Nanyang, China: August 13-18
October 21, 2009
It’s with great pleasure that I announce the successful completion of two simultaneous international missions in China at Nanyang and Nanchang. This was originally conceived as an international mission at Liaocheng, but due to several concerns, we split the team into two sites and coordinate two simultaneous missions. Operation Smile China and the Asia Regional Office did a fantastic job of working out these alternative mission sites in a very short period of time, hence allowing us to fulfill our promise to the people of China.
Volunteers from seven countries took part in these missions. The mission at Nanyang was conceived as an India-China partnership mission, and it saw active participation from volunteers of both these countries. Apart from this, several volunteers from the U.S., Vietnam, Philippines, Russia and Peru participated in this week-long mission.
Overcoming the challenges we faced as a team, we were able to change the lives of 136 Chinese children and their families over one week and provide full fledged medical evaluations to 210 children. In doing so, we have created a hope amongst the children of these areas.
I thank the entire Operation Smile team, the Asia regional office, Operation Smile China Medical Mission, the other foundations involved, and Nanyang Stomatology Hospital and Jiangxi Guangji Hospital for their help in making this a successful mission.
With regards,
Tim Jorgenson, Program Coordinator, Asia Region
Abhishek Sengupta, Regional Coordinator, Operation Smile India
Since its first international mission in 1991, Operation Smile medical volunteers have provided free physical examinations to more than 13,150 Chinese children suffering with facial deformities and more than 8,500 have received free reconstructive surgery.
First international mission: 1991
International mission sites: Beijing, Dujiang-Yan, Foshan, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hefei, Kunming, Lanzhou, Linyi, Meizhou, Nanchang, Nanyang, Nanjing, Quingdao, Shantou, Urumqi, Wu Han City, Xi'an, Zhaoqing, Zhengzhou, Zhongshan
Local mission sites: Baoshan, Guangzhou, Hebei, Kunming, Lincang, Xi'an
