Cebu Surgical Outreach 2026
Our recent surgical outreach in Cebu has come to a close & we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together. It’s always bittersweet coming home. We love being there & meeting all the children & their families.
Over the week our volunteer Smile for Me Team, along with our affiliated partners provided life changing surgical care to children who wouldn’t otherwise have access to this treatment. Our patients varied in age from 5 months old to 22 years old. We did a total of 47 surgeries on patients in conjunction with 46 dental procedures both in the operating theatre & in the dental van.
The cleft lip & palate repairs represent more than just medical care it offers renewed confidence, improved health & hope for a brighter future. The families often travel long distances from other provinces to visit us. This year they had the added complication of the fuel crisis.
As well as our team travelling to help the children we are joined by other partners from near & far. In the Philippines our partners are AMRO, the All Terrain Medical Relief Organisation & ACE Medical. Without AMRO helping to advertise our work, supporting us while we are operating & after we leave we would not be able to undertake this outreach.
ACE Medical was the site of our outreach & again provided excellent facilities. We look forward to working with them again next April. We can’t forget our local dental team headed by Joanne this year. She coordinated the surgical procedures & the dental bus to provided much needed dental care.
Our surgeons are once again headed by Robin & come from various hospitals in the USA. The work they do is extraordinary & some of the results for the lip repairs were just beautiful. The children will be truly changed by the results.
At this point I would like to thank the Smile for Me team. Our team is made up of doctors & nurses who provide care in the theatre & on the ward. As well as our support staff such as our sterilising team. Each person is integral to this outreach & I am thankful & appreciative of all they do year round to make this happen.
This year one of our key team members Cathy couldn’t come with us. I do still need to make a special mention of all she does all year to ensure we can do what we do. Another special Kathy is a friend of the team & also ensures many families can afford to travel to us. These two ladies are a special breed & we are fortunate to have their deception to the children.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the families for trusting us with your children. You are the reason we do what we do. I always feel incredibly blessed to be able to come & make such a difference to a child’s life. We have already had several families contact us to join us next year. We will be returning April next year dates to be confirmed.
Together, we are changing the lives of these children, one surgery, one smile at a time.
