New Zealand Stories - Operation Restore Hope

This edition of New Zealand Stories follows a group of Australasian and German medical teams who make an annual charity trip to the Philippines. Over six intensive days they examine and operate on roughly 100 children who can't afford medical care — children for whom a single operation can be life-changing. As Auckland plastic surgeon Tristan de Chalain explains, the treatment typically involves fusing together parts of the lips and/or roof of the mouth which failed to join before birth. In this backgrounder, producer Amanda Evans writes about a mission born from kindness. 

For a typically poor child, their access to health care is zero. It’s a dream come true for them. It’s a simple surgery that could just transform a child’s life.

– Operation Restore Hope's New Zealand co-ordinator Hector Gonzales

Key Cast & Crew

Murray Ferguson

Editor

Ivars Berzins

Director, Camera

Amanda Evans

Producer

Jude Callen

Network Commissioner

Carolyn Weston

Research

John Hoffman

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