Fengkai, China- Operation Smile mission trip

This blog post will be slightly different from the rest- instead of focusing on the sights and the culture of Fengkai, I'll be sharing my experience of volunteering with Operation Smile. Operation Smile is an amazing organization that provides cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to children around the world. It is also a charity that is highly personal to me, as I myself was born with a cleft palate. Fortunately, my parents were able to afford the surgery and consequently, I was able to live with little discomfort that resulted from having a cleft palate. Having previously been involved with Operation Smile in Year 8, I was aware of the work that Operation Smile did. When I heard that I was able to go on the mission trip, I was extremely glad that I would be able to not only witness firsthand how Operation Smile helps children, but also help those who share the same defect as me.

I recently got back from a week-long mission trip in Fengkai, a small county in Guangdong Province. We traveled from Hong Kong to Guangzhou by train, then, from Guangzhou, traveled four hours by bus to Fengkai. The first day was spent looking at the hospital that we would be working in for the next week, as well as introducing ourselves to the rest of the team. The whole Operation Smile team was composed of volunteers from 14 different countries. The team had members from the Operation Smile offices, doctors, nurses, corporate volunteers, videographers, students, and of course, our amazing team leaders. The variety of languages and cultures present at the mission was truly phenomenal, and I was able to try out the many "Hi"'s and "Thank you"'s that I learned from my travels. We then returned to the Apricot Flower hotel in Fengkai county to unpack and rest. The hotel was situated next to a grocery store, several local restaurants and a large community area where children and families played. We proceeded to eat dinner with several government officials, and were served a motley of traditional Chinese dishes.
Below: A photo of the student volunteers at the dinner

We were up bright and early at the crack of dawn to head to the hospital. The first day was "screening day" where we screened upwards of 200 potential patients. My specific job for that day was helping with medical records.
Below: A photo of me working at the medical records station

I was overwhelmed by the abundance of people at the hospital, yet everything went by relatively smoothly, and by the end of the day, 151 patients were chosen to receive surgery. What struck me the most was how far parents and grandparents were willing to travel in order to get surgery for their children- some traveled several days using different modes of transportation, and I was in absolute awe. One patient that I remember clearly was a toddler boy who was accompanied by two elders. After listening to the grandfather speak, I learned that he and his wife ran an orphanage and found this boy abandoned on the street- his parents either did not or could not take care of the boy and left him on the road. The man was angered at the prospect of someone abandoning a child just because of a mild deformity, and was determined to get surgery performed on the child because he believed it would increase his chances of being adopted. This truly resonated with me, as I was amazed by this man's selflessness. This was among the myriad of heartwarming stories that I heard during the trip. The work day lasted for twelve hours, and after the medical records station finished their job, I went down to the first floor of the hospital where a makeshift play area was created. I accompanied the kids, who played with small toys and colored in templates. I got the opportunity to talk to a few of the parents and grandparents of the patients, and explained to them that I had a cleft palate when I was a baby. One mother was astonished at how well I could speak (cleft palates often result in atypical consonant productions, nasal resonance, nasal airflow and altered laryngeal voice quality). I explained to them that I had received speech therapy when I was younger, and that eventually their children would be able to receive speech therapy by Operation Smile. Being able to share a personal connection between the parents and the children made me realize how I could reassure the parents that their children could, one day, live with little discomfort from their cleft lips and palates.

Below: A photo of the play area on screening day

The next few days were operating days, yet were nowhere as hectic as the screening day. I met so many amazing kids, and spent most of the days playing with children in the waiting area as well as in the play room. The kids were easily entertained by various toys, puzzles, finger-painting, bubbles and books.

I was also given the opportunity to go into the operating room and watch a cleft palate surgery. The surgeons kindly explained the different steps to the procedure, and we were able to watch the surgery from the beginning (where the patients were anesthetized) to the end (where they were brought out of the OR).

Below: An oh-so fashion forward photo of me in scrubs

There are so many thoughts and emotions that cannot be expressed through this blog post, yet my experiences will resonate with me for years to come. I hope to be given the opportunity to go on another mission trip in the future, and meet more phenomenal volunteers and patients.