dr. bill magee: a child is the only language that we all have in common. it really doesn't matter what your race, your color, your creed, your culture. what matters is that we all use our energies, and our talents. we've got the tools, we've got the hands, we've got the bodies. now we just need all of us to participate and then the world really will change. 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's a great kid. >> [foreign language]. >> are you going to be a doctor now? [ speaking in foreign language ] [ children ] [ music ] >> roma downey: 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. >> dr. bill

dr. bill magee: so let me mark that right there. and i want to make a little triangle here. so it's very important to get it now. one of the most important things that we have the opportunity to do on the trip is share knowledge. when we first came to vietnam in 1988, they proudly told me that 1,000 children had been treated with cleft since 1951. but now, with the armies of people that we've mobilized around the world and here in vietnam, in just a little because of that stimulus. [ music ] >> roma downey: oh, my goodness. that's, it really is one of the most beautiful things that i have ever, ever experienced, next to the birth of my daughter, to see his little face restored. you know, the next amazing thing will be when we bring his mother in. she was so worried about him outside. you can only imagine how anxious she must be to be reunited with him. as a mother myself, i'm like in major identification with her at this point. it's all i can do not just to, you know, run out there and drag her in. but they have to wait for the baby to recover a wee bit from the operation. >

dr. bill magee: operation smile began when my wife kathy and i were asked to go on a medical mission to thehilippines to take care of children who were born with cleft lips and cleft palates. >> kathy magee: well, in the philippines, we turned away 250 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 downey: 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. [ child crying ] 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. the hardest part is, operation smile can't possibly operate on all these childr

dr. bill magee: why should any child, anywhere on this planet, have to live a life of misery. >> kathy majettelot of people think that children that are born with these deformities are cursed. >> norrie oelkers: and we had children coming in for screening with brown bags over their head. 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. >> mel: and they see us as their last resort. >> dr. jill gora: every child deserves a fair chance at life, >> peggy stillman: it may only take an hour to do something that will change their lives forever. >> noreen kessler: and you just see a whole new person, a whole new beginning. it's almost like they're reborn. i can't think of another word but phenomenal. [ music ] >> roma downey: as a mother, i would do anything i could to help my child live a normal life. and i'm sure you would, too. but what if you couldn't do anything? what if you were totally helpless?

dr. bill magee: why should any child, anywhere on this planet, have to live a life of misery. >> kathy majettere born with these deformities are cursed. just imagine a life alone, that nobody wanted to be around you. >> norrie oelkers: and we had children coming in for screening with brown bags over their head. 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. >> mel: and they see us as their last resort. >> dr. jill gora: every child deserves a fair chance at life, >> peggy stillman: it may only take an hour to do something that will change their lives forever. >> noreen kessler: and you just see a whole new person, a whole new beginning. it's almost like they're reborn. i can't think of another word but phenomenal. [ music ] >> roma downey: as a mother, i would do anything i could to help my child live a normal life. and i'm sure you would, too. but what if you couldn't do anything? what if you were totally helpless? that's the situation f

dr. bill magee: why should any child, anywhere on this planet, have to live a life of misery. >> kathy majette: a lot of people think that children that are born with these deformities are cursed. just imagine a life alone, that nobody wanted to be around you. >> norrie oelkers: and we had children coming in for screening with brown bags over their head. 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. >> mel: and they see us as their last resort. >> dr. jill gora: every child deserves a fair chance at life, >> peggy stillman: it may only take an hour to do something that will change their lives forever. >> noreen kessler: and you just see a whole new person, a whole new beginning. it's almost like they're reborn. [ music ] >> roma downey: as a mother, i would do anything i could to help my child live a normal life. and i'm sure you would, too. but what if you couldn't do anything? what if you were totally helpless? that's the situation for