Mission to Lima

With their Peruvian counterparts , Smile Network surgeons (from left)  Srdan Babovic, Marie Christensen, Martin Lacey, and Robert Ryan examine a potential patient during the first day of screening.

Photo by Michelle Gunderson

It’s elation or heartbreak for anxious parents when the names of the 100-plus children chosen for the cleft surgery are finally posted at the Lima hospital.

Photo by Michelle Gunderson

Edina surgeon Allen Van Beek, wearing special glasses, measures a pediatric patient’s lip prior to surgery as Bob Ryan, left, assists, and a Peruvian surgical resident looks on.

Photo by Michelle Gunderson

Volunteer Kelly Larson, left, paid $4,000 at a Smile Network auction for the opportunity to take part in the Lima mission. Here, she and a Peruvian nurse tend to a recent surgical patient.

Photo by Michelle Gunderson

Before-and-After

The dramatic improvement afforded by cleft surgery is evident in these before-and-after photos of Christian Alonso Bautista, two, with his mother, Maria.

See next slide for after photo.

Photo by Michelle Gunderson

Before-and-After

The dramatic improvement afforded by cleft surgery is evident in these before-and-after photos of Christian Alonso Bautista, two, with his mother, Maria.

Photo by Michelle Gunderson