Operation Smile returned to Guadalajara last week, with volunteer doctors carrying out 111 operations on children – plus a few adults – born with cleft palates.
The surgeries were all done at the Jalisco Institute for Reconstructive Surgery between February 4 and 8.
Founded in Norfolk, Virginia in 1982, Operation Smile has performed over 270,000 operations in more than 60 countries. Volunteer surgeons from all over the world have operated on around 1,800 children in Mexico since Operation Smile began coming here in 2006.
Around 100 medical and non-medical volunteers generally take part in the missions. While some are from the United States, the majority are from Mexico and Latin America.
Operation Smile is set to return again in the fall for post-operations and new surgeries.
For more information about the mission, call (33) 3824-3904. Patients treated in these Guadalajara surgeries come from all over the western region of Mexico.