December 2nd - Screening Day #3

Today was yet another great day from Guwahati. In the morning I helped Lisa decorate the Pre-Op Room for the kids who will be awaiting surgery. There was a little girl in the hospital who helped us color some pages to hang up on the wall. We then went to a nearby orphanage with the students who are here from American School of Bombay (ASB), a school who started the first Operation Smile Club in India. It was great talking to them on the bus ride over, discussing things from American music to Slumdog Millionaire (one of the girls goes to a different school with one of the actors who played Jamal in the movie). They all like the same things as kids in America even though they live in Mumbai. At the orphanage, the kids sang us songs and we gave them our Dental Hygiene and Burn Care presentations, with the help of our friends from Mumbai who translated. We also played with beach balls and a parachute which they loved so much. I have never seen such a smile on anyone's face in my life as one of the little boys who was playing with bubbles. He loved watching the bubbles float up into the sky and would jump up and down like crazy. After coming back to the hospital, I had a really interesting conversation with one of the moms chaperoning the students from ASB. She was telling me how she was born in Hong Kong, met her husband in London, went to college in the USA, and her family has moved from country to country around Asia, including Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and now India! What an interesting life she has! I also saw a little girl who I had met at screening the day before. She recognized me and smiled when I walked by. She is one of the cutest little girls ever and I cannot wait for her to get surgery and receive a beautiful smile. After doing some more presentations, we headed back to the hotel and had dinner. I can't wait for tomorrow's Team Day where we're going to see rhinos!! I'm so excited. Well, that's it for now!

Kyle