11 children in Sierra Leone have a reason to smile after they received sponsorships for corrective surgeries aimed at correcting cleft lips, burns and deformations.

The surgeries were sponsored by Chelsea and Germany defender Antonio Rudiger in partnership with charity project, BigShoe.

Rudiger, whose mother is originally from Sierra Leone, paid tribute to his African roots and expressed his delight that he was able to give back to the country.

“Last week I got the message from the medical team that everything went fine – thanks a lot for the amazing support to Dr. Jürgen Arndt and the interplast team again. And one more time all the best to the kids & their families.” Rudiger wrote on Twitter.

BigShoe stands for a worldwide growing network of football and sports fans, helping poor children with, among other things, life-changing medical operations.

Other notable footballers to be part of the project are German duo Mesut Özil and Philipp Lahm and France's World Cup winner Paul Pogba.

Source: Big Shoe, Antonio Rudiger Twitter account