While some high school students enjoy the springtime at the beach or on the field, Kiersten Langerud will be devoting her time to helping children smile.
The Lafayette High School senior is preparing for a mission trip to Paraguay. She will be working with Operation Smile, an international medical charity that performs surgeries for children with cleft palates, cleft lips and other facial deformities.
Langerud will be on a team of about 86 people that includes plastic surgeons and anesthesiologists. One of three high school students on this trip, Langerud will teach children about nutrition and dental hygiene — and play with them during screenings.
Langerud was inspired to get involved with Operation Smile after a volleyball teammate went on a similar mission trip to Ethiopia. After seeing the pictures, Langerud said she got chills and almost started to cry.
“I have to do that,” she thought.
Now the president of Lafayette’s Operation Smile club, she attended an international student leadership conference this summer at Old Dominion University in order to qualify to apply for a trip. Langerud was among the 38 students for this year’s missions. All went through “mission bootcamp:” a three-day weekend of guest speakers, presentations and practice that trained them to act as teachers once out of the country.
Langerud will leave for Paraguay on Thursday. Her team has a goal of 125 in the week they will spend in the Asunción, the country’s capital.
This will be Langerud’s first time traveling farther out of the country than Mexico. While she is unsure exactly what accommodations will be like – though the team is staying in a hotel – she is most looking forward to seeing children after their operations.
“These kids come from all over the place because they hear that Operation Smile is coming,” Langerud said.
She has watched videos and seen pictures, but is excited to see someone’s life change before her own eyes.
Langerud is raising money for the trip through a fundraising website. She has already collected the $750 fee to participate in the trip, but will need additional funds for food during her stay. Any additional contributions, along with toys she has amassed, will be donated to Operation Smile headquarters.
According to Operation Smile, $240 can provide the surgery to mend a cleft lip or palate. Langerud said that every penny will help.
To learn more about the project, visit the Operation Smile website.
