Persons with clef lips and palate, at the weekend, underwent free operations at Rwamagana Hospital.Cleft lip is the most common congenital deformity which occurs in approximately one in 750–1,000 live births in the world.According to the medics, approximately 5 per cent of cleft conditions are associated with a genetic syndrome.The week-long surgeries by a team of highly specialised medics from ‘Help a Child Face Tomorrow’ Kenya, is led by Dr Meshach Ong’uti.According to Ong’uti, the CEO/Co- founder of the charity organisation, free surgeries are mainly given to children with cleft lip and cleft palate who are at least three months old and in good health."We have started operating patients with the deformity...the surgery is important to children with the impairment. We operate and train the local staff at the same time.”He explained that there are many local cases of cleft lips, but parents do not come forward and prefer to keep the children in isolation because of the stigma associated with it.He noted that the patients’ turnout was very low and challenged local leaders to mobilise people to come for the free surgery."We offer what would be very expensive surgery for free. Amazingly, the patients we receive are very few. This is a very high level expertise team we bring from far.Local population should take the chance,” he said.There is only one plastic surgeon in Rwanda working with Kanombe hospital.Dr Christien Mukwesi attached to Kanombe hospital said that the treatment of the patients would be a long process.Tricky deformityHe said the causes of the deformity were not yet known despite the existing hypothesises."Children with the deformity are born every year. It is thus tricky in a way.Scientific findings are also still vague and only mentions environment and genetic factors. There is no causal relationship so far identified, though deficiency of folic acid in pregnancy is also mentioned,” he said.Dr John Bosco Nkuranga, the Rwamagana hospital director, said the hospital and local leaders had started mobilising the population to benefit from the operations.He said the local staff were privileged to work with highly specialised surgeons."I am working closely with office of the Mayor to mobilise people from the cell level to bring patients for free surgery. Ignorance, poor communication, etc, keep patients away,” he said.Jacqueline Uwamaliya, a mother of four, whose child was operated, said that her child’ deformity had made her a common talk in the village."I never felt comfortable whenever I carried my baby in public places. Strangers stared at me and whispered many things. This made me very angry and at times I quarrelled with people unnecessarily. I have now buried the ugly social stigma,” she said.