Guest blog post by Callie Egland, Smile Network volunteer & trekker This is Cesia! The happiest little baby! She did not have the familiar “cleft lip” but instead a cleft palate – where the roof of her mouth opens directly to her nasal cavity. Without surgery, her speech would be 80% unintelligible. Imagine going through […]
Guest blog post by Scott Behmer, Smile Network volunteer & trekker Naomi and her mom stayed overnight in the hospital and were there when I arrived around 7:30am. Quiet as before, her mom offered a simple smile and I could tell she was tired and hungry, but she held and rocked her baby for about […]
Great accomplishments generally have their roots in humble beginnings. Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher once said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It is estimated that the 26-mile trek through the Andes, commonly known as the Inca trail, is made up of over 82,000 steps and 55,000 stairs. 17 adventurous […]
Dead women’s pass is not for the faint of heart. By days end each trekker will know what they are made of. They will ascend to this infamous pass high in the Andes and summit about 3pm. They will climb over 3,600 vertical feet to an elevation to nearly 14,000 feet to the summit. Before […]
They are 49 in all. 28 porters, 17 Trekker’s, 3 guides and 1 cook. They are carrying more than 1,300 pounds of gear and provisions for their four day trip through the Andes at elevations ranging from 7,000 to 14,000 feet. In their load the porters are carrying 24 dozen eggs, 50 fresh caught trout, […]
We total 15. We are walking the Camino de Santiago from Portugal to Spain to support the efforts of Smile Network International, but today we walk to honor the memory of a young boy who reminded all of us that life can change in the blink of an eye. From the Camino, we are sending […]
The trekkers finished the four-day, 26 mile trek to more than 13,000 feet and saw their first glimpse of Machu Picchu when they reached the Gate of the Sun. The trek is over and onto the mission, the reason they have been training and working so hard to raise awareness and funds to sponsor surgeries […]
Today the trekkers will arrive to their destination, the famed Machu Picchu. Tonight they will celebrate their achievement in the mountain town of Aguascalientes. They will get their first shower in over four days and get to sleep in a real bed! Tomorrow they will travel back to Lima to meet the children for whom […]
Yesterday the trekkers set out on a trip of a lifetime, hiking the famed Inca Trail. Today, they were faced with one of the most difficult challenges of their life – the climb to Dead Woman’s Pass at 13,828 feet up in the Andes Mountains. In camp tonight they will celebrate their victory. Thank you […]
Our trekkers arrived safely to the Sacred Valley after two days of hiking the ruins of Cusco and market shopping.
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