Armoncier is a 28 year old man from Haiti who escaped to the Dominican Republic after the earthquake in 2010 and now works planting bananas. He has a wife, and a daughter and son who are 5 and 3. Of the few new patients who came to the hospital yesterday, he stood out immediately due to his pronounced cleft lip and because our our medical team can treat it effectively. It was fortunate that he hadn't eaten which enabled us to schedule him immediately for surgery. Within a few hours, was having his lip and nose repaired by Dr. Fred Tomlinson and OR nurse Pat Lowell. 
After a two hour surgery, he was in the recovery for a short time, stayed in the hospital last night and walked out today with a much improved smile. His teeth still need a lot of attention and we don't have enough time in the remainder of the mission to deal with his dental repair needs. Hopefully, he will have access to a program to fix the rest of his smile.
We saw Livensi and his mother during rounds today. He was bright, alert, and smiling. He is progressing well with lots of spirit and personality.
We're still having a difficult time getting the number of patients and surgical candidates we'd like to see. As a result, we'll likely not be doing surgeries on two days when they would ordinarily take place.
It's a disappointment that we don't have greater numbers but we have provided very significant help to some.
Carl Cilker
Photojournalist