Katlyn Pelser, 6, from Wakefield, sits pensively before her examination as a volunteer looks on.

One Saturday last term, 12 Harvard students played a small part in one of the largest surgical missions in history dedicated to helping needy children face the world with confidence. Operation Smile's World Journey of Hope '99 came to Boston to help children and young adults with facial deformities through surgery and other treatments.

At a free screening at Children's Hospital in Boston, seven patients came to be examined by volunteer medical personnel. While the jittery patients, six of them children, waited to be seen, Harvard Students of Operation Smile offered warmth, talk, friendship, and, of course, smiles.

Nancy Fu '00, co-president of the Harvard group, recalled, "The children have a way of coaxing you to step out of your comfort zone, to let down your own walls of protection, and care for someone who may not seem, at first glance, easy to love. It was a wonderful experience for me."

Of the patients screened, three are candidates for surgery and the others were referred to appropriate medical departments.