Young patients--from babies to teens--undergo intensive reconstructive surgeries during these annual trips.

The Rotaplast medical team corrects conditions such as cleft palates and lips and other issues, including damage from severe burns. It is the first time that many of the children can breathe, eat or speak normally. Some of them will attend school for the first time, instead of being hidden away and isolated.

Such interventions are quite frightening. The entire family travels extreme distances, believing they may change a child’s life. They live in makeshift shelters, with bare essentials of water and food, during the long days of medical examination, screening, preparation, surgery and recovery. And every family...and every child...hopes for a smile at the end. A smile.

Teams also provide education about nutrition and environmental links. They arrange follow-up care. Regional surgeons are trained, so that they can continue to heal children.

Along the way, Bright Happy Power™ provides the tools to comfort these children and their families. See the wish list to the right.