YPSILANTI, Mich. – Two teen girls from Metro Detroit are working hard to help people around the world smile again.
Jade Xu and classmate Anum Latif, both high school students in Ypsilanti, are helping children across the world with their Operation Smile Club. The pair co-founded the club at their school to help further the mission of a global nonprofit.
“Operation Smile is a medical nonprofit organization that mainly serves patients with cleft conditions,” Xu said.
“They do a lot of things like surgeries and post-surgery care and pre-surgery care,” Latif said. “They have a large focus on making sure that these children can live a fruitful life after.”
The duo met their freshman year of high school, and both plan to enter the medical field in the future. Together, the teens have hosted virtual conferences with Operation Smile volunteers, reconstructive surgeons and Operation Smile alumni. They say they are proud to help make a change in the world for those who need it.
“At the end of the day, I always know that it was worth it and I was able to help children across the world,” Latif said.
“We often overlook people who do have those disparities and I think it’s important that Operation Smile is highlighting them and giving them the care that they need,” Xu said.
Watch the full story in the video above.
To learn more about Operation Smile, visit their website here.
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