>> noreen kessler: they come out and you just see a whole new person, a whole new beginning. it's almost like they're reborn. and it's just, it's, i can't think of another word but phenomenal. >> dr. bill magee: i was talking to sut's mom before surgery, and she told me that after surgery, no one will call him sut anymore, because sut means hair lip. from now on, she said, he'll go by his real name, which is thanh, and that means blue sky. i told thanh after surgery, from now on the sky is the limit. he is a great kid. >> are you going to be a doctor now? [ background sounds ]

>> roma: the change in thanh's life since his surgery is amazing. his smile just beams. and it's easy to see why. he's going to school now and has lots of friends. thanh's life has been transformed, thanks to operation smile and friends like you. it's inspiring, isn't it, to be able to give a child a whole new life? but for every child we help, there are many, many more still waiting, desperate for surgery. for older children, the wait is especially tragic. they've lived for years with a facial deformity. shunned, scorned and rejected. to make matters worse, those with cleft lips and cleft palates often cat speak properly. they don't go to school, and they may never marry or have children. that's why it's so terribly heartbreaking when we have to turn children away. and we turn thousands away each year.

many he traveled long hours or even days. their parents have made great sacrifices. and then we have to say, "sorry, not this time. not your child." simply because we don't have enough time and money to help them all. for most, we're their only chance. that's why we need your help. and i want to personally invite you to please join us today and change a child's life forever. >> they're ridiculed, rejected, sometimes even hidden away. every year, over 200,000 children around the world are born with cleft lip or cleft palate into families who cannot afford the surgery to repair it. you can provide a complete surgery for one waiting child right now by becoming an operation ile partner. it costs only $240. just $240 to transform a child's life.

over 5000 of the world's top doctors and nurses are standing by to volunteer their time. most of the medical supplies are donated. we're ready to go to more countries and reach more children, but we can't do it without your help. that's why it's so important that you call right now. your gift of $240 will provide surgery for a waiting child. or, if you prefer, you can pledge $20 a month. your gifts will help send our teams and equipment all year 'round and help ensure that we can provide surgery free of charge to every child in need, so no child has to be turned away. call now and become an operation smile partner. you'll receive inspiring before and after photos of children whose lives have been transformed. plus, we'll send you this album to keep your photos in and share

with your friends and family. and you'll also receive information about how your dollars are being used and the difference you're making around the world. you can even give automatically on your credit card. it's convenient and it saves money so more goes directly to the kids. when you make your payment with your credit card, we'll send you this official operation smile scrub shirt as a special thank you for being a vital part of our team. >> sandra fields: i saw the difference that it made and it just made me wanna give. >> jeff jarvis: operation smile is a true ambassador to what america means. >> deborah morrison: it's good when you're able to do something that you know is not wasteful at all, that every penny you've invested, there is that equal return and more. >> vanessa kirkland: can you imagine what that child's life is gonna be like now? it's just an awesome thought. and you just raise your hand and you say, thank you, god. >> call now and join the operation smile team.

just $240 can provide a surgery that will change a child's life forever. or a gift of any amount will help a waiting child get the surgery they so desperately need. >> lou lipofsky: do it because it will make your life richer. do it because you will be setting an example as a role model for your children and your family. do it because it's the right thing to do >> dr. bill magee: we need to do more. we need to be in more places. we need to help more kids. >> thousands of children are waiting. please go to your phone now. help us change lives, one smile at a time. >> dr. bill magee: operation smile began when my wife kathy and i were asked to go on a medical mission to the philippines to take care of children who were born with cleft lips and cleft palates. >> kathy magee: well, in the philippines, we turned away50 children and we always had hoped

that we would be able to take care of those kids. and we went back, we gathered a group of our friends and we did that. we took care of those children. >> dr. bill magee: that decision literally changed the course and the direction of our lives, our family's lives, our values and i believe our purpose in life. >> roma: a surgery in as little as 45 minutes. that's all it takes to repair a child's facial deformity. these kids are children just like ours who deserve a chance to live a normal life. and it's in our power to give them that chance. look at the difference you can make. kimberlin is one of four girls. when she was born with a severe cleft lip, her mother, olivia, went into shock. the family lives in a one-room tin shack and could never afford the surgery kimberlin needs.

and yet olivia fears what her daughter's future will be without it. >> kimberlin mother proxy: imagine if she can't have the operation; i mean, a mother's biggest fear is that her daughter will be rejected as a woman, never marry, rejected at school, rejected wherever she went. >> toma: kimberlin's cleft lip is more complicated than most. dr. magee explains to her mother, olivia, how he will perform the surgery. >> dr. magee: but better to have a scar than to have a lower lip that comes up like that. [ background sounds ] >> maggie cotez: i can't wait to see the mom's face. i can't imagine if this was my child.

i don't know what i would have done. >> kimberlin mother proxy: oh, how cute! oh, how cute! oh, thank god! she came out precious, just precious. >> i'm writing this short line because we're really thankful. first of all, with god and then with operation smile. thanks for helping me in the most important day of my life. >> roma: here's kimberlin today.

everything has changed for this little girl. with a new smile, she'll never have to feel the shame of living with a disfigured face. what an incredible gift. i've personally volunteered for operation smile for over 10 years because i've seen the difference we can make in children's lives because of people like you; people who understand how isolated these children feel. every girl and boy who's been turned away is hoping for us to return and help them. you can help make that happen. just pick up the phone and call, or go online, to change the life of a child who's waiting right now. thirteen-year-old arifase walks the streets of this ethiopian town, a scarf pulled across her face. arifase was born with a cleft lip that has made her an outcast. she rarely leaves her house. when she does, the other children point and laugh at her.

a girl her age should be finished with 8th grade. but arifase has never gone to school. she has difficulty speaking and being understood. the dicule and torment are too much to bear. >> arifase: when i want to play with the other kids in the village, they don't let me. they make fun of me and keep me from their games. i feel so alone. >> roma: arifase spends most of her day behind closed doors helping with the washing, cooking and cleaning. but often, she feels like a prisoner inside her own house. she has only one dream and prayer. >> arifase: i pray to god that my lips will be healed. >> roma: she's painfully shy. what she can't say, she sings from her heart. [ singing ]

>> roma: arifase's dad, tolessa, has been in anguish over his daughter's situation. >> arifase's dad: all i want for her is to be healed, to be normal. but that seems impossible. >> roma: there are only a handful of surgeons in all of ethiopia who are trained to repair cleft lip and cleft palate and as many as 100,000 children who need surgery. even if he could find a doctor, tolessa could never afford the surgery for arifase. when tolessa heard on the radio that operation smile was coming to addis ababa, he borrowed about $8, or two month's pay

to make the two-day journey. for the first time in her life, arifase saw other children who looked like her. and, like her, 85% of them don't go to school. >> arifase: when i saw these other children with the same problem, i felt like i wasn't alone. >> roma: hundreds and hundreds of desperately poor families sacrificed everything to come to the operation smile mission site. many will go home brokenhearted because there isn't enough time or money to operate on all of them. >> [foreign language]. >> roma: when she heard her name called, arifase was elated. and on surgery day, she was singing a new song. [ singing ]

>> roma: when it's time, arifase is excited to go into surgery. and so is dad. [ music ] >> roma: only 45 minutes later, surgery is over and tolessa can see his daughter. [ background sounds ] >> arifase: i love my face.

>> arifase's dad: she is very, very beautiful. >> roma: the next morning, arifase is alert and ready to go home. she's going to great lengths to look her absolute best, even wearing new earrings to show off her beautiful new face. >> arifase: after this i want to go to school. i am beautiful now. i can't wait to show my mom how beautiful i am. >> roma: this is arifase now. it's hard to believe that she's the same girl. she's so hap. she's in school and surrounded by new friends. nobody makes fun of her anymore. [ music ] >> roma: she told us, god bless you for all you did to change my life. whenever i join the operation smile team overseas,

i ask myself what i'd do if this were my own son or daughter. the answer is simple. i'd do anything in my power to save my child from suffering. any mother would. but for mothers and fathers who struggle in poverty, surgery is completely beyond reach. they can only hope and pray for a miracle. together, we can be that miracle for a child born in one of the poorest places in the world. six-year-old rikta ia smart and playful girl who loves to dance. because she was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, people in her village won't come near her. she has trouble speaking and no one outside her family can understand her. in school she has no friends at all. rikta's mother, meera, knows what it's like to be outcast. she was crippled by polio as a child.

she wants rikta to have a full and happy life and she prays every night that her daughter will be healed. >> rikta mother proxy: every day rikta comes home and cries. she compares herself to her sisters and brothers and asks me why she's not like them. >> matthew josey: some of the kids that come in have been ostracized; have no involvement with the outside world. a lot of these children are orphans, simply because of their cleft lip or pallet. >> steven naum: they greet the world every day with this deformity right in the middle of their face, that affects something that's very simple, that we all do every day, we smile, we talk, we express ourselves. >> carrie britton: the kids get left on the sides of streets, get thrown in dumpsters, get stones thrown at them, get made fun of, get kicked, i've seen get dirt thrown at them. just, they just have terrible, terrible lives. >> patricia walerius: they're hidden away

or they're not educated because their families are embarrassed. and this gives us the opportunity to provide them with some semblance of a normal life, they can go to school and that maybe their lives will become better. [ background sounds ] >> roma: rikta's mother meera thought this day would never come. now, as her daughter prepares to enter the operating room, emotions run very high. [ background sounds ]

>> roma: meera's first thought is to comfort rikta and make sure she's okay. but just moments later the tears are gone and ritka looks at herself with wonder. >> [foreign language]. >> merra proxy: from the deep core of my heart, i offer my love, affection, well wishes and endless regards for all of you. had you not operated on rikta, her life would have been like a bud, which dies unblossomed. i am so extremely happy to see my daughter with a new face; it's a new life for her.

my dream has come true today. thank you. >> roma: on every operation smile medical mission, hundreds of children show up, hoping to be chosen for surgery. as painful as it is, we have to turn far too many of them away. but the joy for me is seeing a child after surgery, knowing their whole life is about to change. and imagine how they must feel knowing someone far away cared enough to help them. you can be that someone for one of the thousands of children waiting right now. simply pick up the phone and call. >> you can provide a complete surgery for one waiting child right now by becoming an operation smile partner. it costs only $240. just $240 to transform a child's life.

over 5000 of the world's top doctors and nurses are standing by to volunteer their time. most of the medical supplies are donated. we're ready to go to more countries and reach more children, but we can't do it without your help. that's why it's so important that you call right now. your gift of $240 will provide surgery for a waiting child. or, if you prefer, you can pledge $20 a month. your gifts will help send our teams and equipment all year 'round and help ensure that we can provide surgery free of charge to every child in need, so no child has to be turned away. call now and become an operation smile partner. you'll receive inspiring before and after photos of children whose lives have been transformed. plus, we'll send you this album to keep your photos in and share with your friends and family. and you'll also receive information

about how your dollars are being used and the difference you're making around the world. you can even give automatically on your credit card. it's convenient and it saves money so more goes directly to the kids. when you make your payment with your credit card, we'll send you this official operation smile scrub shirt as a special thank you for being a vital part of our team. >> sandra fields: it's been a policy in our household for a long time to give back. >> jeff jarvis: it's something to feel good about, something to be proud of. >> lou lipofsky: the dollar is being used effectively because the doctors are donating their time. >> vanessa kirkland: i just feel all the more blessed to see them happy, fulfilled, their parents are so grateful. it just, it's just wonderful. >> tammy sokol: i don't have to go to a movie one night; i don't have to go out for dinner, because i know that if i give, it's allowing a child to have something that i can give them. >> call now and join the operation smile team.

just $240 can provide a surgery that will change a child's life forever. or a gift of any amount will help a waiting child get the surgery they so desperately need. >> you know, it's like i can do this, i can help. and i just dropped everything and just went to the phone and i didn't want to do it for just one, so i said let me do it for two. >> dr. magee: we need to do more. we need to be in more places. we need to help more kids. >> thousands of children are waiting. please go to your phone now. help us change lives, one smile at a time. >> roma: this little guy's name is son. he's two years old. he was born with both a cleft lip and a cleft palate which is an opening in the roof of his mouth. his mom is very worried.

son has difficulty eating and often chokes on his food. they don't have enough money for rice, much less to afford this surgery. she never ever thought he might have this chance. she says she wants him to be handsome. [ background sounds ] >> roma: son is getting ready to go into surgery now. of all the moms i've met here, i feel truly connected to son's mother. even though we don't speak the same language, she's so expressive and she wears her heart on her sleeve. >> he's going to be so beautiful when you get him back. [ background sounds ] >> roma: oh, my goodness. it really is one of the most beautiful things that i've ever, ever experienced, next to the birth of my daughter,

to see his little face restored. [ music ] >> isn't he beautiful? >> just sit down and i will give him to you. [ music ] >> son's mom: it is unbelievable that this day has come. because we are poor, we could not even dream of this day. this is the happiest day of our lives.

my precious boy, now you will be handsome. you won't be different any more. >> roma: that week in vietnam, we helped son and 119 other children. i also met little ngan. she had surgery on her lip a year ago and was back to have her palate repaired. the transformation is truly amazing, isn't it? but tragically, we had to turn away 130 children. please, we need your call now to put their wait to an end. this little guy, jean carlos, is the apple of his grandpa's eye. when he was born, his mother had to feed him with a syringe and he couldn't keep his food down. his grandpa has tried three times already to get surgery for jean carlos. he's hoping that operation smile will be his chance. >> jean carlos grandpa proxy: he belongs to the family,

and we will fight alongside him until the end. [ background sounds ] >> roma: jean carlos is one of the first called for surgery this morning. it's not easy for his mom to let him go. [ background sounds ] >> roma: jean carlos is just coming out of surgery. right now his lip is quite swollen, but his mom and grandpa will see that his face is restored and know how beautiful he will look. [ background sounds and music ]

>> roma: i've personally seen how hard the operation smile team works. and because our medical professionals volunteer their time, every dollar you give also works very hard. your donations help pay for and ship equipment and medical supplies. everything needed to provide the quality of surgery you'd want for your child. this is your chance to do something really extraordinary. to join thousands of others who've said "yes, i want to help transform the life of a child." arnoldo is five. he should have had surgery shortly after birth but his parents could never afford it. he has trouble speaking and he feels ashamed when other kids make fun of him. >> arnoldo mother proxy: he said, "why are those kids staring at me so much?" it's hard to watch the way many children look at him. so he ducks and covers himself.

>> roma: arnoldo has been praying every day that his lip will be healed. >> kathy majette: a lot of people think that children that are born with these deformities are cursed for some reason. so, they can't go to school. they can't go out anywhere. people call them names. they're just shunned. even whole families are shunned. and then countries so poor, they can't afford the medical help. >> norrie oelkers: the child cannot walk the streets. and we had children coming in for screening with brown bags over their head. and we just could not believe that. and they just, they don't even put eyeholes in them. the parents just lead them around. but they're never allowed to leave their house unless they have a bag on their heads. >> kathy majette some children don't live because they have problems with eating, and drinking, and die of malnutrition. just imagine a life alone that nobody wanted to be around you. it's very hard.