News

The successful first DCKH online training on functional therapy for medical professionals in Latin America was attended by 40 professionals from our projects. The highly experienced speech therapist Dr. Ulrike Wohlleben gave an excellent introduction to the Castillo Morales® treatment concept. Professionals from six countries took part: Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru and Nicaragua.

Breaking new ground with a well-rehearsed team: Alexander Gross, the founder of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe (DCKH), has been successfully running our association since 2002. Andrea Weiberg has been part of the Freiburg DCKH team since 2018 as the manager for fundraising and communications. Effective August 1, 2021 Andrea, whose background is in business administration, has now been appointed the new operative managing director.

We were able to perform 4,634 operations in 2020 despite Corona. At 48 locations in nine countries, our local teams mastered the unexpected challenges and secured our help for cleft children. New hygiene and protection concepts were created, which resulted in additional financial costs of an average of 50 euros per operation for us. We have been calculating costs per operation of EUR 300 since 2021.

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.

Cleft children in Bolivia suffer doubly under the corona pandemic: It is not only the direct effects of the pandemic that hit the poor families hard. Many aid organizations helping them also had to stop their work due to travel restrictions. As a result, many cleft children remain untreated. Daisy was very lucky: During our Bolivian partner Dr. Mamani's cleft surgery visit to Potosí, she received the surgery she needed.

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.

For the first time in 15 months, our partner organization Qorito led by Dr Alberto Bardales carried out an aid mission outside of Lima from May 14th to 16th. Our Peruvian team was able to operate on 16 patients in Ayaviri, a small town in the very south of the country. The next missions are already planned. The surgical missions of our local team are now more important than ever.

Raiganj is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. The capital is Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. With over 91 million inhabitants, West Bengal is the fourth largest state in India. There are few treatment options for cleft patients available in the region. We have been running a cleft center in Kolkata since 2018 and are now pleased to be able to expand our aid for cleft children in West Bengal to Raiganj as a new location.

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.