Havaianas’s “Design A Smile” Campaign Brings Smiles to Kids with Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate

What makes your kids smile?

Chances are, the answer to this question doesn't involve the latest gadgets or vacations in far-away, exotic places. More often than not, it is the simple things in life that puts a smile on their faces: a happy Sunday morning breakfast, a hug from mom and dad or even the feel of fine sand under their feet at the beach.   Smiles are the truest expression of happiness.

To commemorate Smile Month this October, Havaianas is launching the “Design a Smile” campaign to spread cheer and share thousands of smiles with Filipino children. Havaianas is creating a venue for children to heal the broken smiles of other children who have cleft lip and cleft palate deformities.  

A series of one-day design contests from October 16 to November 14, “Design a Smile” will give children the chance to show the world their artistic talents and, at the same time, create better futures for the children of Operation Smile, a non-profit, volunteer medical organization that provides reconstructive surgery and healthcare to kids with facial deformities. 

Children from 5 to 12 years of age can participate in "Design a Smile" to lend their creativity for a greater cause. All they have to do is come to any of the events, which will be held in all Ayala Malls and other major malls nationwide, and design the sole of a Havaianas pair based on the theme, "What makes you smile?"  Prizes from Havaianas, My Masterpiece Movement, Polaroid, Faber-Castell, KidsSports, and Orange Juice await the winners.

The top winning entry will be produced by Havaianas in a future collection and will be sold nationwide for the benefit of Operation Smile.   So, this October, let your kids share their creativity and help heal the smiles of their fellow children.  

 

Click here to read up on FAQs about the Havaianas and Operation Smile tie-up.

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Read more onFAQs about the Havaianas and Operation Smile tie-up.

 

Havaianas and Operation Smile FAQs

1. What is “Design a Smile?”

“Design a Smile” is a flip-flop design competition for the benefit of Operation Smile,  open to all kids aged five to twelve years old. It is a series of one-day events held in Ayala Malls and other malls nationwide. All designs will be based on the theme, “What makes you smile?”

 

2. What are the prizes?

Prizes from Havaianas, My Masterpiece Movement, Polaroid, Faber-Castell, KidsSports, and Orange Juice await the winners.   

The top winning entry will be produced by Havaianas in a future collection and will be sold nationwide for the benefit of Operation Smile.

 

3. When and where will the competition be?

Design a Smile Schedule in Ayala Malls and Provincial legs:
•    October 23 (Saturday) - The Gallery, Greenbelt 5
•    October 23 (Saturday) - Activity Center, North Wing, SM City Bacolod
•    October 24 (Sunday) – Lobby, Glorietta 4
•    October 24 (Sunday) - 3rd Floor, Chimes Specialty Store, Davao
•    October 29 (Friday) - Lower Ground Floor, SM City Iloilo
•    October 30 (Saturday) - Activity Pod 3, Bonifacio High Street
•    October 31 (Sunday) - Rotunda, Limketkai Mall, Cagayan de Oro
•    November 6-7 (Saturday and Sunday) - Northwing, SM City Cebu
•    November 7 (Sunday) - Lower Ground Floor, SM Tarlac
•    November 7 (Sunday) - G/F Center Atrium, SM City Lipa
•    November 14 (Sunday) - G/F Event Center, SM City Naga

 

Click here to read up on FAQs about the Havaianas and Operation Smile tie-up.

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Read more onFAQs about the Havaianas and Operation Smile tie-up.

4. Why is Havaianas partnering with Operation Smile?

Havaianas and Operation Smile share the same vision of spreading smiles, the truest expression of happiness.  

 

5. What is Operation Smile?

Operation Smile is a private, non-profit volunteer medical services organization and worldwide children’s medical charity that provides reconstructive surgery and related healthcare to indigent children and young adults.

Medical volunteers repair cleft lip, cleft palate, and other childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships to provide training to healthcare professionals and improve local capacity in partner countries.  

 

6. How widespread are the cases of childhood facial deformities in the Philippines?

One in every 500 babies is born every year with a cleft lip, a cleft palate, or both in the Philippines.  Cleft lips and palates are among the top 12 birth defects in the country, according to the Philippine Birth Defect Registry, a joint project of the Department of Health and the US National Institute of Health's Institute of Human Genetics. 

 

7. What are the impacts of childhood facial deformities?

The impact of facial deformity on a child is not merely physical. Children with cleft deformities experience complications such as malnutrition, respiratory ailments, ear infections, and psychological and sociological implications such as lowered self-esteem and difficulty with social interactions. Children with cleft deformities are often ridiculed, and often stop going to school. They sometimes grow up with neither the social nor the work skills to find gainful employment in adulthood. A cleft condition does not only impact the child, but his or her family as well.   

 

Click here to read up on FAQs about the Havaianas and Operation Smile tie-up.

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Read more onFAQs about the Havaianas and Operation Smile tie-up.

8. How does Operation Smile treat childhood facial deformities?

The congenital deformity may be corrected with a simple surgery but the cost of the procedure remains prohibitive, especially among low-income groups where the condition is most prevalent. Operation Smile can change a child’s life by giving the gift of a surgery for only Php 15,000 per child. In as little as 45 minutes, one cleft lip surgery can change a child’s life forever. Since its inception in 1982, Operation Smile Philippines has done more than 22,500 free reconstructive surgeries on underprivileged Filipino children, while Operation Smile International volunteers have provided free reconstructive surgery to over 140,000 children and young adults around the world.


Visit www.havaianasphilippines.com/smile for more information on how to make kids smile.
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