TSHIKAMBE - A grade-11 learner at Khangale Secondary, Lufuno Mandavha (17), can smile again. This is possible after a successful operation early in May at the Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa) Oral Health Centre, to repair the protruding gum that deformed her face.

Mandavha, who was facing a bleak future, was assisted by Medunsa after Dovhani Nekhumbe, a student at the same institution, had consulted another student doctor, Phathelani Nefale, after reading a report about Mandavha’s plights.

Mandavha had a twisted face with a bulging gum protruding from the side of her mouth since 1999. Both Mandavha and her family lost hope about her future, until a Sunday paper published a story about her plight.

Since her successful operation, which saw Mandavha’s deformed face regaining its normal condition, Mandavha has become the talk of her village.

Her schoolmates and community members expressed shock about Mandavha’s miraculous recovery of her normal face. “We are still amazed how Lufuno (Mandavha) regained her natural facial format. At first, when she disappeared from home, we thought her parents might have been consulting a strong traditional healer.

“Now we are amazed to learn that she had just been operated on by medical doctors, the last place we thought she could get help,” said Tendani Mudau, a community member.

Mandavha confirmed that, for the first time in her life, she is now getting proposals from boys, who are desperate to win her heart since her beautiful face was revealed to them. Speaking to a journalist, while flashing her smile, Mandavha, a bright learner at her school, said she was not going to concern herself with boys until she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a medical doctor.