Operation Smile Medical Mission to Take Place February 19-27 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

An Operation Smile Medical Mission team will arrive in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, for a medical mission taking place February 19-27, 2009.  The team consists of nearly 40 medical and non-medical volunteers from Honduras who will work side-by-side with volunteers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United States and Venezuela.  The team will work together at Hospital San Felipe to provide free physical evaluations and reconstructive surgery to children suffering with cleft lips and cleft palates.  Founded in 1982, Operation Smile is a worldwide children’s medical charity dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. 

Who: 
Operation Smile International Medical Mission Team comprised of volunteers from eight countries to include:
Dr. Oscar Sarmiento, plastic surgeon and Operation Smile Honduras Medical Director
Dr. Adam Kolker, plastic surgeon from New York
Dr. Judith Brill, pediatric anesthesiologist from California
Norrie Oelkers, R.N., clinical coordinator from New Jersey
Andrea Standish, child life specialist from Texas

When:
February 19-27, 2009

Where:
Hospital San Felipe
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Honduras became an Operation Smile partner country in 1997.  Since that time, Operation Smile medical volunteers have provided more than 3,900 children with free medical evaluations and nearly more than 2,000 have received life-changing surgery during medical missions.  The last mission in Honduras was a local medical mission that took place October 9-12 at Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas. The team performed 45 physical examinations and provided new smiles to 26 patients.

In August 2007, Operation Smile Honduras opened the operating rooms in its new Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Clinic. The Clinic allows Operation Smile to provide pre and post-operative evaluations, follow-up speech therapy and dental appointments, as well as administrative services to plan local missions staffed by Honduran medical teams.  With the opening of the Clinic, Operation Smile Honduras is able to provide care for more children throughout the year.  In 2008, the Clinic’s volunteers provided 17 patients with free reconstructive surgery and 1,694 consultations in the areas of plastic surgery, speech therapy, psychology, audiology, dental and nutrition. 

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Our Mission: Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children’s smiles and transform lives across the globe.  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 volunteers have treated more than 120,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and the organization has a presence in 51 countries.  In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency. 

Media Notes:  To receive images 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.