Every three minutes, somewhere in the world, a child is born with a cleft lip, cleft palate, or both, said Mark Climie-Elliott, chief executive officer and chief smile officer of Operation Smile Canada.
Between March 4 and 8, 2024, Mike Williams-Stark, a community engagement specialist and proud member of the cleft community will be in Williams Lake to talk about Operation Smile.
Operation Smile Canada began in 2012 with a mission to help children in many parts of the world born with cleft have access to surgery.
“Child abandonment and even infanticide can occur when a family is unwilling or unable to raise a child with cleft,” Climie-Eilliot noted in letter to Bel Hume, Williams Lake representative and fundraiser committed to Operation Smile. “Their child’s condition is sometimes viewed as an extra hardship in a life already filled with daily challenges like poverty and food insecurity.”
Williams-Stark was scheduled to come to Williams Lake earlier, but had to postpone.
In a previous interview he told the Tribune he was born in New Westminster in the 1950s with the most severe cleft lip and palate case on record in British Columbia at the time.
“Nobody ever gave me a trophy, but that is what I was told,” he said, noting he had about 13 or 14 surgeries if you include implants, dental surgery and implanting.
More surgeries could be done for him, however, he is “quite” happy with the way he is.
Despite his rough start, he said he leaned toward comedy and music growing up.
“I could mimic when I was a kid, despite my voice.”
After high school he attended the Douglas College Theatre Program.
With surgery, his voice improved, and he moved to Toronto to do improv comedy workshops at The Second City in 1984. Eventually he started his own group and accumulated many different voices which he put on a tape.
He was picked up by an agency and ended up doing voices for cartoon shows such as Super Mario Bros., Beetlejuice and Rupert Bear.
Along the way he realized comedy was a great tool for working with children that have facial differences.
“We don’t like to make contact or like letting people in. We don’t like to use our voices because they are often distorted. Comedy is a fun way to acquire those skills because you cannot do sketch comedy without eye contact or using your voice.”
Fun, he added, is the most important teaching tool.
Hume has set up some events where Williams-Stark will speak but is open to anyone else who might want to have him speak for their group or organization
March 5 he will be a the Daybreak Rotary Breakfast 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
March 6 he will be at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Williams Lake Campus at 2:30 - 4 p.m. to speak to the public, staff and faculty in room 1258
March 7, he will return to TRU to speak to the nursing students from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in room 1254.
Hume is also fundraising and has some preserves for sale, with a batch at the Williams Lake Tribune office 188 First Ave. North.
READ MORE: Operation Smile talk in Williams Lake postponed until 2024
READ MORE: Operation Smile fundraiser a go