Operation Smile Travels the World

After attending ISLC last year in Seattle, two members of Operation Smile’s club here at PTHS will once again set out to make a change in the world.

Julia Cucci and Jacqueline Greco were invited this January by Operation Smile’s Student Programs to visit the organization’s headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia and spent the weekend at a Winter Mission Training seminar. Before finding out where they would be placed for the medical mission, the two learned about various healthcare modules including dental hygiene, CPR training, and hand washing in order to share this knowledge with the parents and children of developing countries.

Julia and Jackie, along with forty other participants, visited with the founder’s daughter, Bridget Clifford. After being pranked by the staff, the students were surprised with a mission partner and the developing country they would next visit and to which they would be student ambassadors. Jackie will be traveling to Ghana, Africa in April while Julia will be traveling to Zunyi, Guizhou, China in March.

Both students are very excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity and cannot wait to see what the countries have in store for them. But they, and the children they will visit, need your help! There will be donation boxes around the school in selected classrooms for the students to collect toys, crayons, coloring books, and more. Please give as you can and see an Operation Smile club member for more information.