175 SMILES
AS IT CELEBRATES ITS 175TH anniversary, Watsons continues its mission as a caring brand in partnership with Operation Smile Philippines. Its “Lots of Love” mega mission transformed 175 lives in one surgical-week in Cavite and Davao.
Watsons and Operation Smile have been partners since 2013 with a shared advocacy of transforming lives. As a personal care store, Watsons is committed to make its customers “Look Good, Feel Great” by promoting a healthy lifestyle. “We joined Operation Smile for this project because it is aligned with Watsons’ promise of helping people to look good and feel great,” says Watsons Philippines general manager Robert Sun. “It’s a worthwhile project because it gives Filipino children a chance to be able to live their lives normally and give a good smile everyday.” This US-based non-profit organization works in more than 60 countries. Over the past 31 years, it has provided comprehensive healthcare evaluations for more than 2 million patients and performed over 200,000 surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities worldwide. It can take as little as 45 minutes to create a smile and change someone’s life forever. “The impact of this surgery on a child with cleft lip or palate is really tremendous,” says Operation Smile Philippines head Bobby Manzano. “It’s more than skin deep, because unless we correct that deformity, a child with a cleft lip definitely has no future as he suffers a lot of psychological, social and health issues.”
Watsons transformed the lives of 175 beneficiaries in this year’s mission with over 175 volunteers from the Watsons group to help Operation Smile in the final screening of patients, as well as in discharging of the kids to their parents.
Meanwhile, there are over 175 Operation Smile international doctors and students who flew in to the country and volunteered to help. Volunteers both from the Philippines and other parts of the world fulfilled their advocacy to help impoverished families and kids.
“I serve full time in the missions and I will be here until there is Operation Smile Philippines,” says Benjie Sarte, assigned at the post anesthesia care station and a volunteer for four years.
“Operation Smile Philippines is truly privileged to have a great organization like Watsons as its partner in its mission to bring hope and transformation to indigent Filipino children affl with congenital facial deformity,” Manzano says. “We are confident that Watsons decision to help these children through Operation Smile will inspire others to do the same.”