Story

As all of you know, 2020 has been a very different and stressful year. Especially in the midst of the pandemic, we hope that our initiative hits differently and garners some uplifting content throughout the upcoming weeks. We are 15 students, ranging from 12 to 18 in age, who only recently met at a virtual student-lead conference hosted by Operation Smile UAE called the U-Lead and instantly found the common ground of wanting to help people around the world. We are Team Colombia, and Lexxi is our patient and as such, she is the face of our campaign and who’s Colombian culture we all appreciate.

Operation Smile is an international non-profit medical charity that has provided hundreds of thousands of safe surgeries to those born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Since 1988, Operation Smile has conducted medical programs in 36 cities across Colombia and has opened a permanent care centre in Bogotá. Year-round comprehensive care services are offered in Duitama and in Operation Smile’s permanent care center in Bogotá. The multidisciplinary centers in Bogotá and Duitama offer surgeries, speech therapy, psychology consultations, dental and orthodontic care, nutrition and social work consultations. Over the past 32 years, Operation Smile has provided free surgical care to more than 15,800 patients in Colombia with cleft conditions. We want to raise awareness and funds to help more children in the world receive the safe surgery they most vitally need and deserve.

Our campaign “Help the World Sonreír (Smile)” will be weekly themed as shown below:

Week 1: Operation Smile

Week 2: Lexxi’s life (bag weaving, mental health, her life story)

Week 3: Colombia and culture (Cuisine, Spanish lessons, Piano national anthem)

Week 4: Operation Smile Colombia

We want to give people something educational and interesting to occupy themselves with during these trying times as we help you learn more about Operation Smile, Cleft Lips/Palates, Colombia and Lexxi. Our videos and such will be uploaded on our Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube Pages. To contact us for any inquiries or more details feel free to email us at OSteamcolombia@gmail.com.

Youtube: Help the World Sonreir

( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg54DXJr-0rKATVMvzFx1dw/featured )

Instagram: @help_the_world_sonreir

TikTok: Help the World Sonreír

Twitter: Help the World Sonreír

If you are interested in our campaign, please consider donating as it would help a child somewhere in the world just like Lexxi get the surgery that they very much so need.

Lexxi’s Story:

 Story link:  https://www.operationsmile.org/blog/perseverance-and-resilience-lexxi%E2%80%99s-journey-healing-through-operation-smile-colombia

Video link: https://youtu.be/EJoDN5df89g

If donating is not a possibility, please consider taking part in our social media challenge. All you have to do is using the hashtag #helptheworldsmile submit a video on Instagram, TikTok or Twitter with you saying the phrase "help the world smile" in your preferred language and a compliment to make someone's day (feel free to tag people, as to increase social awareness and hopefully raise funds).

Thanks!

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