Screening!

Screening day started at 5 AM for us, because we repel technology and technology repels us. Arielle set her phone alarm for 6 AM, but for some reason her phone went "loco" and it shocked us out of our sleep at 5. Instead of staying up, we decided to powernap for another hour. At 6, we woke up again and got ready for breakfast. After we dragged our huge laundry bag of sunglasses, crayons, coloring books, stickers, crowns, bubbles, stuffed animals, Burger King toys, over 150 toothbrushes, and of course, our presentations, we had breakfast with two of the plastic surgeons on the mission, Cesar and Enrique. We learned that they were from Guadalajara, and they were in their last year of residency. Breakfast adjourned at 7:20, and then the team trudged four blocks to Tlaxcala's hospital. When we got to the hospital, we saw lines of anxious parents and tired, bundled children staring at us with a glimpse of hope in their eyes. We went on a tour of the hospital, and then we started our day's work. We mostly worked in the waiting area outside, where all the patients and their families sat for hours and waited to be screened, and hopefully, for surgery. The first child we met was Adrian, who was a year and nine months old. Adrian was bundled up in a plaid jacket, blue scarf, and a red white and blue hat. Adrian had already gotten surgery for his cleft lip, and he came back to the hospital for a follow up surgery. He acted really shy, but he lightened up when we gave him a balloon hand. After that, we took some kids to a nearby table and gave them some coloring books and crayons. Michel, an 8 year old, was one of the girls who sat with us. Beaming with hope and excitement, Michel had a formerly repaired cleft lip, and she was coming to the hospital for a second surgery. She really was one of the sweetest children, constantly playing, hugging, and kissing us. Neomy, a 10 year old, also sat at the table. Despite her cleft lip, Neomy was bursting with undying enthusiasm and excitement, and always attempted to translate Alexandra's broken Spanish into understandable words for the rest of the children to comprehend. Ardariana, a 4 year old who proudly showed off her Pooh and Piglet shirt to the world, had a bilateral cleft lip surgery done before, and was coming in for a revision. She was full of joy, and always wanting to play with the older kids. Her smile was contagious, and she was always exuberant and friendly. We played with a blown up glove, and it never got old. Each throw was exciting and new. The sweetest part was that if it had dropped they would give the glove for someone else to have a chance to throw. After that, we colored and played with stickers, and of course, played with bubbles. We also presented our Oral Hygiene and Burn Care modules.They got to brush the giant mouth, and everyone got a toothbrush. As the first group of kids left, we met new children like Pablo and Pedro. They were twin brothers, and both had repaired cleft lips, but needed some more revisions. They had the biggest hearts and the most joyous smiles. The day was winding down when we met LeTicia. She was so sweet, and always wanting to play. She would hold our hands and talk to us about our homes. As three rolled around we still had one playmate left: Erica. She was there with her sister since early in the morning, but her spirits never foddered. She was only four years old, yet her two front teeth were almost completley decayed, but she still had such a cute smile. She was dancing with us to Hannah Montana, and playing PacMan on Jen's iPod touch. She would always say hola to us as we passed, and her enthusiasm carried on into us. Although most of the day was filled with joy and happiness, there was one point that struck as extremely depressing. After each child was screened, those that were chosen for surgery had their names posted on a wall chart. Indeed, we witnessed gratitude and relief in the eyes of those whose dreams had finally come true, but unfortunately, we also saw despair in the cascading tears on the faces of those who had been turn away. We saw teenagers crying on benches with their parents, and even children that we had played with, including Marisol and Michel, looking extremely distraught. If only Operation Smile had more resources and time, more of these kids could have had life-changing opportunities.


Throughout the day we met amazing children, who were funny, smart, and compassionate. They all had one thing in common: their undying enthusaiasm. As the day was done we packed up and went back to our hotel. As we arrived back at the room we collapsed onto our beds, and passed our cameras between the two of us; reliving the memories of they day. We the enjoyed some nachos for dinner, and came back to the room to get a good night's rest. We are looking forward to the next five days!

With love,
Alexandra Spiegel and Arielle Sasson