Luggage was not the only thing junior Haymi Patel took back from Bolivia; the memories she collected traveled home with her as well.

Haymi returned from an Operation Smile medical mission in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on March 30, 2025, making her the fifth student from Ocean Lakes to embark on such a journey.

“Haymi’s trip to Bolivia was life-changing for her and inspired many other students,” Operation Smile sponsor Andrea Smolin said.

As the medical mission approached, Haymi was excited to work with the children and introduce herself to a new environment.

“I knew it was a different country, so I wanted to integrate myself and not be closed off and unaccepting of the differences,” Haymi said. “I wanted to embrace them.”

Landing in Santa Cruz

Haymi first landed in Santa Cruz on March 19, 2025. Initially, Haymi considered the language barrier to be a challenge, especially after landing, but the hospitality she received eclipsed that.

“Immediately, I saw that everyone was really nice. That stayed constant throughout [my trip]; they were honestly the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Haymi said.

Haymi and Operation Smile group members Sylvia Ross and Gabriella Seifertt, arrived a day and a half early from the screening day. They worked to consolidate donations they each received to create “smile bags.” The group members came from Kent Place School in Summit, N.J. and Cape Henry Collegiate.

“One of the girls brought 288 markers and 300 colored pencils, and that was one person. We brought a [big amount of donations], and I think the kids really enjoyed it,” Haymi said.

The Screening Day

Patients and those who lived within the vicinity of the hospital came to receive a screening on whether or not they would be eligible for cleft lip or cleft palate surgery.

“Some were too young for surgery, but were advised to come back at a given time. It was a very busy day,” Haymi said. 

During the screenings, Haymi and her group set up a small station, consisting of bracelet-making kits, coloring books and bubbles for the kids.

“[Many] of the parents were exhausted, and had to travel quite a bit to be there, especially for patients who come from the villages. The table helped parents relax a little bit as their kid was being taken care of,” Haymi said. 

That day, a story from one parent in particular stuck out to her.

“There was one woman who spoke to our chaperone and told us that she traveled [from a] faraway village and had to spend the night in the street a day before she went to the hospital. She had her bags with her, and her kid was around seven to eight years old,” Haymi said.

After hearing this, Haymi realized that situations like these were not just hard for the patients, but for the families as well.

“This was just one story out of the 190 people we got to hear. [Other] people might have had similar stories,” Haymi said.

By the end of the screening day, 190 children were able to be screened. 

The Surgical Days

Four-and-a-half days were operation-focused, where each day, 13 to 16 surgeries occurred. When Haymi and her group arrived at the hospital every morning, a team meeting was held with the staff present at the program which included doctors, volunteers and specialists.

“We would go over what went well the previous day, what we needed to improve on and what the cases were going to be like that day. As the week went on, there were more complicated [cleft palate or cleft lip cases], and many wanted to make sure everything was going well,” Haymi said.

Haymi and her group primarily stayed in the postoperative care unit, giving presentations to patients and their families on dental hygiene. Here, they distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste collected from the donations.

“The doctors would give more specific instructions, such as if you did have a cleft lip, avoiding brushing on a specific side of your mouth [was advised],” Haymi said.

As time went on, Haymi found that smiles and simple gestures were able to communicate plenty, the challenge of the language barrier becoming negligible.

“We had Play-Doh, and one of the [children] made food with it, and we would pretend to eat it. We didn’t have a full-blown conversation, but we communicated that way,” Haymi said.

Bringing it back

Haymi noted that the surgical equipment would not work properly or was outdated. Because of this, she aimed to fundraise and advocate for this issue.

“I feel like that is a concern that should be addressed; if we want our patients to be as safe as possible, we need to find a way to integrate better technology to be able to bring that with us to the programs,” Haymi said.

Not only did Haymi bond with those abroad, but she also bonded with those at home.

“I think we actually had a stronger relationship because of that. It’s almost like once you get a break from your sibling, you actually realize how much [you miss them],” Haymi’s younger sister and freshman Nirja Patel said.

Haymi plans to continue Operation Smile beyond her high school years and pursue the medical field after this mission.

“When we had  to leave eventually, the kids would hug us and ask, ‘You’re coming back tomorrow, right?’” Haymi said. “I always thought to myself, ‘I wish.’ They were adorable.”