ZIMBABWE: Surgeons bring hope to Zimbabwe's forgotten children

Operation Hope brings relief for Zimbabwe children suffering from deformity and looking for a better future in a country in crisis. The mission of Operation Hope has been to perform facial surgeries on poor children born with cleft palates and lips to correct this deformity and to restore not only their ability to eat and articulate words but self-esteem and a smile. Doctor Travis Tollefson has first visited Ziambabwe last October and is now back again, promising to repeat the trip every year. "At the end of a case, you take the mother to see the child for the first time, whether the child is three weeks old or they are 18 years old, they have an opportunity to see the child now with closed cleft lip, now with an intact smile, just the smile on a mother face is worth coming back for," he said on Thursday (October 17). The group of five surgeons are perfoming surgery on children with cleft lips and palates despite considering local doctors more than capable to perform their duties. "There are really talented surgeons that live here in Zimbabwe already practices certain surgeries, certainly there is less of the number of surgeons now, but they are highly talented and having some continual medical education to continue to forster a environment of exchange between Zimbabwean physicians and the U.S physicians," doctor Tollefson said. No-one can tell the personal anxiety of a mother hoping for a brighter future for their child. The desire to change their children's circumstances saw numerous parents visiting the Harare Hospital Children's Ward and dare to hope against all odds that their children would receive the corrective surgery cleft lips and palates for the relief of their parents. "I feel happy, I have struggled with my child wondering what life will she lead, I was worried mostly about her schooling, how will she manage," said a mother, Petnas Gadaga. "I wanted to sell my chickens to raise money for surgery, I have also gone to Parirenyatwa (Harare main hospital) but no one could help, then I heard about this programme im very happy that they have helped," said Chipo Chimombe, morher of another operated child. Health is just a reflection of the general crisis affecting Zimbabwe. Thousands leave the country every day in search of work abroad. The breakdown of the economy heightened political tensions. President Robert Mugabe responded by cracking down on the opposition, drawing fresh international attention to his controversial rule. Around 180 people were arrested in September 2006 after riot police quashed labour union protests. In March 2007 Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was badly beaten after he tried to attend a banned protest rally, spurring new western condemnation of Mugabe's government.

ITN Source | October 19, 2007

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