Blue Umbrella Official October 2018 issue | Page 14

St udent Br ings
Smil es t o Ot her s
By: M on ica A.
The seven-year-old Keler Adoni Rivera
González, his baby sister, and his mother
traveled for half a day and an entire night on a
packed bus. It was a sleepless night for Ms.
Rivera given all of the sounds that could be
heard on the bus.
?An old man with a cowboy hat brought
two chickens in a cage, and they made noises
throughout the whole ride! As if that wasn?t
enough, three kids wouldn?t stop crying and a
dog wouldn?t stop whimpering. It was also
really smelly in there because of all of the
sweat.?
At four in the morning,
the bus came to a screeching
halt. It had arrived in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras? capital.
From the bus stop, the three
fetched a taxi to the Operation
Smile?s clinic.
June 8 was the day before
Operation Smile?s medical
brigade. We call this day the
?pre-medical brigade? day. On
this day, patients from all over
Honduras come to register, fill out a medical
file, and endure various tedious stations to
make sure that they are fit to have surgery over
the course of the next week. Keler was one of
those patients. I was helping fill out the
medical files at the time that Keler came
running up to me and hugged me tightly. This
was his third time at a ?pre-medical brigade?
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day and his third surgery as well. He will still
need one more surgery due to his complex
condition; he has a cleft palate and a cleft lip.
As a volunteer, I meet and play with
various children. Nevertheless, I had formed a
special bond with Keler. He is one of those kids
that radiates happiness. He fills the room with
joy and can make anyone laugh. Keler has a
pure heart; he will greet strangers with a warm
and welcoming hug without hesitation.
When I asked him why he wanted the
surgery, he said with a shrug, ?Because that
way I?ll look normal, and no one
will stare.?
I spoke to Ms. Rivera about this,
and she said that ?people do stare
and point a lot. As his mom, it
breaks my heart. That?s why we
travel all the way from our town to
Tegucigalpa. I?ve done it three
times now, and I?ll do it as long as
it takes for my boy to feel good
about himself.?
Keler?s surgery was scheduled for
Friday, June 13.
I helped out in the hospital throughout
the week, but I could not wait until Thursday
to be with Keler again. You see, the patients
come in a day before their surgery for further
medical checkups and to talk about
regulations and rules they have to follow after
surgery.