Celebrating New Smiles in Ecuador

Today is the third official day of surgeries at the World Journey of Smiles in Ecuador and 196 potential young patients have been evaluated, 69 of those have already undergone surgery and 105 procedures have been conducted. The team of volunteers has worked tirelessly to literally change the lives of all these kids, one smile at a time.

We have seen many different cases during these past days, like Kevin and Justin, who are part of the Operation Smile Ecuador (FOSE) family because they already have undergone various surgeries respectively. There are also new cases like Jimmy, who is seven years old and traveled six hours with his mother to get here, because they heard about the mission through a friend of the family. Like him, others have traveled many hours, including several kids from the Amazonia region who have traveled around 16 hours to get here. These are only a few of the many wonderful stories the team has been working on these days.

WJOS is only one of the many activities that FOSE has conducted to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Operation Smile International and its very own 12th Anniversary. One of those activities is the unveiling of a commemorative stamp developed by the Postal Company of Ecuador (Empresa de Correos del Ecuador). Leaders of the company presented two designs that have already been approved through the selection process of the organization. These designs will be officially unveiled during the WJOS “Black and White” Closure Gala to be celebrated this Friday, November 16th at the Metropolitan Cultural Center. Noted local and international attendees will be present at the event, including the founders of Operation Smile International: Bill and Kathy Magee who will be arriving in Ecuador tomorrow, Thursday November 15th. To view the stamp, please click here

Additionally, local government groups and entities will be honoring Operation Smile International and FOSE at the Gala for their respective anniversaries servicing those who need it the most.

-Zory Graciani, EDF Communications