Transform a life, one smile at a time! Medical volunteers provide free reconstructive surgery and follow-up care to children with facial deformities across the globe.

Zacarias Nuñez - Bolivia

Zacarias Nuñez was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate to 17-year-old parents in Bolivia. His parents were too poor to take care of him, and by the time he was four months old, he was severely malnourished. Zacarias' parents brought him to a hospital where a nun named Sister Nelly Calle took him under her care. A few months later, Sister Nelly learned of Operation Smile's mission to Cochabamba, Bolivia. Sister Nelly and Zacarias traveled 18 hours by bus to reach the mission site where surgeons repaired his lip.

Zacarias continued to live with Sister Nelly at the hospital. Two years later, Operation Smile returned to Bolivia. Sister Nelly and Zacarias again traveled to the mission site. He was selected for surgery, and this time his palate was repaired. Today, Zacarias is a beautiful, intelligent and very active three-year-old -- he still lives with Sister Nelly; she considers Zacarias her son, and he calls her "mama."