It’s been 20 years since Alliance for Smiles was formed with the mission to transform the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate by providing free comprehensive treatment.
As we grew, so did our objectives which now includes training, equipping and empowering local medical providers to address the long-term needs of cleft patients.
To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we wanted to not just look back on our journey, but also the people who made our missions possible – the many volunteers who generously shared their time, experience and skills; the staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes and the board members and volunteers whose knowledge and expertise shape our future.
David Fowler
AfS Volunteer & Photographer
David Fowler, a dedicated volunteer with Alliance for Smiles, has traveled the world capturing our life-changing cleft surgeries to children in need. His journey with Alliance for Smiles began with a chance encounter at a Rotary Conference, where a presentation about children with cleft lip and palate sparked his passion for mission work.
Over the course of 18 missions, David not only captured images but also helped establish crucial photographic protocols to document surgeries. From his first mission with just a Polaroid camera to training fellow volunteers, David’s role evolved, and his work has helped ensure every patient’s transformation is documented, touching countless lives along the way.
Read David’s full interview below:
What was it about AfS that made you first want to go on a mission? How many missions have you been on?
David Fowler: Someday, I’m going to do that…that’s what I said to my wife after hearing Anita Stangl talk about children with cleft lip and palate anomalies at our Rotary District Conference in Ogallala, Nebraska in the Spring of 2000. Since then I have donated my time and talent to 18 missions to China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, The Philippines, Ghana, and Guatemala.
What kind of photography do you usually do and how different is it from capturing images for AfS?
David Fowler: My wife and I owned a portrait studio in a small town, specializing in everything…weddings, family portraits, children, senior portraits and just about anything else that might be captured on file. But I was nearing retirement and looking forward to doing something else, and a chance meeting with Anita again, at another Rotary District Conference in Kearney, NE in 2006, changed my life. By then I had sold my business and I told her I was ready to be a photojournalist on a mission.
My first mission was to Shenyang, China in the fall of 2006. At the time there was no written protocol for photographers. The only criteria was to have a camera and know how to press the button. I remember my first Opening Clinic day when the mission director handed me a box that held a polaroid camera and a number of boxes of film, and said, “Here, take pictures of the children.” So, I placed a stool in the middle of the busiest hallway in the hospital and did just that…I took ‘Before Photos’ of as many children as I could.
What kind of challenges did you face on a mission with AfS and how did you overcome them?
David Fowler: 
I had to come up with a way to catalog the patient files, a digital file-naming system, so the record keeper could easily find the patient’s images when it came time to insert them into the software.
If we missed a patient, the record keeper couldn’t complete the patient’s digital chart. So, it was extremely important that every child was photographed for Before and After images of both cleft lip and/or cleft palate.
In the early years when the mission teams were much larger and we photographed many more patients, we had two photographers on each team – myself and an assistant. Those assistants were Rotary volunteers who were amateur photographers, so it was also my job to train them in the techniques and protocols required.
On one mission to Wenzhou, China we had five surgeons, five operating rooms going at the same time. So I had my assistant assigned only to the operating rooms to photograph ‘Before and After Photos’ of palate surgeries. We gave 165 patients new smiles on that mission.
Is there any one story or case that has stood out to you during any of your missions?
David Fowler: Dhaka, Bangladesh was one of my favorite mission locations because the need there was so great.
During my first mission to Dhaka a young lady with a 3-month old baby came to us for help. She and her baby both had clefts. The baby was too young and too malnourished for surgery, but the mother, Asma, was admitted. 
Bangladesh is primarily a Muslim country and, in the poorer communities, there are still many arranged marriages. Asma’s marriage had been arranged, and because she was “defective”, her father had to pay the groom’s family a larger dowry.
Dr Chris Hauge repaired Asma’s cleft lip and her cleft palate, and I was with him when he did the final exam and cleared her to go home.
I will never forget what she said to him at that time. Through the translator, she thanked him, and then said, “Because of what you have done, my husband has kissed me for the first time.”
What message do you have for anyone looking to volunteer with AfS?
David Fowler: 
Being part of an AfS Team is life-changing. The experience of being part of a team, joining with other professionals who are donating their time and talents to help people in need, is addictive. There are very few volunteers who go on just one mission.