It is an Operation Smile tradition
to play the name game. It is a tradition that quickly aids the bonding process
for volunteers. In the next few days we will work closely with each other and
will forever share the experiences to come. Kitty Burke, a recovery room nurse
and an Operation Smile veteran has worked on 18 missions. She shared perfectly the
other day that we are family. She told us, “Welcome to the sisterhood.” The
bond shared between volunteers is unique and something hard to describe.
Today our team traveled to the
Konark sun temple and had a fun day getting to know each other before surgery
week. The temple was incredible. Built in the 13th century and is
constructed as a giant chariot with twelve wheels carved into the base. The team also went to the beach for a bit
and had a lot of fun taking pictures. The temple was a two-hour bus ride from
Bhubaneswar and it was great to see the countryside of India. We passed rice
field after rice field and the landscape was lush and green; something I was
not expecting about India. We stopped briefly and a man with coconuts bundled
on his bike cut us some and we drank the coconut juice straight out of the
shell. It was an incredible day.
After arriving back at the hotel we
gathered in the hospital for a pre-surgery meeting and the name game. The name
game insights fear in some and the competitive side in others and it is able to
draw laughter from everyone.
As we walked down the hallway to
leave the hospital, tomorrow’s patients came downstairs to register with the
hospital. The entire team lit up as children we recognized from yesterday
greeted us with hugs and smiles. We truly are part of a family and that is part
of the power of Operation Smile.
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