Videos
Operation Smile follows the transformational journey of children as they undergo surgery to correct their cleft lip or cleft palate. Watch a video of child as they see their new smile for the first time.
Osman gets a smile
Watch the story of 18-month-old Osman from Nicaragua. Osman's mother traveled for 18 hours with all five of her children to bring Osman to Managua - and then four more hours to Chinandega to give her little boy a change to receive the surgery he needed.
She was hot and exhausted, but her love for Osman and desire to see him healthy kept her going. Osman's surgery only too about 45 minutes.
Arifase's story
Because of her cleft lip, Arifase felt like an outcast in her mountain village in Ethiopia. For 13 years, she kept her face hidden with a scarf, but the other kids still tormented and teased her. Arifase couldn’t speak properly, so she never went to school. Arifase’s father borrowed the equivalent of two months’ pay – about $8 – to make the two-day journey to Addis Ababa. After her surgery, Arifase was excited to show her family her new smile and even talked about going to school.
Rikta's transformation
Rikta, a 6 year old, was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. She lives with her father, mother, older sister and younger sister and brother in a small village called Bhimgar in India. She traveled three hours by bus to the Bolpur Sub-Divisional Hospital, in Bolpur, India, in hopes of receiving surgery.
World Journey of Smiles
Operation Smile's World Journey of Smiles was the world's largest medical mission of its kind. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Operation Smile completed 40 simultaneous missions in 25 countries from November 7-16, 2007.
Free physical examinations were provided to 7,414 patients, and 4,086 children born with cleft lips and cleft palates received surgeries at no cost.
The initiative mobilized more than 1,900 volunteers from 44 countries. These volunteers worked together in 40 hospitals, care centers and clinics in 25 countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia.
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