Our promise of improving health and dignity during the COVID-19 pandemic endures. We're helping front-line health workers stay safe, nourished and empowered to better serve their patients by providing life-saving supplies and equipment, as well as remote training to bolster their response. We’re also providing nutritional assistance, hygiene kits and virtual health services to support people and their health needs so they can thrive. If you can, when you can, help us keep our promise to care for children and create hope for tomorrow.
Marling arrived at Operation Smile Nicaragua’s first local medical mission of 2021 with her 11-month-old daughter, Jimena.
As Jimena went through the screening process, Marling was cautious but tried to remain hopeful.
This wasn’t the first Operation Smile mission Jimena and Marling had attended.
Even from the beginning, the journey toward a new smile for Jimena was long and often filled with heartache and disappointment.
None of Marling’s prenatal checkups indicated that she should be concerned with the development of her baby.
It wasn’t until Jimena was born that everything changed for Marling.
“When my little girl was born, the doctors told me she had cleft lip,” said Marling, thinking back on the day. “This was unexpected. But they said there was a foundation that provided free surgeries for children with this type of condition.”
Marling’s doctors were talking about Operation Smile Nicaragua.
Two months after Jimena was born, Marling traveled to Operation Smile Nicaragua’s care center. But at that time, the COVID-19 pandemic had already hit the country hard.
“I got to the center, and I was told it was closed,” Marling said. “I only wanted information about my daughter’s condition.”
Despite the center’s temporary closure, the local volunteer team knew there were patients like Jimena who still needed care.
The courageous volunteers and staff created opportunities to ensure that they could still reach patients and families even though they were physically apart.
“They offered me the option of virtual consults,” Marling said.
The medical volunteer team followed up with Jimena and her family digitally until the day when it was deemed safe to resume in-person consultations.
“I felt welcomed when I visited the center,” Marling said. “The doctors gave great service and gave my daughter a small disk that helped her for feeding.”
With this additional care, Jimena’s health continued to improve while her mother’s hope grew stronger.
Following strict health guidelines and safety protocols, Operation Smile Nicaragua announced that it would host a small-scale local mission in October 2020.
After learning that Jimena was a candidate for receiving surgery during that mission, Marling didn’t hesitate to make the journey.
However, an unforeseen health issue arose on the day of Jimena’s surgery that prevented the volunteer medical team from going through with the operation.
But even after Jimena’s surgery was cancelled, Marling didn’t lose hope that her daughter’s smile would one day be healed.
In December 2020, it appeared that Jimena’s second chance was within her grasp.
But surgery evaded Jimena once again.
After contracting a fever, she and Marling were informed by medical volunteers that undergoing surgery was too unsafe. Jimena’s family returned home disappointed but more determined than ever.
With her mother’s support and perseverance, Jimena arrived at Operation Smile Nicaragua’s first local mission of 2021.
After a comprehensive health evaluation, nothing stood in the way of Jimena and her brighter future.
She became one of 10 patients to undergo their long-awaited surgeries during the February mission.
“I feel happy because my daughter received her first surgery,” Marling said. “I thank those involved that made my daughter’s smile possible.”
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