Physician Travels on Medical Mission Performs cleft surgeries for free to those without access to health care Interview with Judy Bradford    - Tribune Correspondent No one knows for sure what causes cleft lips or cleft palates. But a local surgeon is certainly doing his part to stop the suffering caused by this facial deformity. Since 2003, Dr. Daniel G. Danahey, a facial plastic surgeon, has done surgery on children and adults with cleft lip or palates in Peru and Ghana. It's part of his work with an organization of physicians and nurses who specialize in cleft lip and cleft palate reconstruction -- and then perform those surgeries for free to those with no other access to medical care. The seed for Danahey's work with Children's Surgery International was planted back in 1999, when he did a fellowship at the University of Minnesota. Several of the physicians at Children's Hospital, Minneapolis, were board members for CSI. They invited him to go on a trip to Arequipa, Peru, in April 2003, where the team did about 90 surgeries in five days. He returned in 2004 (as director of the mission) and again in 2005. About 30 people go on each trip. "We have four surgeons, four anesthesia doctors, four pre-op nurses, four post-op nurses, four floor nurses, a trip organizer and interpreters," said Danahey. "Most of them are from Minnesota (where CSI is based), but a handful are from other states." In January of this year, he traveled with a CSI team to Ghana, where team members performed 105 surgeries and also set up a multidisciplinary cleft clinic. "That means that the child stays in one room with his parents, and each doctor, including a plastic surgeon, an oral surgeon, a pediatric dentist, a speech therapist and an ear, nose and throat doctor comes in to talk to them. There is no need to go separately to all those doctors." In America, where one out of every 1,000 babies is born with the deformity, reconstructive surgery is done soon after birth. Lips are repaired beginning at 3 months of age, the palate at 1 year. Most children qualify for state aid to get the surgery. In Africa, the rate is more like one out of every 1,300. "And in Africa and South America, there are financial issues," says Danahey. "Even if there are good doctors who can do the surgery, the people can't afford it." Some adults come in for the free surgeries, too, having survived emotional scars as well as physical deformities all their lives. "In Peru, there was a young man, about 18. When we were done with the surgery, we gave him the mirror and he said, 'Now I'm going to get myself a wife,'æ" Danahey said. He says the trips, which usually last about a week or two, are a lot of work with just a little time for sightseeing and taking photos, which is one of his hobbies. "You come back tired, but a very rewarded tired. These kids, and some adults can have a normal life. In some of these countries, there is still the belief that the child is born that way because of something bad that the parents did." Here in South Bend, Danahey practices with the Michiana Eye Center & Facial Plastic Surgery, doing skin cancer reconstructions, cleft lip and cleft palate surgery, cosmetic surgery and rhinoplasty (to reshape the nose). "When you go to a Third-World country, you really appreciate what we have here," says the Granger resident. "The CSI work keeps me plugged in to the world, and attentive to what's important in life." Tribune Photo/JANAR STEWART   To learn more about CSI go to their website www.childrenssurgeryintl.org