
Surgery sponsorship
Being born with a cleft lip and palate means that those affected will have many additional problems to overcome in their lives. Untreated clefts often lead to loss of hearing, poorly intelligible speech, and negative social reactions to the children's looks. As a result, children with cleft malformation have hardly any prospects. They often live a life of isolation with their families on the fringes of society, have to endure ridicule and exclusion, and are much less likely to attend school.
The key step in changing the life of a cleft child for the better is the surgery to close the cleft lip or palate. It is the first big step for the child towards a "normal" life. The average cost of a surgery in our project countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa is only 300 euros. As a surgery sponsor, you make a child's life-changing surgery possible. A small amount with which you can make a big difference: give a child a new life.
What can I expect as a surgery sponsor?
In contrast to a classic sponsorship, our surgery sponsorship is a one-time support. With your donation, you fund the surgery for a child and thus pave them the way into a new, better life. Beyond that, you are not making any other lasting commitment.
Each surgery is documented in our patient database by the team treating the child in the project country. With before and after pictures, personal data on the child and information about the family. After your donation has been used - approximately four to eight weeks after receipt of the donation - you will receive an e-mail from us with a link to the patient file of the child you helped.
In most children, both the lip and the palate are affected by the malformation. Then it needs at least two surgeries. When the child for whom you have already made possible the first surgery with your donation has received their second surgery, we will inform you about it. This way, if you wish, you can also fund this second important operation for them.

Surgery sponsorship FAQ
How are the surgery costs of 300 euros made up?
The surgery costs include education about cleft and other support for the parents by our team on site, the inpatient stay including food, medication, the required medical materials (sutures etc.), as well as the personnel costs for the surgical procedure itself including anesthesia.
The 300 euros are an average of the real costs, which vary from project country to project country.
An essential principle of our work is the establishment of entirely locally based structures. This allows us to perform surgeries at local prices - no travel costs etc. for foreign teams. In addition, the help on site is organized independently by our partners. The leading surgeons receive an expense allowance, and our partner hospitals generally provide us with the medical infrastructure at below the usual market price.
Can I choose the child for whom I want to finance the surgery?
It is not possible to pre-select a specific child. When our patients come to the hospital, they usually receive their surgery immediately, if their state of health permits. The treatment is then documented by the team on site and the documentation checked by us. Based on this documentation, we will provide you with retrospective information about “your” child and the treatment you have funded. We will send you a password-protected link by e-mail, which will give you access to our patient database. All our patients are equally dependent on our help and you can rest assured that your donation will benefit a child who needs it.
Can I sponsor a child in a specific country?
Currently, surgery sponsorships are available in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. If you have a country that is particularly close to your heart, please let us know.
Can I support a child whose treatment I have funded in another way?
The focus of our help is on medical care for children with cleft lip and palate. The surgery sponsorship is a pure treatment sponsorship. In contrast to a classic sponsorship, as a surgery sponsor you fund a single treatment for a child. If the child you are supporting has a second surgery, we will inform you about it and you can decide whether you would like to fund this surgery as well. It is not possible to support the child in any other way.
Your contact
Feedback from our surgery sponsors
"Dear Mrs. Claassens, I just received your email and I am deeply touched! These 300€ are the best invested euros for me. I am glad that even in one of the poorest countries in the world there are fantastic doctors with their teams, who perform such "miracles"!!!! I would like to thank everyone at Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe e. V. very much for your commitment and wish little Tanvi and her family a long, healthy and happy life! With a tear of joy in my eye, Ulrike Stoike sends her warmest regards. P.S. You have certainly not heard the last from me."
- Ulrike Stoike, Bad Belzig
"That was the most gratifying news I received by mail this year. I am now a proud surgery sponsor, but more importantly, the little boy got help."
- Galin Manolov, Munich
"Hello dear tireless team of helpers!!! Thank you very much for the satisfying answer about the use of our donation. My husband and I are very, very happy to have given a basis of hope for the future to a whole family through this surgery. Please keep up your work. For Christmas, we will sponsor a surgery again, from the bottom of our hearts. PS: With your commitment we embrace the whole world!!!"
- Samuel family, Neubrandenburg
"Thank you very much for your letter with the information about the surgery of "our" child. It is quite rare that a donation purpose gets a "face" in this way, so to say. How well we can empathize with the parents' feelings before and after the surgery and how happy it makes us to know that the little girl can grow up with a good perspective. "Aiding smile operation" is a great name for the work of the surgeons in Vietnam."
- Stegmaier family, Aalen
"We looked at the pictures very closely and recognized in the mother's eyes the ongoing tension and ultimately the burden of her own situation and certainly of her entire family. Even though our own world is facing a great threat right now, when looking at the pictures you also have to realize how relatively small our worries are, worries that people in the poorest countries must find ridiculous in comparison."
- Carola & Bernd Rückheim, Berlin
"Thank you very much for your mail. It is the first time I have received such detailed feedback about my donation from an organization I donated to."
- I.B., Munich

With a monthly donation of 25 euros, you finance a child's life-changing operation every year.
A small amount that makes a huge difference.

With a monthly donation of 25 euros, you finance a child's life-changing operation every year.
A small amount that makes a huge difference.