Patients entering surgery and others leaving to home.

Everyone doing their best work.

Doctor David Morwood, MD conducting the orchestra.

By Juan Gallego (Mission Liaison, Colombia)

Medellin is a very special place for me, working on a Rotaplast mission gives me the opportunity to give back to the place I was born.

By Hector Villegas, DDS (Orthodontist, Colombia)

The mission mitigates the barriers of access to the health system of our countries, bringing the opportunity to smile to many people who are not able to acquire a good health insurance. This mission seeks local empowerment for this public health problem that concerns many, for this reason, it also seeks for academic alliances between universities, local professionals and students and the international committee. It’s necessary to have a continuous work and effort for the process and treatment, furthermore, more lives can be benefitted from this. Scientific and public health committees should make a big effort to prevent orofacial fistulas, otherwise, cases will rise considerably. Rotaplast definitely saves smiles by changing lives.

By Club Rotario El Poblado Medellin Colombia,

Marco Velez , Luz Marina Restrepo (Vice-president), Gerardo Dominguez (Director of Finance), Jose Ivan Granada (Project Director)

What does in mean for the club to participate in “Operacion 100 Sonrisas”?

  1. Put into practice the maxim of Paul Harris, of to be generators of change in the society and in this case of children.
  2. Give these children and their families the chance to smile.

Why is it important for the club to participate in this initiative?

Demonstrate the management capacity of our club; getting things done, providing the resources.

How does the club view the Rotaplast mission?

It seems to us that Rotary Clubs are ideal allies for this humanitarian task, since all its members are volunteers who put Service Above Self.

By Bryan Stamm, MD (Lead Pediatrician)

It is wonderful to be back doing this work in Medellin, Colombia. It is the perfect place to do it.

Special thanks to all of the helpers from the various services who made our mission possible. An extra special thank you to Margarita for keeping us well fed and happy with her English.