November 2009 marked an important milestone as Operation Smile Vietnam celebrated 20 years of helping provide new lives and new smiles for the children of Vietnam. The anniversary was commemorated with 16 simultaneous surgical and dental missions held from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City from November 4-16 thanks to the dedication of more than 300 international medical volunteers from Vietnam as well as the U.S., the Philippines, the U.K., Canada, India, Norway, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Italy and Cambodia.The teams worked tirelessly to provide free surgical and dental treatment for thousands Vietnamese children suffering from cleft lips, cleft palates, dental problems and other facial deformities, such as tumors and burns. And at the end of the “Journey,” more than 6,000 children had a reason to smile.
