Stories You Make Possible

Stories You Make Possible

Explore Operation Smile stories from around the world highlighting the courage of patients and their families, the dedication of our volunteers and staff, and the generosity of supporters like you.

Madagascar

Unconditional Love

VIDEO: Through the perseverance of her father, Clara finally received the surgery she always deserved six years after her mother abandoned her family.
Guatemala
Lia is dressed in her hospital gown as she sits next to her father, Gerardo, during Operation Smile’s surgical program in Guatemala City. Photo: Rohanna Mertens.

Meet Our Patients: Guatemala City

Lia, Jobito and Dayana were three out of 62 patients who received transformational cleft care during the May 2022 surgical program in Guatemala City. Here are their stories.
Global
Cycle for Smiles is a global series of cycling rides that will raise funds to support Operation Smile and celebrate the organization’s 40th anniversary. Find a ride near you or start your own! Your ride will help provide transformational surgery and critical comprehensive cleft care for those who need it most.

Cycle for Smiles: Q&A with Brigette Clifford and Victor Mansure

Almost every day, our patients begin their journeys toward new smiles and brighter futures. During Cycle for Smiles, riders can start their own journey toward helping raise funds for more children to receive transformational cleft surgery.
Morocco
Haitam holds a photo of him before surgery as he smiles wide at the camera four years after receiving free life-changing cleft surgery. Photo: Lorenzo Monacelli.

Haitam’s Journey Toward Healing and Happiness

Haitam and his family’s love for one another motivated them to push past the financial, emotional and geographical barriers that separated him from a new smile.
Mexico
Sebastian and his mom, María, who wears a mask, both stare upwards toward the sky. Photo: Jasmin Shah.

Hope Emerges From His New Smile

VIDEO: For María, facing the unexpected of having a son with a cleft condition became less daunting after connecting with Operation Smile Mexico and its team of caring and passionate volunteers.
Honduras
Alex and his wife, Adilia, hold their son, César. Photo: Rohanna Mertens.

A Promise Kept

VIDEO: Nearly a decade after Operation Smile gave his son a new smile, Alex Guerrero vowed to find every person in his country living with an untreated cleft condition. With his inspired patient advocacy program, Alex hopes no other family endures what his family went through.
Global

Celebrating National Nurses Month: The Essential Roles of Operation Smile Nurses

Operation Smile nurses represent the only medical volunteers who actively provide care for patients through every stage of the surgical process.
Madagascar
Six-year-old Honoré plays with fellow patients and their family members during the April 2022 Operation Smile surgical program in Tamatave, Madagascar. Honoré, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, is wearing a colorful T-shirt and is holding the edge of a colorful parachute. He and his playmates are smiling widely and playing joyfully. In the background, families sit in plastic chairs on the lawn in front of a medical facility waiting for their children's health to be evaluated for surgery.

Scenes of Hope and Healing: Tamatave Surgical Program

In late April 2022, Operation Smile hosted its first international surgical program in Madagascar since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow the stories of some of our patients and medical volunteers as they unite for this long-awaited and life-changing experience.
Ghana
Photo: Margherita Mirabella.

Picturing Her New Beginning

After living 52 years with an untreated cleft lip, Akosua discovered a new passion for helping people like herself.

Make Your Gift

Every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft condition. Your gift today will help transform lives and increase access to essential surgical care.

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