As Operation Smile Mexico celebrates its 20th anniversary, we celebrate the team’s exciting work across the country and explore what’s in store for the future.
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Inspiring stories
Explore Stories
It’s been 10 years since volunteer anaesthetist Alison Chalmers first joined Operation Smile. As she returns from her latest surgical programme in Paraguay’s capital, Asunción, we reflect on her decade-long journey of service and what giving back truly means to her.
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At Operation Smile Brazil’s first-ever Women in Medicine initiative, our volunteers are learning new skills and encouraging other women to join the medical field.
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Home from a busy surgical programme in the Philippines, cleft surgeon Hannah shares her journey to volunteering with Operation Smile.
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Through inspiring stories of the people we’ve helped, Operation Smile’s brand-new campaign shows how closer access to safe, comprehensive cleft care is transforming lives.
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Africa is home to the world’s youngest population, with more than 400 million people under 35. From Ethiopia to Malawi, we hear from four young people strengthening healthcare systems across the continent.
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A new season in life inspired Liz to explore fresh opportunities – she found unexpected horizons and a whole new perspective on her 45-year career.
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After a life-changing accident as a baby, Chris Joy has a hopeful future, thanks to surgical care and prosthetics from newly trained volunteer surgeons in Rwanda.
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Last year, we shared Adolphe’s story and how Operation Smile is using AI to expand access to cleft care for young patients. One year after his surgery, Adolphe’s really thriving!
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Programme updates
Find out how our surgical programmes are strengthening local health systems and training the next generation of medical leaders.
Training anaesthetists in Rwanda
Anaesthesia is vital to the delivery of safe surgery, but there is a dramatic shortage of trained anaesthetists in Rwanda. In this densely populated country, 11.9 million people are served by just 15 anaesthetists and anaesthesiologists.
Dr Paulin Banguti is working to fill this void – he’s director of the post-graduate anaesthesia programme at the University of Rwanda. During the March 2016 Operation Smile surgical training rotation at Rwinkwavu District Hospital, he led a group of anaesthesia residents to observe and learn from volunteer anaesthesiologists from around the world.
Strengthening health systems in Malawi
To enable Operation Smile to serve and treat more people living with cleft conditions, we focus on increasing the surgical capacity of low-and middle-income countries like Malawi so that cleft care for local people can continue, even after a surgical programme ends.
Operation Smile Malawi has worked to encourage and educate local surgeons, doctors and nurses, and now has nearly 50 percent of its medical volunteers from Malawi. Surgical training rotations train and empower local surgeons to help their own communities and strengthen health systems for the future.
