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International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8. It is a public holiday in 26 countries worldwide. In Germany, it has this status only in the state of Berlin. The motto of this year's International Women's Day: "Break the Bias" - a call to reject prejudice, social stigma and inequality.

The German parenting magazine "Eltern" looks into the topic of meaningful donations. Editor Christine Brasch cites trustworthiness as the most important criterion when selecting an aid organization to support. In her article, she points out traits to look out for when thinking about donating and presents Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe as one of a selection of five organizations where your donation is in good hands.

Lucas, Khan, Daisy, Duong, Siam, Abu, Emanuel, Alexa, Dariadna – these are only a few of the children we were able to help in 2021, with more than 6,500 surgeries provided in total. It was people like you who made this possible, who did more than just change the way these children look - with their donations these benefactors have changed the course of these children's lives from now on for the better.

On March 28, a boy with cleft lip and palate is born in an indigenous tribe in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. He is named Maui. Like many parents surprised by the birth of a cleft baby, his parents are shocked, and because of his cleft palate, the mother is unable to breastfeed him. On his third day of life, Maui is abandoned by the parents at a fireplace and left to his fate. But his story takes a turn for the better.

Lucas likes bus rides. But he has a long journey ahead of him this time: he has to travel 500 km with his parents to get surgery for his cleft lip and palate from our partner organization Ayninakuna in Cochabamba, Bolivia. But a big disappointment awaits them: During the obligatory pre-surgery COVID-19 test, Lucas tests positive. His surgery is postponed until he has recovered. But all ends well: after his recovery, his surgery finally goes without a hitch.

Unfortunately, in Vietnam it still happens that children are abandoned by their parents because of their cleft. Our surgeon Dr. Ai stays in touch with the orphanages in his area of operation and is notified when a cleft child has been admitted. Khahn, who was born with a severe bilateral cleft lip and palate, also lives at an orphanage, where he is cared for by the staff such as foster mother Hien.

In late March 2022, after long preparations, many delays and problems overcome, our new project in the Horn of Africa region finally kicked off with our first mission to treat cleft children in Garowe in northern Somalia. It was an exciting occasion not only for our many patients who get to start a new life without cleft, but also for us. Many members of our international aid network came together to make the project possible.

After a one-year forced break due to the Coronavirus pandemic, our German volunteers Dr. Oliver Blume and Gunther Au-Balbach were finally able to treat cleft children in Rwanda again in late March. They were joined by our surgeon Dr. Laurent Siborurema from Rwanda and anesthetist Dr. Emmanuel Munyarugero from Uganda, who have been indispensable members of this team for many years now. The host hospital for the joint German-African mission is the Rwamagana Hospital in Rwamagana, Rwanda.

During the first surgical mission of our Cleft Pakistan team to Khuzdar, Balochistan, we were able to treat 103 patients with cleft lip and palate. In Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, most people live below the poverty line. They live isolated in the mountains, without electricity, gas or mobile phone reception. Available medical care is rudimentary.

The parents of our cleft children are always full of gratitude. When their child is born with cleft, they often do not know what to make of the malformation, much less that it can be treated. And even if they do - most of our little patients come from the poorest of backgrounds. Their parents could never afford the operation. It is an unimaginable happiness for them to learn that their children can receive qualified treatment, and free of charge even. This wonderful, touching film from our Bolivian aid project captures these special moments of happiness.

This film, made for our Pakistani partner organization, the Al-Mustafa Welfare Societey, by the father of one of our patients, shows scenes from our work in Karachi. From here, our senior surgeon Prof. Ashraf Ganatra treats cleft children from poorest families. He operates the children from Karachi at the Al Mustafa Medical Center. In order to reach the many needy families living outside the city, he also regularly heads out to local provincial hospitals to treat cleft patients there.

As a baby, Dat fell victim to an unqualified surgery. Probably inexperienced doctors severed important arteries during his palate surgery in Vietnam. The result: a large hole in the palate that massively affects the boy's life. We brought him to Germany to get reconstructive surgery. An individual case that due to the financial and human cost must remain an exception. In this video, we want to draw attention to the risks of "safari surgery" as opposed to sustainable development aid.