To Nicaragua with Roma Downey

Tomorrow morning JE Jack and I head off to Nicaragua for Operation Smile. We will be going with Roma Downey and her daughter, Reilly, to document a local medical mission there where up to 50 lucky children will get their cleft lips and cleft palates repaired for free.

Roma and Reilly will be the eyes, ears and hearts of our viewers as the mission unfolds.

Jim and I count ourselves as lucky to travel with them and view the good work of Operation Smile once again. We are going on this assignment for ad agency Russ Reid Company.

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens; not by what life brings us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.
--Anonymous

Another go at Slideshow

Operation Smile - Amazing Grace

Marceline and Jacqueline

Today was our last full day in Rwanda this time around. We set out just after daybreak to find Marceline, a girl who had had surgery on her cleft lip back in March. Her cleft was a pretty severe one. A hug hole in the middle of her face with teeth all heaved and shoved around. So when we saw her walking up the hill toward us we were curious to see what her new face would be like. The closer she got the better we could see that a miracle had taken place. There was now a new more confident girl. We enjoyed the fact that she was wearing the hospital gown that she had worn during her surgery. She wears it now as a badge of honor. A constant reminder of her new beginning.

Marceline lives with her father, mother, brothers and sisters in a small one room mud house, crumbling in the hot sun.

The whole community came out to greet us with songs, smiles and hearty handshakes.

Marceline sat on a bench in front of her house and told me, "Before I got my lip fixed, my life was miserable. After I got surgery I was very happy. Especially when my name was called when they were selecting the ones who would get surgery.

Now I am very happy. I now am able to drink using a straw. Other kids have been telling me that now I look beautiful, and this makes me feel so good in my heart.

May God bless whoever contributed to get my lips fixed. All of you and doctors who fixed my lips I thank you so much.



We gave our goodbyes and went down the red dusty road and cow track to find Jacqueline, another of the girls we had followed through surgery. By phone in another town her uncle gave us directions. And miracle of miracles, we arrived at Jacqueline's house. We were greeted warmly by Jacqueline and her tall statuesque mother.

Jacqueline is in P3 grade at school. She, too is tall and beautiful. And the surgery has given her an almost perfect smile. With much singing and waving we left Jacqueline to make our journey back to Kigali before nightfall. And so our trip through Rwanda is coming to an end. We have visited with four of our TV kids and two bonus kids as well.

Through their stories, warm embraces and smiles we have learned first hand what a tremendous difference Operation Smile makes in the lives of children and their families.

Adeline in Rwanda

We visited Adeline today. She lives with her grandfather and her mother high on a hill overlooking a fertile valley. She told me that she doesn't want to remember the "old" Adeline, the one with the hole in the middle of her face. Years of taunting and teasing has left emotional scars. She had gone to school, but quit because of the way the other kids treated her. Today she has a new smile and a new life. She is no longer called names. People don't laugh at her anymore and at school she tells me, they must think she is a new student, because she is treated well, just like other "normal" kids. So for her the past is just that...past and gone. Today is a new and happy time.

Adeline said, "Before the surgery I was not happy with my life. Other kids were laughing at me. They teased me. The kept calling me "Cleft Girl" and "the girl with ughly lips."

Now I am happy because now I am going to school and other kids are not teasing me. Now I have a new life. Cleft Girl is now history. I don't even want to think about it. I want to thank all the people who contributed to get my lips fixed. Thank you so so so much!"

Harry Potter

Jean, a boy we dubbed Harry Potter because of the sweatshirt he wore to the Operation Smile screening process, was just coming up the hill to his house as we pulled up. He looks great with his new smile. The healing will get better with time, but even after only 3 months he looks good. After his grandmother scrubbed him clean from water in a plastic tub, he was ready to pose for photos. Then we had him show us one of the chores he does to help his family. He collects greens to feed the young pig they keep next to their dairy cow.