I had the opportunity to go on my first cleft mission trip with Free to Smile (FTS) Foundation prior to starting my fellowship in Cleft and Craniofacial surgery. I enjoyed every min of this opportunity. Everything was so well-organized by FTS making the travel and experience absolutely memorable. I enjoyed meeting other volunteers through this trip and had an amazing time learning from all the surgeons and their experiences. The camaraderie between FTS and the hosting organization (Tess Unlimited) was truly a reflection of keeping patient care a priority and striving for excellence in providing these life changing surgeries for these beautiful children. I am again very grateful to the organization for letting me be part of the trip, and I hope to return with them on many other future mission trips!
We are incredibly grateful for our continued partnership with Free to Smile. Their team of highly skilled and compassionate professionals has been instrumental in providing life-changing care to the children in our Cleft Infant Nutrition Program in Guatemala through Partner for Surgery.
Their commitment and talent allow many of our patients to complete their surgical journeys with confidence and dignity. We are proud to collaborate with such a dedicated organization and look forward to making an even greater impact together in the future.
I served in Guatemala with Free to Smile in 2021. The organization was very organized and accommodating. The other professionals I served with were very skilled, extremely kind and overall very pleasant to work with. I can’t wait to complete another mission with this organization!
I went with Free To Smile to Guatemala back in May of 2022, as a Registered Nurse. Living in the Bay Area, I had no connections with this Ohio based organization, and simply connected with Seth during the pandemic because I wanted to use my skillset for a greater purpose.
My one week working at Tessa Unlimited was such a memorable experience. I got to work with the team of medical professionals and volunteers and performed close to 30 surgeries during the week. Everyone was well versed in their skillset, but also very kind.
As the only Californian on our team, I would 100% recommend this organization to any of my friends, colleagues, and even coworkers as it was a life changing week for me!
I would love to serve again on another mission trip with FTS
I have been traveling and helping this great organization for 6 years. Love them and the good work they do to take care of children all over the world!
I absolutely love this organization and find it an honor to work with them. I first worked with FTS as a fellow training in the surgical craft of cleft lip and palate. At that time I was new to the field. I found the organization respected me and found an appropriate role that optimized both my learning under seasoned surgeons and prioritized that patients are first. I have found they are not a fly in mission model and just leave the patients to their own complications the rest of the year. This team fully incorporates with a home team at their target site optimizing long term care and follow up. I have now been able to work with FTS in a more consistent interval, have established my own practice back at home, and I love we continue to grow and learn together as multiple care providers with specific skill sets who continue to prioritize quality over quantity, the same ideal outcomes in the states that should be provided at the target sites, and how to do this in resource poor areas.
FTS is an extremely well run and structured organization.
It is directed by a very caring team, which is dedicated to patient care, safety and clinical outcomes. In my opinion, their approach to global surgery is unparalleled.
It is the best organization I have ever worked with! Hope to continue to work with them in the future!
I went for my first cleft mission trip with FTS to Guatemala. We partnered with Tess Unlimited and helped over 50 children and babies doing primary cleft surgical work. What I think is so cool is that this was no sort of "fly-in" mission. There were very detailed and appropriate follow-up measures taken for each child we saw. Tess Unlimited made sure the kids were well nourished before going to surgery, ensuring a separate "milk program" that was planned out well in advance. These children had speech therapists, locals in the community that partnered with us, and we were able to do some surgical teaching as well. I hope to join several mission trips in the future with this group because I feel they approach the cause in the correct long-term manner.
I am a plastic surgeon and have worked as a volunteer with 6 different organizations repairing cleft lips and palates in developing countries in the last 40 years. The 10 projects with Free To Smile have been exceptionally well organized and efficiently run with the best results that I have seen.
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I am a plastic surgeon and have been a volunteer with many organizations involved in repair of cleft lips and palates in Latin America and Africa. Free To Smile is unique in operating with the lowest possible overhead while recruiting the most enthusiastic volunteers that I have worked with and obtaining the best results that I have seen on any of my projects. It is a very special group with great leadership.
I am a pediatric cleft surgeon. I have been apart of several mission trips. Great organization that provides so much good to the world. Feel extremely blessed to be apart of their team.
In April of 2015 I was invited to join the Free To Smile team in Guatemala. I'm a general dentist. My responsibility was to offer dental care to the supporting teams in Guatemala and their families. The experience was a delight. I worked with my dental assistant daughter and surgeon son. It was the experience of a lifetime. Watching particularly the mothers of these blessed children react when first seeing her child with the obvious defect corrected was priceless. Watching my little girl and my little boy bless the lives of these Guatemalan children was a lifetime moment. Will soon forget the moments. I shall never forget how I felt.
Mike Gailey, DDS MS
Hello there, this was second mission trip and my first with Free to Smile. Great trip, awesome team, very well run organization. This trip was to rural Guatemala, the people were very appreciative and welcoming. Can't wait for the next one.
I volunteered as an anesthesiologist with Free To Smile on their mission to Uspantan, Quiche, Guatemala. It was a memorable trip in more ways than one. I have gone on several medical missions in the past with many different organizations and this particular mission was one of the most well organized. In terms of logistics and support, Stacy and her team were phenomenal. This was my first trip with them and I must say I was not sure how my interaction would be with a group of complete strangers. But, this special group of delightful people from Ohio showered me with kindness and generosity and made me feel as one of their own. ( I have always gone on missions with a group of professionals that I have worked with in New England). Dr Byron Henry is a highly skilled surgeon with a missionary zeal. His infectious enthusiasm and his concern for his team members is exemplary. I had an opportunity to work with a team of pediatric anesthesia professionals and this experience was truly educational.
On the whole this mission trip was very fulfilling. It never felt like work. It was like a family vacation.