Our Work in Haiti
After the devastating earthquake hit Haiti, the sudden need for immediate orthopedic trauma surgery was massive, and the medical infrastructure was shattered. Operation Smile quickly mobilized volunteer medical teams and sent urgently needed supplies.
Over the span of three months, Operation Smile sent over 25 tons of supplies and deployed 11 teams – over 130 medical volunteers – to Haiti to provide life-saving and limb-saving surgeries for hundreds of victims in Fond Parisien, Hinche, and the Navy’s hospital ship, the USNS Comfort.
Countless stories of the dedication and determination of our volunteers and the spirit and strength of the Haitian people can be found in our blogs from the field. Many extraordinary acts of kindness contributed to Operation Smile’s efforts in Haiti.
In February, Harrison Ford – an Operation Smile supporter, legendary actor and humanitarian – piloted his Cessna 208 Caravan multiple times to airlift our medical volunteers and supplies into Hinche where our volunteers worked to provide surgery and post-surgical care.
Watch more videos from Haiti >>
Continuing our Work in Haiti
One of the core pillars of Operation Smile is our education and training programs for healthcare professionals and families around the globe. Our training programs help establish sustainability at the local level and support our initiatives to give each child quality medical care, regardless of where they live.
This past June, Operation Smile provided life support training to Haitian doctors and nurses in Cange and Hinche and awarded 125 certifications that will help save lives. In September, we held cleft feeding training for medical personnel and parents of children born with clefts to prevent malnutrition and help these children gain enough weight to undergo cleft surgery safely.
Rebuilding Infrastructure
Even today, Operation Smile continues to work with valued partners to restore the medical infrastructure that was destroyed in the earthquake. We are collaborating with Partners In Health in the building of a new state-of-the-art teaching hospital in Mireballais that will be the center of care in the region. We are consulting with Partners In Health in the design and outfitting of the operation rooms and will be actively involved in training and education programs in this new facility.
In January of 2011, Operation Smile also donated essential equipment to completely outfit two operating rooms in a new surgical facility at St. Damien Children’s Hospital in Port au Prince. This new facility will be staffed by teams of international volunteers and will provide surgical care to patients currently unable to receive proper treatment.
Prepared to Respond to Future Disasters
Operation Smile’s experience in Haiti brought to the forefront that our organization is well equipped to bring valuable and much needed surgical care when a natural disaster strikes. After careful evaluation and significant planning, we formally established a Disaster Response Division in 2010 to respond to future natural disasters. Read more about our new Disaster Response Division.
Help Operation Smile continue its work in Haiti and around the world
