Erin Bacon, a participant in the 2006 mission to Paraguay, remembers many things about her experience with Operation Smile – the details of the airport, her first impressions of Paraguay, and all the people’s lives she affected while there. It was an experience that she said she will never forget.

“There was a 19-year-old that had a unilateral cleft lip surgery on our trip,” Bacon said. “Although his transformation wasn’t the most dramatic I witnessed, his post-op actions had a huge affect on me. One of the first things he did after waking up from anesthesia was call his girlfriend. The only thing I could think about after that was that he would be able to go home and give her a kiss. Something so simple that we take for granted was something he probably had never experienced,” he added.

According to its Web site, Operation Smile is a nonprofit organization that seeks to provide free reconstructive surgery to people in need all over the world. These surgeries seek to correct facial deformities, such as cleft lips and pallets.

Wade Hooton, director of student programs for Operation Smile, said he feels that the program creates miracles for the lives of those affected by those facial deformities and for the people that help them.

“Any person who volunteers with Operation Smile walks away a different person, having known that they made a very real impact in the world,” Hooton said.

Many people become inspired after hearing about Operation Smile, such as Audrey Adams, sophomore in LAS.

“After hearing the different stories from the lives of children living in third world countries with cleft pallets and clef lips, I was immediately intrigued and found the motive to go into a medical field,” Adams said. “The seminar made a significant impact on my life and although I have not attended a mission trip yet, I do plan on applying to be a part of the mission team one day.”

She was so moved that she now serves as co-president of the Registered Student Organization on campus.

“Our purpose on campus is to explore the effects Operation Smile has on the lives of these underprivileged children, increase students’ awareness, raise money and share a meaningful belief in improving the lives of children by helping to change one smile at a time,” Adams said.

The lives of these children change dramatically after they receive surgery, Adams said. Their perspective on life is changed, and their society begins to view them as a person, and not as an outcast.

It is for that reason that Rakesh Gadde, freshman in LAS, feels so strongly about Operation Smile and its mission.

“As I child, I remember not being a part of the group because I lived in a mostly white town,” Gadde said. “This is a chance for me to help kids who are outcasts to feel better about themselves.”

There are many different ways to become involved in this mission. Donations are an integral part of this organization. According to its Web site, for just $240 or $20 a month, one child’s life can be forever changed by reconstructive surgery.

More than donations, Operation Smile needs medical volunteers and photographers to attend these missions, while students and other volunteers are needed at home to raise awareness.

“Students can play a vital role in fulfilling the mission of Operation Smile through awareness campaigns, service projects, fund-raising and education,” Hooton said. “We encourage students everywhere to get involved in their local schools and communities to help spread awareness, provide service, and raise funds.”

It is through awareness that the mission of Operation Smile can flourish, and begin to help more and more children around the world, according to its Web site.

“I realized that I could probably never spend the rest of my life happily without being involved with the organization,” Bacon said.

Bacon said Operation Smile provided him with the opportunity to find happiness in the small things, while being involved with bigger issues. She encourages everyone to participate in this effort, because, according to the Web site, it is in the combined effort that the world can be changed, one smile at a time.