Volunteer Essay: What Makes Operation Smile A Community

Erma Bombeck once said “Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation's compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.” A volunteer is someone who no matter what he or she is passing through life is going to make time for others. There are many places where volunteers are needed, but they mainly belong to foundations, places that are established as a charitable trust where volunteers help without receiving anything in change. Being a volunteer doesn’t mean leaving everything of your life apart and just being at the service of others, it means having the true intention to help! No matter what you have to do or who you have to help. Volunteers must be prepared for everything;

OPS is motivated by the necessity around the world, no matter if you are poor or you have money they will support you equally. They give you not just medical help but the most important emotional support to overcome any of the situations that may come along the road. The intriguing about Operation Smile community is that they never fail to support their patients; volunteers truly give meaning to the word HELP. They do catchments in many parts of the world to make it easier for patients to attend, provide them with transportation, food and accommodation in order to receive a review from a doctor and so to be part of the program of surgeries. All of this to give kids the “opportunity to

I have participated in lots of activities, conferences and missions. But nothing will equal my experience in my first mission, I was new and my interaction with kids with cleft lip and palate was very small. So the first patient I had was a boy called Edwin, he was so little but at the same time full of energy and power. I was in charge of the entertainment of Edwin before the surgery so I played with him and make them forget a little about the operation he was about to face. Edwin told me he was scared, I promised him that everything was going to be okay and that when he left the operating room I was going to be outside waiting for him. After several hours of waiting, I was so nervous and anxious that my hands were shaking. Finally, Edwin came out, he was sleep and the nurses take him to his room. In the moment Edwin waked up the doctor came to see him and I was there, when a mirror was placed in front of Edwin his face changed completely, he smiled. Edwin cried that day and hugged the doctor so hard that make him cry too. The happiness I felt that day was reflected in all the tears that Edwin made me cry, I will never forget him and I`m sure he will never forget me. The bond you make with the patients as a volunteer is so strong that you suffer for them, you get to feel their pain. You get to feel their sadness when they are not suitable for a surgery. Thanks to Edwin I got to know the real meaning of a