Letter to the Volunteers

Dear World Journey of Smiles Volunteers,

We are now 10 days and counting before we launch the World Journey of Smiles (WJOS). First, I want to thank every single one of you for making this a very special moment for Operation Smile. I want you to realize that this is a celebration of each and every one of you. Without you, it would be too hard to justify all this effort. What this has allowed us to do is to truly understand the capacity that we have collectively as an organization. What holds us all together is a common sense of what is “right.” If you had not felt the same things we felt on leaving that first mission in Naga City, Philippines, 25 years ago, you would have never come back the second time. We have been given the privilege to see literally thousands of volunteers be touched by that moment of a first trip and know that donating a few weeks of their time and talent to help someone else was just the “right” thing to do. Those experiences have enhanced each of our lives and given us a much better understanding of life and a much better understanding of our world as it exists.

As we approach the next decade, we realize the need to not only show ourselves what we are capable of, but in addition, strengthen our infrastructure to prepare us for the future. Over the past couple of years, we have begun a regionalization process that will allow us to be more efficient and effective in not only creating missions in our countries, but also in establishing hubs to be the centers of transmitting education, research and tactical support for our volunteers.

We have already opened Comprehensive Care Centers in Colombia, Vietnam, China and Honduras, in addition to being in the final planning stages of more centers in Vietnam, Brazil, Paraguay, Philippines, India, Morocco and a number of other countries. Our Comprehensive Care Center in Hangzhou, China, will open its doors during the WJOS; we believe that we will be able to treat as many 5,000 children a year through this center alone.

The World Journey of Smiles will allow us to set in stone our value structure of creating a Global Standard of Care. This Standard will ensure every child treated under the name Operation Smile will receive the same quality of care that we could deliver in any of the best operating rooms in the world.

We greatly appreciate your time, effort, dedication and expertise that you are donating to the children of the world. Each of you are the face of Operation Smile. As we move forward, your example is an inspiration to all of those around you. On the World Journey of Smiles, you will be joining more than 1,700 other volunteers from around the world. These volunteers come from 44 countries in a unified effort; over half of our volunteers will have the honor of helping to change the lives of children from their own country.

You are all very special people and deserve an incredible amount of thanks and respect for what you are doing. I hope to see many of you during the WJOS; Kathy and I will be able to visit about eight countries during that time frame. However, even if we don’t see you, please know that we do wish that we could shake your hand to personally say “thank you.”

Love to all.

Bill and Kathy Magee
Co-founders
Operation Smile