Creating Smiles,
Improving Lives
Austin Smiles Blog
The last case
Monday was a lon-n-n-ng day. Because it was Monday and the first day of a mission in a new hospital, because the unexpected always pops up in these endeavors, whatever. At the end of the day, 14 children were seen in the OR for complicated, time-consuming procedures...
The Dr.Carlos Canseco Gonzales Foundation
The Dr.Carlos Canseco Gonzales Foundation has for several years played a key role in the success of Austin Smiles trips to Mexico. Members of this small group (numbering only about eight) manage to perform mighty deeds. They provide meals and shelter for all the...
A Family Tradition
Long-time mission volunteer Joe Gomez has been providing his wisdom and guidance on "39 or 40" Austin Smiles trips. Joe translates, is an expert in logistics, and intuitively attends to the many details needed to make the mission run smoothly. We were all thrilled...
Where We Work
We are incredibly fortunate to be working in a beautiful new hospital, Hospital General Dra.Isabel Carreon Garcia. Located in the Boca del Rio area of Veracruz, this modern, top-notch facility has just been open since January of this year. Hospital staff have...
Inspiration of the Day
We can't speak for the early bus but the 7 o’clock bus left right on time Monday morning. We had been warned that it would leave EXACTLY on time, with no mercy for stragglers.Dr.Cullington came through the dining room and issued a 9 minute warning for those still...
View from the Other Side
From the young patients' perspective, the experience must be a bit frightening, with lots of strangers speaking in a foreign language crowding around to look in their mouth! Throughout the day in spite of crowded conditions and long waits, the patients and families...
Method in the Madness
To the uninitiated the scene might look like sheer chaos. But Dr.Cullington has given detailed instructions for sorting patients by age and type of surgery to facilitate scheduling. Kendyl was there to keep it all running in the right direction and to give the...
The process
by Anne Woodson Patients were screened by the surgeons first. Say 'ahhhh.' Then on to be cleared by an anesthesiologist and, if needed, the dentist and speech pathologist Speech pathologist Jissel Anaya was busy screening cleft palate patients for possible pharyngal...
Sunday begins
Sunday, February 9th was setup and screen day. Bright and early we set off in two buses. These bus rides seem to be the only time our leaders can corral us for instructions. Half the team went to the hospital to set up equipment and after only one brief stop...
Ready to go
By Susie Woodson Austin Smiles is about to go on the road again. Today team members are gathering in Veracruz for the start of AS’s 79th mission outside the U.S. We’ll have four plastic surgeons but the entire crew amounts to almost 50 people to fill 10 different...
Team Veracruz 2014 – Pre-trip
by Anne Woodson In a little more than 24 hours (much less for you early birders) we will be landing in Veracruz, Mexico for the first Austin Smiles trip of 2014. We will be tracking down our luggage, meeting new people or trying to remembertheir names, and some of us...
Mission Accomplished
by John Paschal In the evening dimness of room 6, nurse Pearl Falkenberg leaned across the silver rail of the small crib and, with a handheld fan, cooled the baby and his mom, who stood beside the nurse at the edge of the baby bed. Just below the two women,...
1 in 700 children are born with a cleft lip or palate
$250 covers the cost of one life-changing surgery
150 volunteers annually will change a child’s life forever
Medical Mission Trips
Austin Smiles goes on 2-3 medical mission trips annually
Our Local Services
Our local program support for children born with Cleft Lip and Palate in Texas
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