me.

The camaraderie within our own team and the wider Bangladeshi teams was wonderful. The days were long but the time flew as we all had lots of fun and laughs along the way. It was great to get home to be with family and friends again however the memories are heartwarming and the rewards were many. Life changing for our Bangladeshi patients and life changing for me.