Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat nor Gloom of Night…

Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat nor Gloom of Night (Typhoons or General Strikes included) stays these Courageous Couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Only days into the World Journey of Smiles and we have surgically corrected over 1500 children with facial deformities. We are now in our second day of the main segment of the Journey with 37 sites active. Reports are coming in from all locations outlining excellent collaboration between team members, exquisite care of patients and their families and of course, ever increasing numbers of successful surgical procedures. The few difficult surgeries have been handled with excellent outcomes. Significant flooding in Hue, Vietnam temporarily slowed our first day of surgery but now that the waters have subsided a bit, things are back on track. The team performed beautifully during that particular meteorological disturbance, insuring that above all, the patients and their families remained safe at all times. General strikes in Kolkata have caused a bit of concern in one of our India mission sites but to date appears to have only resulted in some transportation rerouting. Cargo concerns in Egypt have put a minor dent in our operating efficiencies there but have not substantially slowed us down. Consistently, our teams in the field are responding positively and in concert with each other and our overall organizational goals, once again demonstrating the extraordinary professionalism of our volunteers and their amazing commitment to do well by each child waiting…..

Dr. Randy Sherman