Operation Blessing - Medical Relief

Ringben, above in pink, was taken in by a local social worker who found her rummaging through some garbage, severely malnourished and weak. Thanks to OBI, Ringben had corrective surgery for her cleft lip and is now in school.

NIGERIA – Most parents look at their children in love. But for Ringben, the sight of her face horrified her parents.

The infant was born with a cleft lip, which altered her facial features and obstructed her speech as well as development.

Ringben's parents didn't care what happened to her and they didn't seek out medical treatment. Instead, the toddler was forced to roam the streets begging and crying for help when her parents would leave her without food or water.

A local social worker found a severely malnourished and weak Ringben rummaging through some garbage and took her in.

"She was dirty and disheveled when I saw her walking in the streets," said Victoria, the local social worker. "She was hungry and crying and other children were running away from her because of her cleft deformity."

Victoria brought Ringben to Operation Blessing where doctors performed a corrective surgery on her cleft lip.

Ringben, born with a cleft lip, was neglected by her parents. The toddler was forced to roam the streets begging and crying for help when her parents would leave her without food or water.

That was two years ago, and today, 4-year-old Ringben is the picture of health. OBI was able to locate her grandfather and place her in his care, as well as enroll Ringben in a private school for children with speech impediments.

"The transformation in her has been truly remarkable," said Okey Onwudiwe, a staff member with OB Nigeria. "She is hardly recognizable as the malnourished child living off the streets a few years ago. Now she is robust and healthy."

Ringben is not alone in facing life dealing with a deformity. In Cambodia, Pan, Kakada and Neth were all born with the same defect.

Thanks to donors like you, however, today they are all smiles.

The deformity occurs in approximately 1 in every 700 infants. For families living in Cambodia, which is listed by the United Nations in the top 50 poorest countries in the world, corrective surgery is not an option.

Pan's parents, for example, only earn $2 a day selling vegetables in the street. Neth and Kakada's parents are both rice farmers and earn just enough to feed the family.

"Neth's mother was worried when her daughter was born with cleft lip," said Kittima Onlahoog, an OB Cambodia representative. "She was ashamed to take little Neth out in public."

For Neth, Pan and Kakada, life changed after surgery. All three children received their free operation at National Pediatrics hospital in Phnom Penh.

Last year, thanks to donor support of OBI's cleft lip and palate program, 785 surgeries were sponsored for children worldwide.

Due to minimal overhead and negotiated low medical costs in foreign countries, Operation Blessing can hold the cost to just $400 per surgery. OBI is then able to partner with surgeons, hospitals, and government agencies to provide free operations and give children living in poverty a chance for a better, healthier future.

"Thanks for your providing us with hope and strength," Neth's mother said, "and giving my daughter a chance to live a normal life."

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Be a part of OBI's ongoing medical relief efforts by making an online contribution to help those suffering from extreme poverty and sickness.

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