by AfS Photographer Linda Hart

Let us introduce you to Maria. Maria was born with a cleft lip. When you meet Maria, her cleft may unfortunately be the first thing you notice about her – not the bubbly personality and the bright little girl behind the cleft.

Her beautiful mum brought her to the clinic with the hope of Maria having surgery.

Today, Maria’s life was changed forever. Dr. Eric Helling, working alongside local surgeon Dr. Emanuel Adenuga, closed the cleft and now she is ready to begin her new life with a new smile!

After all the travel and all the preparation, there is a great sense of accomplishment for the whole team when our first patient arrives in recovery ready for their family to see them.

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Venice-Nokomis and District 9112 for making this mission possible!