A SOUTHSIDE woman is on her way to Ghana to help local kids with facial deformities to smile again.
Lucy Nugent, from Ranelagh, is preparing for the life-changing trip as she takes part in Operation Smile Ireland’s upcoming mission to the country’s third largest city Tamale.
Lucy, who works as a clinical and patient services manager in the Children’s Hospital, Temple Street, will be tasked with taking care of medical records.
She will be working for the Irish charity that is part of a global alliance of Operation Smile organisations bringing safe, sustainable treatment to children with facial deformities in the developing world.
Operation Smile has provided free surgery to more than 200,000 children around the world since 1982 with the help of over 5,000 dedicated medical volunteers.
A spokesperson for the organisation said that every three minutes, somewhere in the world, a child is born with a cleft.
“These children typically have difficulty eating, speaking, socialising and smiling,
? the spokesperson said.
“They are often shunned and rejected by their communities.
“In Ireland, corrective surgery is easily available, but in the developing world 75 per cent of cases go untreated.
“Without outside help, thousands of children with facial deformities worldwide will never have the medical care they need to live a normal life.
“It can take as little as 45 minutes and e240 to perform the life-changing surgery that will change a child’s life forever.
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Lucy said she was excited and nervous at joining the Operation Smile Mission to Ghana.
“I have been told by friends and colleagues that it will be a life changing experience,
? she said.
“I expect to work hard and be tested in new ways but will probably get more out of the experience than any effort involved on my part.
“I look forward to meeting new people and in a small way being part of the amazing work that Operation Smile does
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For further information on Operation Smile log onto www.operationsmile.ie or tel 01-6676659.