Often, when Operation International travels to a country for the first time, their success can spur additional trips to the destination months or years down the line. This spring, OI expedited that impact into a matter of weeks.

The organization sent two teams in March on back-to-back missions to Laos, marking not only the first trip for Operation International in the country, but, at least for one of the trips, the largest project undertaken by a foreign non-governmental organization in the region. The two trips, run by Team New York and Team Cleft Repair, expanded OI’s reach to two hospitals in two distinct regions of the country and collectively brought care to more than 120 patients in need.

Here’s a look at the two missions and some of the lives that were changed:

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Team New York

Starting the back-to-back mission trips was Operation International’s longest-standing, founding group of dedicated volunteers, Team New York. The team, which this year were joined by several Team Cleft Repair members, traveled to Champasak Provincial Hospital in Southern Laos.

As they have for two decades, the team brought general, thoracic, maxillofacial, breast and gynecological expertise to patients in need in the region. They performed 75 surgeries in five days.

Patients flocked from near and far to reach the medical help, some traveling for days to arrive at the hospital. Often, patients had waited months or years to access the care they need.

One such case was Ler, a 46-year-old woman from a remote village in Savannakhet Province who had lived with a massive, fatty tumor on her back for more than 40 years. Ler, who is deaf mute, had not been able to afford treatment and was a caregiver for her blind mother. She was referred to Operation International by a team of local volunteers and, within just a few hours of surgery, OI Chairman Dr. Medhat Allam removed the nearly 18-pound tumor.

“Today, we quite literally lifted a heavy burden off someone’s back,” Team Cleft Repair leader Myhanh Nguyen wrote.

The impact of the surgery was undeniable.

“Visiting Ler post-op, she eagerly motioned for us to look at her new back, her face beaming with the most radiant smile—one that spoke louder than words,” Myhanh wrote. “In that moment, we were reminded of the true purpose of our mission.”

Another patient Team New York volunteers will remember for years to come was the first to be registered for the 2025 mission: Baby Bounluam.

The young baby, referred to OI by a Vietnamese Catholic nun, had two encephaloceles, a Tessier facial cleft, and a malformed foot. His condition required extensive, high-risk surgeries rarely undertaken by a medical mission team, Myhanh notes.

Nevertheless, Operation International was committed to making a difference. After months of planning, a harrowing journey for a CT scan, and extensive lab work to ensure he was strong enough for surgery, “three of Operation International’s finest surgeons: Dr. Medhat Allam, Dr. Ravi Kothuru, and Dr. Fernando Almas combined their surgical expertise to give Baby Bounluam the chance he deserved.”

The complex, multi-stage operation is far from the end of baby Bounluam’s medical journey, but it has already changed his life, the team notes.

“Because of your support, Baby Bounluam has a chance at life; a life filled with love, resilience, and that unforgettable smile,” Myhanh said.

Team Cleft Repair

After the arduous, successful week in southern Laos, several of the team’s volunteers traveled north to meet up with the rest of Team Cleft Repair. The second of the back-to-back missions was held at Houaphanh Provincial Hospital and would focus on maxillofacial and plastic reconstructive surgeries.

Again, the team was met with a docket of patients who, although they were children, had waited a long while for their help.

“Many of our patients are older children, carrying the burden of cleft lips and palates that should have been repaired long ago. But here, in this remote corner of northern Laos, access to care is a distant dream,” Myhanh wrote. “Our presence here is rare, and we do not know when another team of this magnitude will return. So we push forward, working tirelessly to repair as much as we can in a single operation—both cleft lip and palate, when possible.”

By the end of the week, Team Cleft Repair had completed 60 procedures for 49 patients. Although all life-changing, there were several cases that stood out to volunteers.

Among these was a 9-year-old boy who was on the verge of quitting school because of the teasing and cruelty from other kids about his unrepaired cleft lip and palate. The young boy, who successfully had his lip and palate repaired, invited Team Cleft Repair to his remote village nearby during their mission, hoping to show the nurses and doctors who cared for him “the beauty of the place he calls home.”

“In a world that has not always been kind to him, he still chooses to be kind to others. That alone is extraordinary,” Myhanh wrote.

The young boy’s story is not unique. Another patient of Team Cleft Repair’s was a 12-year-old girl who similarly faced “years of taunts, whispers, and the silent weight of being seen as different.” Her successful surgery has offered a new chance at adolescence.

“She will awaken to a face she has only dreamed of, to a reflection that no longer carries the burden of years past,” Myhanh writes.

Not all memorable faces Team Cleft Repair encountered were patients, though. One memorable “young warrior” was an 8-year-old boy who accompanied his infant brother to the hospital along with an older cousin.

The diligent older brother waited in anticipation as his brother went into surgery, running barefoot into the recovery room as soon as the team gave him the signal.

“I asked him what he thought of his brother’s new face. He did not speak,” Myhanh writes. “He simply nodded, a single tear rolling down his cheek.”

In all, the two Operation International teams performed 124 surgeries for patients in need in Laos in just two weeks time. The historic missions are only possible with the generosity of supporters like you!

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