Press Releases 2003

November 20, 2003

Visit to Operacion Sonrisa

On November 20, 2003, Ambassador Linda Watt visited the Regional Hospital of Chorrera and the Fundacion Operacion Sonrisa accompanied by People-to-People Coordinator Darcy Compton.

Operacion Sonrisa was established by a plastic surgeon in the US in 1982, and has been in Panama for over 12 years. The program searches out children who need special surgeries and would otherwise not be able to receive treatment. Children with cleft palates, clubbed feet, fused fingers or toes, as well as those children needing cranial facial surgery are being treated through this purely nonprofit foundation.

The volunteer efforts of Panamanian doctors, nurses, and medical technicians have given these children smiles that would otherwise be hidden behind their genetic deformities.

Mrs. Compton is working to encourage connections with groups in the US similar to Operacion Sonrisa who can bring their development model to Panama just as this NGO was introduced in 1991.