Hello everyone,

In October 2019 I travelled to Pakistan with the Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal (OPSA). It is a charity that provides free surgical procedures for children and young adults with facial abnormalities, mainly cleft lip and palate.

All the surgeries are fully funded by OPSA which is life changing for families who are unable to afford such treatment. All the members of the medical team are volunteers, which means that none of the money is spent on administrative costs and every penny goes towards the next trip and the children.

To date, the teams have operated on more than 3000 patients. Approximately 100 patients receive surgery at each camp of 10 days duration.

Witnessing first-hand the hard work and dedication delivered by the team was incredibly inspiring. The operations began the day we landed and continued every day from 9am to 9pm.

As a medical student I had the privilege to assist in theatre and on the wards. I also got to see the patients wake up from surgery with a smile on their face when they saw the results, which was truly remarkable. Children with facial abnormalities and unrepaired clefts have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking. The work OPSA does transforms lives, enabling children to have better quality of life.

I am fortunate enough to be returning to Pakistan in March and I am raising money for this cause. I would really appreciate any donation as this is very close to my heart. Every single donation will go a long way, as often a relatively simple operation is all that is needed to make a huge difference to a child’s life.

Thank you so much,

Zehra Majeed

Here are pictures of a few of the children the team have helped;