Photography by Kris Kennedy
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Shortly after morning arrival at Hospital Militar Central, Dr. Mahlon Kerr (right) and volunteer Katie McFate visit a patient and his mother in an overnight room.
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Outside the surgical center, Salvadoran soldiers are playing an early-morning game of volleyball. Each morning and night, soldiers provide a protective escort for the Austin Smiles bus.
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In the triage room, RN Katherine Tomaney prepares 11-month-old Uriel Alexander Hernandez for his morning lip procedure.
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For Mission Director Leilani Briseno (left) and Mission Administrator Martha Mashburn, the work always begins early and goes late.
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In an overnight room on Wednesday morning, Dr. Mahlon Kerr is visiting Lisbeth Molina Marquez. A day earlier, Dr. Kerr and Dr. Craven performed a rhinoplasty on the 15-year-old.
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In the triage room, Dr. Quint Barnes shares a high-five with a patient as RN Katherine Tomaney looks on.
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In OR 3, the craniofacial team of Dr. Ray Harshbarger (center left) and Dr. Sean Hill (right) is at work on a patient.
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Walk-ins welcome: Dr. Quint Barnes looks on as Dr. Syboney Zapata examines a girl who arrived with her mother for an unscheduled visit.
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Having wheeled the surgical microscope from an OR to the triage room, Dr. Syboney Zapata treats another unscheduled patient.