Life changing mission
Every year several of our employees help Operation Smile medical volunteers to restore smiles, hopes and futures. They travel on a mission overseas to volunteer their help where help is needed most.
Our volunteers are employees who have shown exceptional engagement throughout the year when it comes to organising fund- and awareness raising activities. Missions usually take place in countries where access to healthcare is still very low and social isolation of children with cleft condition very high. In this way the volunteers get to offer their hands-on help, as well as experience the live-changing power of those missions.
Watch the report from this year’s mission to Colombia to find out what a mission can look like.
‘Something that really stuck with me from this mission was that even through their struggles and challenge situations there was so much pride, love, support and gratitude within these families and the communities – not only for Operation Smile, but for each other and their lives.’
‘Apart from the obvious transformative power of those missions, I came to realise the long-term impact that Operation Smile missions have on the local healthcare systems: from sowing the seeds of the national birth registry, through building the infrastructure and educating local medical personnel and the patients’ caretakers. We are proud to partner with a charity organisation that cares about sustainable healthcare.’
‘The mutual love and gratitude I witnessed between the Operation Smile team and their patients is something I will forever remember, something that inspires me to be a better person every single day.’
‘The mission is a life-changing moment on several levels. Not only does a child get the start in life they deserve; the mission is also an enormous change for the whole family – the parents who can now look forward to their child being included in the society and accepted by their peers. Moreover, it is a powerful experience for us – volunteers – who can witness this wonderful metamorphosis.’