Last Day of Mission Week

We said goodbye to Dad last night as he had an early flight out this morning.  GREAT having him with us and for him to spend that time with Will in the OR AND on the dance floor.

 The shelter started filling back up today as most patients are done with their surgeries.  We were able to check in with some of our favorites and hang out with them one last time.  EVERYONE is tired, volunteers and parents alike.  It has been a busy week of activity.  Will has charmed many of these little ones with his positive energy and smile.

 This is Harnett, a 13 year old that speaks a bit of English and plays some pretty good soccer.  He has been one of Will's buds all week and so we had to take a picture of him with his grandmother.  She took him when he was a baby and cared for him because his parents were lost about what to do.  She found Operation Smile and all has been well ever since.  He is one of the more educated patients we have met this week.  He is even going to Facebook us!

 We had a birthday party for one of the 15 year old girls at the shelter today.  What a buzz!  She was very surprised!

 This is how tired the volunteers in the kitchen were after a week of making over 4,000 meals!

 We thank PEPSI for being one of OpSmile Panama's sponsors.  They were with us early this week and so glad to help.  We hope the get involved in the Operation Smile Final Mile that will take place at the Balboa School this October with 3-4 other schools this time.  After being with the students and their  sponsors, Gaby and Carlos this week, I know this will happen!

To say the least, this has been another amazing mission experience.  I am again recharged for Operation Smile, Student Programs and whatever I have to do to help.  Will even said he would like to start a club at Alanton before he leaves.  Another Magee has caught the bug too!

Surgery Day 4 - Quieter Day

As most of our patients have gone home, are recovering from surgery or getting ready to go in tomorrow, the shelter is much quieter than days past.  So far, about 160 kids have been operated on which is truly awesome.  Everyone seems well.  We had a chance to get over the the hospital to see some of the kids we have been with all week and they were happy to see us.  I also was able to visit with the 17 year old girl with a bilateral lip.  She looks great but must be very sore.  They worked hard on her lip as she is older and wanted to be sure her nose and everything is right.  She may not come back again as she lives in one of the tribal areas of Panama.  I hope this changes a few things for her.

Pasquel and Terragon keep logistics straight at the shelter - they loved the hats the Ruddy's donated from the Va Port and I was glad we had a couple left to give them!

Will was asked to give presentations at one more school today, the Lions International School.  He presented to 3rd and 4th graders and they said they want to start a club.  This is great news as the high school is now starting one close by, due to presentations yesterday by our students, and they can work together to be part of the mission next year.

You know Will loves a theme!  We have been faced at every corner with the happy nature of the Panama people.  They all seem to love each other.  The country only has 3 million people in it and the networking within it is very tight.  So, we now prepare for the Final Party tomorrow night and we will have a Carnival theme.  New to us, but we will compete in spirit.  The shelter volunteers (us in Blue) vs. the hospital volunteers (yellow).  We have each chosen a queen.  Ours in Chela, the coordinator of what goes on inside the shelter.  The hospital's is an anesthesiologist.  Last night we had opening ceremonies and it consisted of very loud music, chanting and the presenting of the two queens.  Today we worked on how we will bring Chela into the ceremony and the chants, songs, and dance we will perform.  The patients and their parents seem to get a kick out of this fanfare.  Funny stuff, but right up our ally.  May even have to introduce it at the family christmas trip!  Will HAD to be sure he fit the part so with items we picked up on the street today, he is ready.  Good times.  Off to dinner now.  Adios!

Surgery Day Three - Will observes an surgery!

I must say Will acted like he had always been in this hospital setting.  Suited up and curious about the cutting of the different layers of the skin, he watched this beautiful 1 year old Stephanie with a unilateral lip transform in front of his eyes.  Nothing really phased him - Will said that he did not expect the surgery to be as bloody and was a bit shocked when they suctioned a huge, bloody piece of tissue from inside the nasal cavity.  There was also one piece of skin that was left until the end that he wondered about.  Where were they going to piece it together with the rest of the lip.  Just as it always does, this little girl now has a smile like the rest of us.  She is from the Nobe tribe and we hope now she will have a better life.

 Will plays a little with a boy who was working with psychology just before the surgery.  He was definitely nervous and unsure being away from his mother.

 Back at the shelter, it was all joking around with the kids we have become so close to.  The shelter is becoming quieter now with some kids already heading home, while others are recovering after their discharge from the hospital.  A whole new group left us about 5:30 to get their beds at the hospital in order to be ready for tomorrow's surgery.

 One of my favorite moments so far has been meeting the Lobo family.  I have always been an advocate for getting students on missions, but meeting Edgar Lobo, the father of Alejandro, only reaffirms this.  The story goes that he was a volunteer back when he was 16 years old on a Venezuela Mission.  As a young Venezuelan, he was looking for something to do during his summer and so he helped translate for us in the OR.  His experience during this mission led him to study medicine, but little did he know that his time with us would mean much more when he had his first son.  Alejandro was born with a serious facial cleft which literally split his face in half.  Edgar says that if it were not for Operation Smile, he may not have been able to handle this challenge in his life as gracefully as he and his wife have.  By chance, after Alejandro was born, Edgar stopped at a certain hospital one day feeling a pull to walk in.  He ran into a dentist who had just the week before been a volunteer for the Operation Smile mission there.  He showed him a picture, which happened to have my father in it.  Immediately, Edgar knew who he was, as he had been on his mission at 16 with my father.  His prayers were answered.  He knew who was going to take care of his little boy.  At 40 days old, Alejandro has his first operation by Dr. Wulfrado, who trained under my father.  Just this January, Alejandro came to Norfolk to have his third major surgery with my father.  Alejandro had a small procedure done today to take out a wire in his nose and that is how I have come to know him.  Edgar is very optimistic that he will bring Alejandro to run with us for the Operation Smile Final Mile next year.  We will be sure to welcome him with loving, open arms!  Alejandro joined us at the shelter this afternoon and gave the patients a pep talk about going through surgery and being happy.  whew - how these little ones inspire us!

Towards the end of the day, we got creative and put held our bubble wands in front of the fan - messy, but fun!

 Tonight at dinner we were entertained by three adorable children with the traditional dancing.  My father is in the middle with the kids.  All are wearing the traditional clothing from Panama.

Good Night.

Surgery Day 2 Poppy Arrives!

Another great day!  We stayed up late last night with the student team brainstorming a way to welcome Poppy and his team of donors and board members.  This morning we hustled to the shelter to get the kids ready.  We had them learn parts of the Waca Waca and also "simply the best".  They all enjoyed the rehearsal and learning the new dance.  We were ready when they arrived at 10:30 with lots of good cheer and kind words from Gaby, our student leader and a young man who has been with Operation Smile since having surgery at 9 months old.  This will be his tenth surgery.  He thanked Operation Smile on behalf of the children of Panama for always standing by them.  Pretty cool.  We made this banner from the children.  Poppy was of course very happy when he heard Tina Turner and all of the children smiling and dancing.  I think they enjoyed the welcome.

 Zoe and Meredith have been a great addition to the Panama Team.  Zoe attends PA High School, Meredith, NA.  They play nonstop with the kids and of course the kids are in love with them.  They have been able to do a few of their health presentations and have passed out lots of toothbrushes.  They are already thinking about how they can rally the students from Va Beach in all the different schools.

 Carlos is one of our other student team leaders, brother of Gaby.  His mother and father are also here volunteering.  Carlos brought his own speakers and music to play at the shelter.  It really is fantastic to have because Latinos LOVE their music.  The children light up and jump around alot.  The mothers also seem to like it.  Will is learning much about the Panamanian music!

 I could not resist taking a picture of this family.  Two boys with clefts - one has already been repaired.  The mother is so sweet and does not seem stressed by her situation.  So many cute children here.  We had our first group come back to the shelter around noon today - many of them still sleepy from surgery.  I only heard a few crying from discomfort but the others did not seem to rattle from the noise.  Everyone coexists quite well under this large pavilion.  It has become a magical place for all of us.

  Just back from a team dinner at Altieri's and a fun night of salsa dancing.  too late to download photos!  We are up early to get to the hospital in the hopes of getting in to watch a surgery tomorrow.    Hasta Manana!

The first day of surgery is always a great day.  The patients and their parents are ready and the medical team is excited.  It has been a priveledge for me to represent Operation Smile as part of the Magee family.  Today I was asked to part of the mission blessing at the hospital and what I witnessed brought tears to my eyes.  Gather in the four hallways up the crossway were all of our volunteer medical team in their scrubs.  The priest in white was in the middle with Gene Altieri, President of the Operation Smile Panama and several students and their mothers.  The priest blessed the team and the health and safety of all of the children of Operation Smile this week.  Honestly, the picture from above should be submitted to National Geographic.  Special beyond words.

We have been amongst several different tribal people in Panama.  This is the Kuna Yala tribe from a  province near Panama City.  The dress is beautiful and they wear the legging like wear and bracelets everyday. 

Will has played ALOT of soccer!  The kids love playing as much as he does.  The weather is very hot and humid (hence the shirtless wonder) but it does not seem to stop any of them.  We have such a huge student group with us now that every child is busy with something!  Some of the highlights today were Red Light Green Light, Hot Potato, Parachute game, and of course, a good game of balloon chase.  The shelter is in a Fairgrounds that is used only one month out of the year, so there is plenty of space to run and play.  We do tend to stay under shelter tho to stay out of the hot sun

 How cute is this kid!  And his smile is even more contagious!  We met up with him today - he is actually here with us because he has an extra digit on each foot.  Tomorrow he will have these digits removed.  When we first saw him we were like, "He can't have a cleft palate because he does not look like he has a problem eating!"  To top it off, he is a happy kid and loved by all.  Will is in the picture with his new friend Juan Diego, High School Junior at Pan American school in Panama City.  Diego keeps everyone laughing!

Will also helped Meredith and Zoe with their health and safety presentations today.  This one was on the good things you should eat.

Tommy and Caitlin... the beads to make necklaces and bracelets were a hit!  We sat for about two hours, boys and girls until they were all gone.  Of course the mothers wanted a piece of it too!  It was a great way to wind down the day before the next busload left for the hospital and the others ate dinner.

I love these people.  Somewhat reserved, this is the Ngabe-Bugle people.  Another tribal group.  These two sat next to me for awhile beading so they warmed up to us and I got smiles from both.  Their dress is very colorful and the mommies very young..  They are married at 13 or 14 and have babies right away.  Something very foreign to us, but this is their culture.

This little dude made Will a bracelet to match his.  Will is quickly becoming a fun friend to many of the young boys and it has been fun to watch him come into his own.  At the end of the day, we have 36 kids who have received surgery and everyone seems to be doing great.  We will see the basic lips and revisions when we return to the shelter in the morning, as many of them were already discharged.  We welcome my father tomorrow and we have a big welcome planned at the shelter.  Hope Dad enjoys!  It will be special to have him here with us!  Buenos Noches!  

Upon arriving to the airport to fly to David, we were met with an Airforce Cargo plane as our carrier. The back opened up for our luggage just as it would to let parachuters jump out.  pretty crazy. Will looked at me like, really?  Hey, if it is free, you don't buck it.  The Airforce flew all of the Operation Smile Team in groups to our mission city.  Our one hour ride was loud and a bit bumpy at landing, but quite the experience!

 We woke up ready for a great morning today.  The day before surgery starts is always a bit slow for the patients, so the student team prepared a party to take place at the shelter.  What a production!  Toys and clothes and goodies all donated to give to the children.  Here is will helping some of the college kids on our team prepare the goodie bags.  It is hot here and very humid, but we all worked away eager to have the children join us.  The students brought massive speakers as the Panamanian LOVE dancing and music - the children were all singing and dancing - very adorable..  We also had a children's dance group perform for the patients which they all seemed to enjoy.  It is hard to put ourselves in these parents and their children's shoes, but many of them may not have ever seen a performance like this before.  We have heard stories about a mother carrying her baby walking for four hours to the hospital. Others from the mountain tribe called Nobe come from nine hours away.  OpSmile arranges for bus pickups thoughout the country side so they can all get here.  An incredible logistical operation.

 The Operation Smile team has 220 kids on the schedule this week.  That is ALOT.  They will have seven OR tables going at once.  Tomorrow has a schedule of 40 children.  I am sure the kids are quite anxious about what tomorrow will bring, but rest assured, the Operation Smile team is ready to give them the greatest of care.  Below is our student team and wow! are we having fun with them.  They love to laugh and dance and work so well together.  Many of them are from different schools in Panama City, but all from high school clubs that help us with Operation Smile.  They will be long lasting friends this week.  I think Will and I will have a hard time saying goodbye too.

 This is one little girl from todays party that everyone loves!  Natasha.  She is full of life and has been around Operation Smile for many years.  You could see how excited she was to see our team.  She has probably had a couple of surgeries on her bilateral lip and palate.  This time she is back for a revision of her lip to make it look even better.  These kids are lucky in Panama because we have an orthodontist who gives them all free care.  This is not the case in many of our countries because we have too many children from so far away.  Since Panama is a small country, they are able to treat these kids with orthodontics.  Many of the kids were very shy so we worked hard to bring them out of their shell and participate in the fun.  One boy was hiding behind a pole the whole time and had to be 9 or 10.  I am going to get Will to find him tomorrow to engage him a bit.  He needs a friend!

 We spent the end of our day at the Altieri's beautiful home on the Pacific Ocean.  Mr. Altieri is the President of our Operation Smile Board in Panama and has been helping us for 21 years!  He and his wife were so gracious and everyone got a little rest before the big week of work begins.  Will was easily able to play in a game of sand soccer with many of the students and medical team.  With black sand covering his body at the end, the Pacific was a welcoming rinse!  Todd, the Altieris say a big hello to you!  I updated them on all of your wonderful success with the girls and your company!  Signing off now.  Will post again tomorrow with some pictures of the beautiful children of Panama!

First 48 hours - a whirlwind!

 We have arrived!  We have been on a whirlwind of activity since landing with little time at our host families home.  Panama City is a busy place with a metro line being constructed so you have to watch out when you choose to drive.  Lots of traffic and crazy drivers!  You have to watch out for the Red Devils, the old buses with paintings on them, because they are overloaded with people and rule the streets!  We are staying in a newly developed area on the Bay with a direct view of the city just minutes away.  Many people here live in apartments.  Our host family and the eight siblings of Mr. Heilbron own this 14 story building and each family occupies a floor.  How cool that all of the cousins are in one place!  Will has become friends with the Heilbron's nephew and there has been some sweaty basketball going on!   Highlights so far have been a visit to the Panama Canal.  Amazing!  Better yet, two gigantic cruise liners were going through at the time so we were able to see how they managed the passage in the locks with lowering and raising the water levels and having special boats pull them through.  These cruise liners and other ships save 5 million dollars by passing through the canal which takes 8-10 hours vs. 2 weeks if they were to go all the way down and around South America.  As we flew in we could see all of the cargo ships lines up waiting for passage.  

 Our school visits took up most of yesterday.  Will presented four times in three different schools and I must say he has become quite the speaker!  He and Danielle, daughter of Xania (Exec Director of OpSmile Panama) were the perfect team.  In the Balboa School they were able to coordinate an Operation Smile Final Mile last year with 300 elementary runners.  Our mission was to convince the other schools to join in this effort next year.  We have incredible high school clubs in all of the schools we spoke in so I believe this will happen.  September or October is the target date!

Will loved the schools.  WIth everything opening to the outdoors and huge sports areas with coverings, you get tons of fresh air.  We also liked how they let the kids wander a bit at lunch, choosing different spots to eat, even walking around with friends eating - we think out lunch times are too structured!  It gives the kids a chance to relax and stretch their legs!

We spent the end of our day at the Governor's Mansion with a wonderful reception.  The Governor was SO personable and supportive of Operation Smile.  She brought in traditional dancers and music -even gave Will his own traditional Panamanian hat!  Everyone loves Operation Smile in Panama.   There was a patient and his mother at the reception who gave testimonials and they were smiling from ear to ear.  We cannot wait to be with the patients of Operation Smile.

We leave in an hour on an Airforce Jet that is transporting all of the Operation Smile volunteers from Panama City to David.  We should arrive around 2p and will be brought to the screening area of the hospital.  We have many students from Panama City traveling with us, so Will is in awesome company.  Lots of great kids who have a passion for Operation Smile.  You know Will - he has not missed a beat!

testing my ability to upload photos - Cliffords Shamrock!

Panama or Bust!

Signing on and checking to see if everyone who wants to can follow us on our OpSmile mission trip to Panama. First time for us both, so stay tuned! will and brigette