In late February, Prof. Ganatra, our senior surgeon in Pakistan, travelled to Naushahro Feroze. A major surgical mission was to take place in the city, 340 kilometers northeast of Karachi: More than sixty children were registered to be treated. The team accompanying Prof. Ganatra is correspondingly large. Six medical students, five surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses are at Prof. Ganatra’s side. Eight of them are women. Our volunteer project manager Dr. Ulrike Lamlé is also part of the team.

The equipment at the hospital in Naushahro Feroze is less lavish than the European standard, but it is sufficient for our work, as are of course the hygiene standards, to ensure safe operations for our patients. The entire process – from patient admission to photo documentation to the surgical interventions and the control visit after the operation – is perfectly organized. A total of 64 patients receive surgery in two days of work.

One of the youngest patients is five-month-old Azaad. His parents only recently leaned of our aid project through a poster. Until then, they were very worried about their son. He couldn’t nurse properly and was very weak. The whole family sets off to the hospital full of newfound hope. The seven of them live in the most basic conditions, in a mud house with a thatched roof, without electricity and running water. They could never have afforded the operation.

Azaad is successfully operated on February 29. His parents are overjoyed with the result of the lip surgery. Since the boy’s palate is also affected, another operation is necessary. The family has great confidence in Prof. Ganatra and his team. They will definitely bring Azaad back to this second surgery, which will let him to lead a normal life free of the problems the open palate would cause.