Dear Family & Friends,
The name of Mercy’s voyage this year is Pacific Partnership 08. One of our goals is to partner relationships with other nations, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to better the lives of all of us who live in and around the Pacific region. One of the most rewarding of our many partnerships is perhaps the teaming-up of USNS Mercy and the wonderful folks of Operation Smile!
Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee and his wife Kathleen for the purpose of repairing children’s cleft lips and cleft palates. Volunteers from this suburb organization travel around the world helping children born with these terrible deformities. It really is a lot of fun having them aboard. And watching the outstanding work they do is amazing.
For the last several days our patient receiving area has been filled with the sounds of children. Their facial disfigurements notwithstanding, these are regular children doing regular children type things: Running, jumping, laughing, screaming, yelling, and playing! These kids absolutely touch your heart when you see them. Some of the crew gave out coloring books and crayons (And I haven’t a clew as to why these particular items just happened to be aboard my ship!). This was a big hit and we now have many of these wonderful “works-of-art” posted throughout the vessel.
Over the last four days, The Operation Smile team was able to perform surgery to 54 children. That is 54 lives that have changed for the better. These children now have the chance to have a normal childhood without the shame of this horrible disfigurement. This morning, we said our goodbyes the Op Smile team that joined us here in the Philippines. Other teams will be joining us at our future mission sights. For me, it is such a privilege to be able to play a small part in helping this organization change the lives of children around the world! What could be better then a partnership that makes beautiful children even more beautiful then they already are.
More to come…
Bob
The name of Mercy’s voyage this year is Pacific Partnership 08. One of our goals is to partner relationships with other nations, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to better the lives of all of us who live in and around the Pacific region. One of the most rewarding of our many partnerships is perhaps the teaming-up of USNS Mercy and the wonderful folks of Operation Smile!
Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee and his wife Kathleen for the purpose of repairing children’s cleft lips and cleft palates. Volunteers from this suburb organization travel around the world helping children born with these terrible deformities. It really is a lot of fun having them aboard. And watching the outstanding work they do is amazing.
For the last several days our patient receiving area has been filled with the sounds of children. Their facial disfigurements notwithstanding, these are regular children doing regular children type things: Running, jumping, laughing, screaming, yelling, and playing! These kids absolutely touch your heart when you see them. Some of the crew gave out coloring books and crayons (And I haven’t a clew as to why these particular items just happened to be aboard my ship!). This was a big hit and we now have many of these wonderful “works-of-art” posted throughout the vessel.
Over the last four days, The Operation Smile team was able to perform surgery to 54 children. That is 54 lives that have changed for the better. These children now have the chance to have a normal childhood without the shame of this horrible disfigurement. This morning, we said our goodbyes the Op Smile team that joined us here in the Philippines. Other teams will be joining us at our future mission sights. For me, it is such a privilege to be able to play a small part in helping this organization change the lives of children around the world! What could be better then a partnership that makes beautiful children even more beautiful then they already are.
More to come…
Bob
