Month: July 2015

Today our team grows from 18 trekkers and 4 Smile staffers to an additional 8 trekkers and 13 medical providers. The second wave of trekkers arrived Tuesday evening and will repeat the journey of the last group hiking to the famed Machu Pichu built by the Incans hundreds of years ago. This group of adventurous […]

Congratulations to our trekkers! Matt Kleven,  Jennifer Hartigan, Tyler Hartigan, Gino Valentini,  Anna Pawlenty, Tim Pawlenty, Mara Pawlenty, Pam Borton, Jules Brown, Sarah Buxton, Jackie Nickel, Samantha Nickel, Alex McGraw,  Alli Cahill, Mary Kate Rivisto, Janee Harteau, Rony Camosa, Mary Pawlenty, Brenda Leffler Change the world. Change the future. Change your life.

Breaking News! We have been out of touch with the trekkers since we parted ways at the trail head entrance three days ago. At 6:04 pm central daylight time we received a text message which said, ” Had a little service on the mountain so thought I would send along this photo.”All are accounted for. […]

After their first night on the mountain the trekkers rose to frost on the ground, a few aches and bruises from the previous day’s trek and the smell of steaming coffee. By 7 am they will have had breakfast and repack their gear for the tough ascent that lies ahead. Today is the most challenging […]

We have been traveling for four days together. Sharing our stories, getting to know one another. Up to this point there has been a lot of laughter, enthusiasm and excitement. The mood is different today. Excitement has been replaced with some self examination and internal dialog with questions like; “Did I train enough? At age […]

They arrived into Lima late Wednesday night and traveled on to Cusco Peru Thursday afternoon. Immediately, your lungs know you have arrived into Cusco. The oxygen is scarce at 12.000 feet. Observing the trekkers pull their luggage across the airport parking lot with a 3% grade huffing and puffing I intuitively knew they were second […]

Last Wednesday, July 1, 18 individuals set out on a trip to traverse the famed Inca trail to Machu Pichu. They will trek for four days and camp on the side of a mountain for three nights. They will walk through rainforests, orchid fields and climb higher than the clouds to the summit of dead […]

Over the next two weeks, 26 adventurous individuals embark on a journey of a lifetime—to hike the famed Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. Their purpose: to create awareness about the hundreds of thousands of children in developing countries who suffer as social outcasts because they have been born with clefts. After they complete the four-day, […]