No Little People
by Barbara Von Der Heydt
World Magazine, December 1996

Confronted with the suffering around us, most people conclude they're not equipped to change the course of human existence. Some wonder if their lives make a difference at all. But throughout all of times, individuals touched by God have stood up, seemingly alone, and out of obedience and love have reached out in the name of Christ to someone hurting. Although not always visible at the moment, the results are sometimes luminous. One life lights another, and another. Francis Schaeffer's idea that there are "no little people and no little places" provides the frame for these portraits of modern-day followers of Christ. These people illuminate the landscape where they stand, reaching out, giving hope where it had been extinguished.

From the pages of the photo album stares a brown-eyed girl with a black pigmented patch of hair on her face. The next page reveals a little girl with a twisted mass of lip, gum, and teeth at the top of her mouth. Yet another displays a girl with no ear. These children were born with disfiguring abnormalities which would have marked them for life, as their parents could not afford corrective surgery. But these children have been given a fresh start.

Every six to seven weeks, teams of 60 to 80 medical and lay volunteers assemble at a surgery center in Encinitas, Calif., outside San Diego, for a marathon of reconstructive surgery on children like these. The surgeons volunteer their time and talents to correct physical deformities, caused by birth defects, accidents, abuse or disease. Dr. Dennis M. Nigro founded Fresh Start Surgical Gifts in 1991, and with his team of skilled physicians has contributed 448 surgeries over the past five years.

When Dr. Nigro did his residence in plastic surgery at University of California, San Diego, he joined the chief of surgery on trips to Mexico, where they performed free reconstructive work on children.

By the age of five, he was suicidal. Singed by the stares and taunts of his young classmates, Robbie would come home from school and retreat to a closet. Robbie's mother was a single parent, trying unsuccessfully to get help for him through Medicaid. Two years and six surgeries later, thanks to Fresh Start, Robbie has a normal head of hair and healthy confidences. He was recently elected president of his fifth grade class. Robbie is one of the children given a fresh start. Born with a congenital birth mark that covered three-quarters of his scalp and a third of his body. Robbie was seriously disfigured. Hair could not grow on his scalp except for a few small tufts.

"In the middle '80s - I was in my own practice by then - I got the idea there were a lot of similar underprivileged cases right around here, in this country," he recalls.

"Serving humanity, you know, is something you don't have to fly to Africa to do."

Dennis Nigro reflects on the dynamics of giving: "I've learned through my Fresh Start experience that the three things we crave most in life - freedom, happiness, and peace of mind - can never be attained unless you are ready to give them away. The work we do is certainly good for those kids who receive our services, but I've got to tell you, it's even better for those of us doing it."