Operation Smile mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo June 2011. Seventy-five health care professionals from all over the world volunteered their time to help provide free surgery to repair cleft lips, palates, burns and other deformities. We documented the whole Operation Smile mission from the queues of people waiting to be screened to their journey through surgery to patients waving goodbye. 366 people were screened over the first two days and 173 patients were operated on. A sister and brother both with cleft lip travelled for 3 days by boat, a day on a bus and a day by foot to reach the hospital, within hours of arriving they were in the operating theatre. Operation Smile provides care for children in 60 countries worldwide and we felt privileged to be a small part of such an incredible organization. It was impressive to see so many skilled professionals volunteer their time to improve someone's life forever.

We also photographed Operation Smile's 2011 mission to Madagascar. You can see a slideshow of the mission on the Films & Audio Slideshows page.