Operation Smile Student Volunteers Participate in 25th Anniversary Global Initiatives

Operation Smile, launched 25 years ago to help children born with devastating facial deformities, has provided free surgeries that have changed the lives of more than 100,000 children around the globe.  Its work has also touched the lives of many more young people who have been introduced to the concepts of service, volunteerism, philanthropy, leadership and education through their participation in Operation Smile’s Student Programs.

For its 25th Anniversary, Operation Smile will send approximately 40 high school students on its World Journey of Smiles -- simultaneous medical missions to 40 sites worldwide with a goal of treating 5,000 children in one week.  On Monday, November 12, 2007, around the world at 7:30am local time, Operation Smile will begin surgeries at 40 hospitals in 25 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.  World Journey of Smiles will commemorate 25 years of transforming the lives of children born with facial deformities, while empowering students and young people to embrace a life of public service and building public and private partnerships that support sustainable healthcare systems for children and families.    

Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., was founded in 1982 by Dr. Bill Magee, a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathy, a nurse and clinical social worker, following a volunteer medical mission to the Philippines.  Each year, Operation Smile’s teams of highly specialized medical volunteers perform surgeries and provide related healthcare on international medical missions to 25 countries.  During a typical two-week mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations; an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.  Operation Smile also trains in-country local medical professionals and donates equipment to promote sustainable healthcare systems worldwide.

 During the early years of Operation Smile, students were enlisted to help comfort the young children awaiting surgery, a special gift that the Co-founders, the Magees, first discovered when they took their then 13-year old daughter Brigette along on a mission.  The first Student Association was established at Norfolk Academy in Virginia, the school that the Magee’s children attended, and 1986 was the first year that student volunteers participated with Operation Smile on a medical mission to the Philippines.  As the organization grew, so did the role of students.  In 1989, the University of Arizona began offering a training program for students that focused on health care lessons that students could share during a mission.

Today, Operation Smile Student Associations encompass thousands of students based in more than 450 schools across the United States and around the world, including Honduras, Kenya, Morocco and Vietnam. Since its inception, Operation Smile’s Student Programs have expanded to elementary, middle and high schools, universities, and medical schools. Through their school- and community-based fund-raising, student volunteers raise an estimated $1 million annually for Operation Smile. 

Kenley Turville, a student volunteer from Utah notes:  “I volunteer for Operation Smile because it makes me feel needed.  So often I feel like everyone else, but the idea of raising enough money to change even one child's life is enough for me to keep going and feel important as an individual.  It is so simple yet so life-changing for these precious children around the world who deserve a chance at life.”

 Each year, hundreds of student volunteers from around the world come together to participate in the International Student Leadership Conference, where they learn how to meet challenges and take confident steps toward leadership and strong character development.  Two outstanding high school students are selected to participate on each Operation Smile international medical mission.  The role of these students on missions is to present basic health care information to patients and families at the mission site and at local schools and orphanages. Students give interactive presentations on topics including burn care and prevention, nutrition, dental care and oral rehydration. Operation Smile provides education and training for these students at bi-annual Mission Training Workshops.

 The 15th Annual International Student Leadership Conference and the next Mission Training Workshop will both take place at the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland, this month.  From July 27-29, forty-two students from 11 of the United States, Ireland, Paraguay and South Africa will participate in the Mission Training Workshop, which will train students to serve on the World Journey of Smiles and subsequent Operation Smile international medical missions. 

From July 30-August 3, the International Student Leadership Conference will take place, also in Limerick.  Nearly 400 students from 20 of the United States and 15 other countries will participate.  The conference offers students an overview of Operation Smile’s work around the world and teaches them how to be leaders, learning confidence, public speaking, fund-raising, and club organization.  Goals are to educate teens on the value of service to the community and to help them establish a lifetime of giving to others. Highlights include talks given by Paul Gleeson, who was voted “Limerick Man of the Year” for paddling a canoe across the Atlantic and former Irish Ambassador to Thailand Dan Mulhall who served during the tsunami disaster in Asia.

“Operation Smile is unique in its commitment to youth and student education,” said Operation Smile Co-founder and President Kathy Magee.  “The spirit of volunteerism shines throughout the United States and the world as thousands of young adults participate in associations in their high schools and colleges.  The greatest illustration of the commitment of youth is found on the medical missions and at the International Student Leadership Conference. Watching students from all over the United States and from our partner countries join together and work on the skills and knowledge needed to participate on a mission and develop student associations is an exhilarating experience.”

Patrick Rutter, a student volunteer from New Jersey participated in an international medical mission to Nicaragua.  He recalls: “I spoke with a very emotional and frightened father of a two-year-old patient before I helped escort his son to the operating room, and I did my best to assure him that his son would be fine.  I will never forget the look in the father's eyes when I carried the boy away. His eyes showed the trust he had in me as he allowed his own son to be carried away to surgery.  When I helped bring the child back to the recovery room after his surgery, the father was anxiously waiting. Hardly giving me time to put his son down onto a bed, he gave me the warmest, most intense, most sincere hug I have ever received.  Because of moments like these, it is apparent to me that the most powerful catalyst to action is emotion.  The memory of this grateful father has instilled upon me a deeper sense of compassion than I had before. I still remember this moment as if it were yesterday.  There are many things in this world that cannot be changed, but Operation Smile works towards an achievable goal. Since a cleft lip can be fixed in a 45-minute operation, there is no justice for any child to be shunned by society as a result of this deformity.”

“Young people share the language of compassion, which can be understood by children of all ages and from all backgrounds,” notes Operation Smile Co-founder and CEO Dr. Bill Magee.  “What these young people give to the children Operation Smile treats, they get back a thousand-fold.  The lessons learned on an Operation Smile mission will be carried with them throughout their lifetime.”

Media Notes:  The following students are available (listed by region) for interviews. 

• Auna Charters, Virginia -- Auna, 18, has been an Operation Smile volunteer for the past four years.  She recently graduated from high school and will attend the University of Virginia to study nursing.  Auna has attended four Operation Smile International Student Leadership Conferences and in January 2005 completed Operation Smile’s Mission Training Workshop.  She also serves on the Operation Smile Student Advisory Board.  In August 2005, Auna participated in Operation Smile’s mission to Fortaleza, Brazil, where she taught basic health care to children and families while they waited to be seen by Operation Smile medical volunteers.  During the mission in Brazil, Auna was able to relate to the children because she herself was an Operation Smile patient. Auna was born with Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome, which is a rare condition that causes her muscles to contract.  She has undergone more than 40 surgeries, to include having a rod put in her spine for scoliosis.  Her care has been provided by Operation Smile Co-founder and CEO Dr. Bill Magee and another local surgeon and Operation Smile volunteer Dr. Richard Rosenblum.

• Patrick Rutter, New Jersey -- Patrick is currently a graduate of Delbarton High School in Morristown, NJ, and is an incoming freshman at Duke University in Durham, NC.  He became involved with Operation Smile in 2001 through his desire to get involved in the community. After hearing the story of a fellow classmate who had participated on a mission, Patrick decided to get involved with Operation Smile.  Since then, he has served Operation Smile on a mission to Managua, Nicaragua, as a student volunteer and has also been a member of the Student Advisory Board for the past two years.  Patrick also has edited and contributed to the student e-newsletter, has assisted with three Mission Training Workshops, and was the emcee of last year's International Student Leadership Conference. 

• Brianna Sacks, California -- Brianna recently graduated from Malibu High School and will be attending George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in the fall.  She has served Operation Smile on a mission to Ninh Thuan, Vietnam, as a student volunteer and is also a member of the Student Advisory Board.  In July, Brianna will be attending her third Operation Smile International Student Leadership Conference in Ireland and has been helping plan the conference with fellow students on the Student Advisory Board.  She will continue her work with Operation Smile in college and wants to go on college missions with Operation Smile.

• Kenley Turville, Utah -- Kenley is a 19-year old student attending Claremont McKenna College in California.  She participated in a Mission Training Workshop for Operation Smile in January 2005 in Nofolk, VA, and has also attended two International Student Leadership Conferences.  In 2005, she joined an Operation Smile international medical mission to Quang Nam, Vietnam. 

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.  Since its founding, Operation Smile has treated more than 100,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its 25 partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.  Operation Smile commemorates its 25th Anniversary with a year-long, multi-faceted series of initiatives to promote sustainability and capacity-building among its 25 mission countries.  The year-long anniversary celebration will culminate in November 2007, with the World Journey of Smiles, 40 simultaneous missions in 25 countries, with a goal of providing new smiles and new lives for an estimated 5,000 children living with facial deformities.

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Media Notes:  To receive images, b-roll footage or additional information, or to request an interview with an Operation Smile spokesperson, please contact Lisa Jones at ljones@operationsmile.org or 757-321-3252.