Yesterday was the last cleft palate day, and today is the last cleft lip day for our team. This has been an amazing experience. The Burmese people are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. AfS does outstanding work, our team has become close friends, and seeing the impact on kids’ lives has been overwhelming at times. Take yesterday’s last case....
A Very Lucky Day for Ruan Si Yu – Chuzhou, China
Ruan Si Yu is an 11 year old girl, whose family learned of the Alliance for Smiles mission just in the last two days. They heard that there would be a second screening clinic today, Monday, March 25th, a week after the first screening clinic (at which potential patients are screened for general health and surgical need, and prioritized.) Si...
A New Smile for Phone Myat Zaw – Sagaing, Myanmar
Phone Myat Zaw, a seven month old boy, lives in Mandalay and traveled to Sagaing, Myanmar to be screened at the AfS Opening Clinic on Monday the 18th of March. During Opening Clinic, Dan, the record keeper, with the help of a translator, gathered and recorded personal and medical information from his parents. Shelly, the photographer, then took his “before”...
Team Day Off – Chuzhou, China
It’s been 8 days since the team arrived in China. Today, the team had a day off to relax and do some sightseeing in Chuzhou. The Family Planning Association organized a trip for us to visit Mount Langya, a mountain located in the Anhui Province. Mount Langya is a nationalforest park and is one of Anhui’s five biggest scenic attractions....
Thank You Myanmar Kindness Organization – Sagaing, Myanmar
Myanmar Kindness Organization arranged the journeys for two six-year-old boys to come to Sagaing to repair their cleft palates. The families each live in remote villages in Myanmar and would not have known about cleft medical missions or how to be considered for corrective surgery if not for MKO. Additionally, they would not have been able to arrange travel to...
Another Day on the Surgery Ward – Chuzhou, China
Excitement on the ward today included meeting twin ten-year old sisters, only one of whom has a cleft. Pictured above with the family, left to right are Mission Director Mary Liu, OR Nurse Yipi Yang, and Lead Nurse Kathy Cox. And, to the right is another set of twins, in this case one-month old boys, where again only one of...
On the Surgery Ward – Chuzhou, China
Above are “before and after surgery” pictures of a ten-year-old girl who had a lip revision procedure performed by our surgical team. The previous surgery left a pronounced and asymmetrical scar, which will now heal with a much more natural appearance. Meet Luo Chuan Bo, left, a five year old boy who received a lip revision and a rhinoplasty. Chuan...