Excerpt Intercom Newsletter 2007

Visit to Southern India

Dr. Tim Bressmann was recently invited by Transforming Faces Worldwide to travel to the city of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Transforming Faces Worldwide is a Toronto-based charitable organization that funds surgery and rehabilitation for patients with cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial syndromes.

In Chennai, Tim had the opportunity to observe the cleft team at the Sri Ramachandran Medical Centre. He also visited the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (director: Roopa Nagarajan) and gave a couple of lectures.  The cleft team took the visitors to the little temple town of Tiruvannamalai in rural Tamil Nadu. Here, the cleft team has set up a unique project that allows the patients to get speech therapy, audiological evaluations and orthodontic treatment close to their home. The funding for this project is provided by Transforming Faces Worldwide. 

Tim also had an opportunity to visit the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) in Mysore in the state of Karnataka. The AIISH is a complete university dedicated to Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology – it even has its own student dorms and gym facilities. Tim appreciated the opportunity to learn first-hand about cleft care in Southern India – and he hopes to be back soon.