A team of surgeons from the United States, under the banner Operation of Hope, with local nurses and doctors, perform cleft lip surgery on a child at Harare Children’s Hospital on Monday, April 7. The team have been coming to Zimbabwe since 2006 to carry out surgical operations on children with the condition.

Cleft lip and palate are caused by abnormal facial development during gestation. A cleft is a fissure or opening or a gap.

Over 750 Zimbabweans have been operated on to date.

Pictures: Aaron Ufumeli

One year old Alex Mwashita sits on his mother’s lap before the cleft lip screening at the Harare Children’s Hospital on Sunday April 6.
Nine month old Ngonidzashe Musanzikwa from Mt Darwin waits with his mother.

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