At the Jalisco Institute for Reconstructive Surgery in Guadalajara on a recent Thursday, Operation Smile appeared to be living up to its name. Everyone looked happy.
In the foyer of the hospital, Mexican and foreign volunteers and donors milled around, chatting, taking photos, working on crafts and tossing balls to parents and children who had come to be screened for the free cleft-palate and cleft-lip operations offered by this international humanitarian mission.
Amidst the hubbub of babies, children and even a few adults suffering from this birth defect, the scores of doctors, psychologists and non-medical volunteers cooed over the patients, took medical photos and did screenings for the plastic surgeries that would begin the following Monday.
“He is going to have a beautiful smile,” said Operation Smile’s Mexican Executive Director Benjamin Mijangos to a mother cuddling a small baby whose beautiful eyes and content expression reflected unawareness of his severe disfigurement.
“These kids live in shadows and rejection,” Mijangos said later. “We’re their last chance. The operation would cost them 5,000 to 7,000 dollars and that’s just for one. Usually they need three, four or five surgeries.”
By 2 p.m. that day, Operation Smile had already evaluated 115 children for surgery, said Meredith, Operation Smile’s regional program manager for Latin America. She was visiting Guadalajara from Norfolk, Virginia, the group’s headquarters.
“This is my second mission this year in Guadalajara and my sixth in Mexico,” she said.
Praise rang from all sides for the founders of Operation Smile, a U.S. plastic surgeon named Bill Magee and his wife, Kathy, a nurse.
“What a wonderful thing they did by beginning this organization,” said Mijangos. “They started in the Philippines and now they are in 60 countries. All the medical people are volunteers — Operation Smile pays for their airfare, hotel and food while they are here, but they work for free.” He noted that all the medical volunteers are certified to perform this type of reconstructive surgery.
Only Mijangos and four others work here in Guadalajara at Mexico’s sole Operation Smile office. These paid employees travel around the country to prepare for missions. This year, five missions have been undertaken, two in Guadalajara, said Mijangos.
“In our six years in Mexico, we’ve operated on 1,300 kids. Since Operation Smile started 29 years ago, the number of children around the world who have received free operations is 200,000. It’s even better when you realize that we change not only the children’s lives, but also their families.”
Mijangos said that at that day’s intake there were people from 24 states in Mexico. “Every day, this hospital does six to ten surgeries for cleft palate and cleft lip,” he said, explaining that the defect is common in Mexico.
“It’s a multi-factor problem,” said Dr. Fernando Guerrerosantos, plastic surgeon and son of the hospital’s founder. “It’s about 6 percent genetic and the other risks are from poor prenatal nutrition, lack of folic acid, smoking, alcohol and so on.”
“For our next mission,” added Mijangos, “I hope that some of your readers might be helping us as donors. We have receipts for tax deductions for both Mexico and the United States.”
For information on how to donate, call Benjamin Mijangos or Patricia Mayet, (33) 3122-8864, (cel) 044-33-3815-5463, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. See www.operationsmile.org.mx.