Smile China Mission 2002

In the second mission in September, 2002, Dr. Wong and his team traveled to an even more remote part of China in the extreme northwest portion in a region historically known as the "Silk Road" - one of China's poorest areas. Forty surgeries were performed including a number of them on orphans who were abandoned by their families.

One of those children who received the operation was a nine-year-old boy who had a severe bilateral cleft palate. The child was found by a farmer abandoned and sleeping beside railway tracks. Upon hearing of the Smile China Project, the farmer took the boy to the hospital to see if anything could be done. Dr. Wong assessed the boy and determined that extensive reconstructive surgery would be required. The procedure would also require the use of general anesthesia at a cost of $600. Faced with the situation, Dr. Wong personally assumed the cost of the anesthetic to end the boy's suffering.

Again, the Smile China Project team also used their time in China to instruct the local surgeons on the latest North American techniques in repairing facial deformities.

Read about the Mission in 2004