The young people of Operation Smile Bolivia have marveled and surprised us on a large scale.
This organization represents the dream of any volunteer and social work lover.
The Smile Bolivia Opera Foundation is a non-governmental non-profit organization, dedicated to performing free surgeries to correct cleft lips and/or palates and other malformations in children around the world.
Operation Smile: Big success story
Some facts from Operation Smile
Since the first medical mission in 1999 to date, health assessments have been carried out on 6,540 people across the country and 2,877 patients have been operated on.
- Without surgery, 9 out of 10 children born with this condition can die.
- Only 6.3% of surgical procedures are performed in the poorest third of the world's population.
- The foundation is present in more than 40 countries.
- The world director of student programs is located in Paraguay. The director of Bolivia's foundation is Argentine. Your daughters, youth group leaders, study both in Buenos Aires, chance?
Why not Argentina?
Let's look at the possibility of opening Operation Smile in our country. We have access to politicians, educators, entrepreneurs, leaders, universities and colleges.
Deploying a branch of an established International Organization is much easier. Even more so when it comes to a problem that has a solution.
We are facing an opportunity to generate a grain of sand for hundreds of families. Who joins?
Operation Smile: Bolivian Youth
Beyond these admirable figures (which are VIDAS) what excited us to tears was the passion for which the boys of Santa Cruz de la Sierra carry out their volunteering activities.
Rarely have we seen TAN young people focused, enthusiastic, concerned about a better world and with such remarkable attention span and analysis.
Our dear Gerrit Van Den Berg gave an exciting talk sharing his tremendous life stories. I was excited to see the boys approaching him to hug him with wet eyes.
After a series of activities, I was able to enjoy my personal history, an analysis of the impact of technology on employment in Latin America and finally an interesting exercise in leadership and group entrepreneurship, with them for about an hour.
Among all we imagined a product that did not exist but that could benefit the lives of various people. What began as an impossible (a book for non-seer children without legs) ended up being analyzed and planned in a potential production and distribution internationally through Crowdfunding. All this came out of the same young people in a few minutes. You can tell they're ready for the future.
Operation Smile: Synthesis
If I wanted to do an analysis of what I've experienced today, I'd need to go deep.
I summarize this with the following phrases:
– If I had children, I would be without doubt filled with pride that they were part of this organization.
– I wish I'd met them when I was 15.
– If you have the possibility to collaborate with this organization, I recommend you do so without a doubt.
– I would like to open this NGO in Argentina taking advantage of the experience of neighbouring countries, especially in Paraguay.
You can visit the post we did in more depth in our blog UnViajeAmericano.com about this beautiful experience.
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