Antonia before and after surgery
Changing Lives, One Smile at a Time
By Liam M.
What was the last thing you spent over one hundred dollars on? Was it something impulsive, like a dress you will wear only once, or a lavish meal that you will forget by the next? Wouldn’t it be great to say that rather than obtaining material things, you actually changed someone’s life with a gift worth more than any amount of money? Imagine being able to say you bought someone the ability to smile.
Operation Smile is an organization of medical professionals who perform surgeries across the globe to repair cleft palates. They perform every surgery for free, relying solely on donations. No other corrective procedure provides such dramatic results, and a full operation only costs $240 dollars and takes just 45 minutes to complete.
A cleft palate, or cleft lip, is a birth defect where the baby’s lip and palate do not grow together. They look like gaps in the upper lip that extend up towards the base of the nose, partially exposing the teeth and gums.
The corrective procedure, especially when performed on an infant, leaves barely any trace. The surgery makes it easier for the patient to eat, speak, and most importantly, smile.
Right now, surgeons are working with Operation Smile, giving free surgeries to people all over the world. Any country that has not yet been visited is on their list for future trips.
Operation Smile is kept alive by donations. The Family School Student Government makes a donation every semester with money raised from raffles and bake sales. To find out how you can help and to track Operation Smile news and events around the world, you can join their online community at www.operationsmile.org. You too can change someone’s life, with nothing but a smile.
