Continued from “Scenes of Hope: Vijayawada Medical Mission.”

Patients’ mothers wait, excited but anxious, as their children receive their life-changing cleft surgeries at the Future of Smiles medical mission* organized by the Inga Health Foundation in collaboration with Operation Smile and hosted by Dr. Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Foundation in Vijayawada, India, from March 24 through April 2, 2018. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

Eighteen-year-old Anil and his mother traveled 150 kilometers by bus to reach the Future of Smiles mission so that he could receive surgery for his cleft lip. The son of rice farm workers, Anil had no choice but to endure his entire childhood with his condition, as surgery was too expensive for his family to afford. Fortunately, health workers from the host hospital were conducting an awareness campaign in his community and Anil learned that he could receive the surgery he always deserved at this mission. When asked what his new smile would mean to him, he said, “I want to look good for my future wife,” with a grin. He’s well on his way, as Anil received a successful cleft lip repair on the mission’s first day of surgery. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

Young patients play with toys modeled after medical equipment in the child life area before their surgeries. Guiding children to play with toys like these is a method that child life specialists use to foster a sense of familiarity and confidence in the medical setting, which eases their nerves prior to being omitted into the operating room. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

Cleft surgeon Vikram Pandit of India and his team perform surgery during the Future of Smiles mission. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

Sravania, 8 months old, shares a smile with her parents before her cleft lip surgery. When she was born, doctors didn’t offer the family guidance on how she could be healed nor did they refer her to seek further care. Thankfully, her mother learned how to feed Sravania with a spoon, and she could also get a small amount of milk out of a bottle. Sravania is their first and only child; mom was very nervous and scared when her baby was born, as she had never seen a cleft condition before and didn’t know whether or not Sravania would be OK. Her father said that he always had faith that Sravania would be fine, believing that her lip would heal on its own as she grew. Though he learned from Operation Smile that surgery is the only way to repair a cleft, he maintained the same sense of faith: “I am not nervous for her surgery. I have trust in this … I know everything will work out.” Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

Indian cleft surgeons Amit Mohan and Taher Mistry work together to perform surgery on a patient during the Future of Smiles mission. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

Sravania’s father’s faith in the Future of Smiles medical team was rewarded after they performed a successful cleft lip surgery for his daughter. Pictured here, her mother, who was more nervous on her daughter’s surgery day than the days prior, gazes at Sravania’s new smile with a sense of relief and joy for the brighter future ahead for her family. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

One of the Future of Smiles mission’s older patients sees his new smile for the first time following surgery. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

At 4 months old, Sneha was one of the youngest patients who received surgery at the Future of Smiles mission. The ideal time for children to receive cleft lip surgery is as soon as they are old enough and healthy enough to undergo anesthesia, which was the case for Sneha. Though the joy on her parents’ faces in this photos says it all, her father added: “I am very happy. She is beautiful; a new child.” Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

The father of a young patient comforts his child after his cleft lip surgery. Photo: Shatha Bataineh, Operation Smile Student Programs U-Voice volunteer.

After living with her cleft condition for 42 years, Vijaya proudly examines her new smile following her successful cleft lip and palate surgery. Before her procedure on this day, she offered a simple-but-powerful proclamation: “I am ready.” Vijaya traveled to the Future of Smiles mission with her mother, who looks forward to a better life for her daughter. “She has been bullied since she was a child,” she said. “With this, she will no longer be laughed at.” Vijaya thought of her mother when asked about her future with her new smile: “I want to get a better job so I can make enough money to care for my mother.” Photo: Shatha Bataineh, Operation Smile Student Programs U-Voice volunteer.

*Editor's note: Operation Smile and the Inga Health Foundation are working to increase access to surgery in India that's safe, effective and timely. Through our partnership, we're conducting surgical programs in strategic locations, opening and sustaining surgical centers in various states, and engaging with key government stakeholders through "Future of Smiles" medical missions to promote statewide collaboration. Operation Smile hopes to establish a center of care that will provide patients with the highest quality of ongoing surgical care and treatment, as well as education opportunities for health workers by maximizing local and global partnerships that ensure the timely provision of funding, supplies and human resources.