Malibu High School seniors Taylor Colby and Britta Mosser, co-presidents of the school’s Operation Smile Club, recently traveled to the Philippines with a team of 50 volunteers to aid children in need. From Nov. 22 until Dec. 1, the Malibu locals worked with surgeons, pediatricians, dentists, speech pathologists and other volunteers to provide free reconstructive surgeries to 147 children with cleft palates and cleft lips at De La Salle University Medical Center in Dasmariñas, Cavite. Operation Smile provides these surgeries to children in more than 60 countries.
“The goal of the mission was to provide as many children as possible with a life-changing surgery, and yet, without them even knowing it, they changed my life forever,” Colby said. “For that, I am completely and utterly grateful for this mission experience. Words cannot completely describe what we did or what we experienced.”
While on the trip, Colby and Mosser helped educate parents and children about hygiene and other areas of health. The pair also played and bonded with the children, serving as sources of comfort before their surgeries.
“The children that I met during the mission changed my life,” Mosser said. “They were the sweetest kids I have ever met and I miss them every day. The most amazing part for me was sitting in recovery and seeing the parents’ reactions when they saw their child for the first time after the surgery. They would cry out of happiness and thank us again and again.”
