Smile Stories: Before and After Smiles...

Operation Smile's volunteer medical professionals travel around the world to treat children suffering from facial deformities. Their efforts mean new smiles for thousands of children, including these former patients:

Ngan

Min Zhu

Brigid

Guillermo

Arnoldo

Thanh

Venezuela - Arnoldo

Just five years old and already I know about rejection, denial and disappointment. It's a hard lesson for a child like me whose only desire is to be normal. Through no fault of my own, I was born with a disfiguring cleft lip. Outside of our home, my mother says I would duck and cover my head since it hurt me so much to be stared at. I love to play baseball though, and it took a lot of courage for me to join the other village kids when they played because of how much they teased me.

Every night before going to bed, I would get on my knees and pray for a miracle that would make me look just like all the other kids. My prayers were answered. During the Operation Smile medical mission to Barinas, Venezuela, I was one of more than 160 children selected for surgery. When my father saw me in the recovery room, he said, "I feel joy, much joy. I thank all the doctors. May they keep performing this good work, not only for my child, but for all the children who need it."

See photos of Roma Downey’s inspirational journey to Vietnam with an Operation Smile volunteer medical team.

Watch the video of Roma Downey's journey to Vietnam with Operation Smile.

See updated photos of children from the 2003 Vietnam medical mission.