00:02A smile has never been just about repairing a cleft lip or a cleft palate.
00:09It's about helping a child eat properly,
00:12helping them speak clearly,
00:15helping them smile without hesitation,
00:17and giving families access to care they otherwise may never receive.
00:24Our story began in the Philippines in 1982,
00:29when Dr. Bill McGee and Cathy McGee joined a medical mission
00:33and witnessed hundreds of families waiting for treatment that simply wasn't available to them.
00:39That experience became the beginning of Operation Smile,
00:43and the Philippines became the place where the movement first took root.
00:49A devastating earthquake.
00:51Powerful typhoons one after another.
00:56Catastrophic floods that claimed far too many precious lives.
01:01It was an unimaginable tragedy.
01:05And just when the world was beginning to hear,
01:08war broke out.
01:11And it continues until today.
01:15Everywhere we look, people are struggling.
01:18Business are suffering.
01:21Families are worried.
01:23The future feels so uncertain.
01:27Many nights, I found myself asking God,
01:31Lord, is this really the right time?
01:36How could I ask people to give at a time like this?
01:41The easiest decision would have been to cancel tonight.
01:45And believe me, I came very close.
01:48If not for my conscience team, Emiliano Romano, Mary Lou Nguang and Pearl Arienza,
01:57there would have been no gala tonight.
01:59But every time I thought of canceling, an image came into my mind.
02:06An image of a child born with a cleft lip and cleft palate.
02:13A child who has never known what it feels like to smile without being ridiculed.
02:19A mother praying every single night that someone would help her child.
02:26Or a father wondering how he would ever afford the surgery that could change his child's life.
02:35Then I asked myself, if we give up, what happens to them?
02:40Who will tell them that hope must wait?
02:45Who will look into the eyes and explain that the world has too many problems?
02:50Who will tell a mother to keep watching her child suffer because now is simply not the right time?
02:59I couldn't. We simply couldn't.
03:03Yes, we have our own battles.
03:05Many people believe that once the comprehensive cleft care center at CCMC was completed,
03:12our work was done.
03:15I wish that were true.
03:19Because not long after the center opened, we encountered a series of challenges.
03:25The center suffered a tremendous setback.
03:28We had to close the center for three months due to major repairs,
03:33some caused by natural disasters.
03:36People often see the smiles after surgery.
03:40What they don't see are the sleepless nights, the difficult decisions, the financial burdens,
03:49and the constant struggle to keep the center alive.
03:53Seven, 18 carat white gold.
03:56I can start bidding with 150,000.
03:58Attorney Malahan, I can hear whispers here 150,000.
04:02Such a beautiful earring.
04:04Don't be shy, I have table number three beside you, Ferdin.
04:07There's someone bid from table number three.
04:09So number three, look at .
04:12160.
04:13160.
04:15170.
04:17170.
04:18Very nice.
04:19Looking for 180.
04:22180.
04:25You know, I let
04:28collectors in the Philippines.
04:30Jaime Ponce de Leon
04:31of Leon Gallery.
04:33It is,
04:35you know, good collectors
04:37collect news, figurative
04:39studies. And from
04:41BenCap, this is probably the most
04:44value for
04:45money acquisition you can have. It's right
04:47outside. It's the personal
04:49collection of Jaime Ponce de Leon
04:51of Leon Gallery.
04:53And incidentally,
04:55a very good friend of mine was the
04:57number one nude model of Malanxada.
05:09I'm
05:31a
05:32hot
05:32hot
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