Smile Stories: Before and After Smiles...

Operation Smile's volunteer medical professionals travel around the world to treat children suffering from facial deformities. Their efforts mean new smiles for thousands of children, including these former patients:

Ngan

Thanh

Julieanne

Louie

Vietnam - Ngan

Thanh Ngan's name means "star" in his language Vietnamese. Thanh Ngan was born into a family of three, with a cleft lip and a gaping hole in his palate. For the first three years of his life, he was living in shame and isolation in the small village of Quy Nhon province in southern Vietnam.

Hearing about the Operation Smile team coming to Danang in 2002, his whole family traveled for miles to see if they could help him. Though it was late on screening day, their efforts finally paid off - he was accepted for surgery. Now his star shines brightly and his future is full of possibility.