Tremendous need in India

It was chilly this morning as we walked to the hospital for what would be our first day of screening on this Operation Smile mission trip.

We had heard of the huge crowd that had been screened the day before we arrived. There are so many untreated cleft lips in India. On the last mission over 1800 had come hoping for the surgery that would transform their lives. Most were turned away because there was not enough time or surgeons to handle the number who needed it. That is why Operation Smile decided to do a mega mission. 500 surgeries is the target for this mission which will include two teams back-to-back.

So many of this team are familiar to me. Surgeons and medical personnel that I have worked with in Bolpur, Rwanda, Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras and Vietnam. They are true heroes who give of their time and talents to help people they don't even know. They have traveled half way around the world to help this time.

We met a little girl named Namita Bora. She is 6 years old and doesn't go to school because the other children tease her too much. Her family is very poor. In fact, she borrowed the clothes she is wearing from relatives and neighbors to make the 17 hour journey to the hospital today.