One of my favorite benefits of traveling is getting to meet new people. Traveling with Operation Smile makes this even better because of the people who are involved with the organization. Even though they come from all parts of the world, they all share certain characteristics. They all love to travel, they are all genuinely interested in people and they are all motivated to make a difference. Whether it was sitting on the patio of a pub after a 14 hour day at the hospital or reclining on equipment crates in the OR between surgeries, I had the great pleasure of listening to my new friends tell stories of previous missions and other philanthropic endeavors they were part of. Fed up with the constant stream of depressing news in the traditional media, I have decided to start writing down some of these stories so they could be shared with my family and friends. I met some amazing people last year and here are just a few of their stories.
