On June 30, 1998, Hillary Rodham Clinton officially opened the new Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. This 410,000 square foot pediatric hospital with 250 beds is set in 13 landscaped acres of prime real estate in the boom area of Pudong. One of the core services of the hospital will be the cardiovascular service that will provide state-of-the-art care to patients of all ages with congenital heart disease.

CHALLENGES FOR CONGENITAL CARDIAC CARE IN CHINA

The People’s Republic of China has faced particular challenges in the management of congenital heart disease. The most striking problem is the sheer magnitude of the problem. With a population nearly five times that of the United States, it is estimated that more than 125,000 children are born each year with congenital heart disease. During the critically formative years of cardiac surgery in the 60s and 70s, China was passing through the difficult years of the Cultural Revolution. In many centers, cardiac surgery was completely shut down for almost a decade. In Shanghai, for example, Dr. Ding Wen Xian, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Shanghai Second Medical University’s Xin Hua Hospital was sent to rural Anhui Province where he was unable to practice any surgery for many years. On his return to Shanghai, he was unable to obtain any medical journals describing the advances that were happening so rapidly in the field at that time. He had to build all his own equipment including cardiopulmonary bypass machines and oxygenators. The same story was repeated throughout China so that in the early 1980s, many centers had waiting lists of thousands of patients with unoperated congenital heart disease. Through the efforts of many outstanding Chinese groups, often working in joint ventures such as that supported by Project Hope of the United States with education efforts by physicians, nurses, and technicians from the USA and other countries, great strides forward have been made in the last 10 to 15 years. The new Shanghai Children’s Medical Center symbolizes what can be achieved with vision, hard work, and philanthropy.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

Modern congenital cardiac care is truly a collaborative team effort. It requires sophisticated diagnostic and monitoring equipment, highly trained nursing and technical support staff as well as skilled physicians and surgeons. It also requires a complex hospital infrastructure to support these capabilities. State-of-the art care involves accurate diagnosis in the neonatal period or at least in early infancy followed by early primary repair. This approach has been demonstrated without question to minimize the secondary deleterious effects of the cardiac problem. Although in the past, it has been possible to manage pediatric cardiac problems surgically in many small centers, often in conjunction with the management of acquired heart disease in adults, this approach is now clearly suboptimal. Several studies have demonstrated that present-day results of congenital cardiac surgery are closely tied to volume. Furthermore, there is a need for close-at-hand expertise in the management of neonatal and pediatric as well as obstetric problems. The obvious conclusion is that surgery for congenital heart disease should be centralized in a small number of major regional centers. In the United States, for example, this trend has resulted in the emergence of 5 or 6 major centers that are geographically appropriately located to share the management of a large percentage of the children requiring sophisticated care for congenital heart disease. Consolidation of congenital cardiac care into a few major regional centers allows the concentration of a critical volume of patients so that expertise can be developed in areas such as interventional catheter techniques that have become essential adjuncts to surgery. It allows, for example, the cost-effective development of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation service which in many major centers in the USA has become an integral component of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Most importantly, consolidation allows the training of a core of highly trained nursing staff who must play a critically important role in the operating room and in the intensive care unit. Probably, the most important difference that can be observed between more advanced and less advanced systems for delivery of congenital cardiac care lies in the status and independent capabilities of nursing staff. It is essential that nursing staff have a prominent role in administrative decisions as well as in direct patient care.

Apart from nursing staff, another group that must be empowered in order to elevate the care of patients with congenital heart disease is the family. In the past, hospitals in China, and in so many other countries, have felt no need to include families in the hospitalization process. This is extremely traumatic to young families and even more traumatic to young patients. The design of new facilities must consider the importance of having at least one parent close to the child throughout the hospitalization including time in the intensive care unit. With modern ventilation systems and a better understanding of mechanisms of spread of infection, families will increasingly be involved in care in the future.

Although surgical care for congenital cardiac disease should be centralized in a few major regional centers, this does not hold for diagnostic cardiology support. Successful care requires early diagnosis followed by appropriate triage to the regional surgical center. Congenital anomalies requiring repair in early infancy should be referred immediately to the major regional center while in the case of simple septal defects, for example, where cardiology follow-up and judgment regarding the need for and timing of surgery is required, such children may be referred to a secondary level center. Thus, an extensive network of secondary level cardiology centers should be developed and a close working relationship should be maintained with the tertiary surgical center. In New England, for example, Children’s Hospital, Boston, serves as the tertiary level care center for the smaller states of New Hampshire and Vermont, which although they have a combined population of more than 1.5 million, have no congenital cardiac surgical service. Both states however have comprehensive, statewide cardiology services.

In addition to a network of primary pediatricians, secondary level cardiology care and tertiary level cardiac surgical care, an important requirement for the development of sophisticated cardiac care is a neonatal and infant transport team system. With this capability, it is possible for sick neonates to bypass the secondary level care and to be started immediately on prostaglandin E₁ at the primary center even if there is just a suspicion of heart disease. The child is then transported to the tertiary center where both diagnosis and care can be given.

FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

The most serious challenge in the management of congenital heart disease is that it usually strikes young families at a stage in their lives when they are not well equipped financially to deal with the major expense of a cardiac surgical procedure. In Shanghai, the municipal government has had the foresight to recognize this problem and has developed a provincial insurance plan that guarantees coverage for any child under 14 years of age. However, government insurance is unlikely to be the whole answer. It will be important for China to develop systems of commercial insurance so that businesses can offer to their workers the assurance of excellent healthcare. In addition, hospitals will have to learn the art of cost shifting so that they can be in a position to offer care to all those in need, no matter what their capability to pay might be. As Mrs. Clinton put it so aptly in the closing of her book, “It Takes a Village,” “Nothing is more important to our shared future than the well-being of children.”

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Via www.4cthepower.com -

What a great night it was to welcome home the Far*East Movement from their National Party Rock Tour and raise money for the UC Davis MIND Institute and the Little Red Scarf Project. Our little gathering raised $1000 dollars for the research on Autism and collected 4 boxes full of presents for the Children of the Little Red Scarf Project in China. Thank you everyone for your donations!

There were great performances by AJ Rafael, IZ, Lydia Paek, Vudoo Soul, Kevin Ko, Mare Rasing and a surprise performance by FM! The atmosphere was so intimate and relaxed. The artists were able to interact with the audience which was what we wanted to create for this event.

We are especially proud of Kevin Ko who attends Wilson High School and attended our 4C the Power workshop in November. He absolutely blew us away with his rapping skills at the workshop. IZ and 4C gave Kevin a challenge to practice and write a rap, and then perform it. Well that’s what happened at the Acoustic Holiday Party! Kevin performed FM’s Blue Collar Blues with Mare singing the hook.

FM was so surprised and happy with Kevin selecting their song and then performing it so well. Kevin rapped jsplif’s verse and then wrote his own verse. HE WAS AWESOME!!

FM’s Blue Collar Blues by Kevin Ko feat. Mare

Here are some pics from the event:

Tom Ngo, Host	Nancy Nguyen, Little Red Scarf Project	FM Welcome Home
The Stage	East Villagers and the Little Red Scarf Project	UC Davis MIND Institute

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We have 89 children cured of congenital heart disease and plan to keep a strong relationship with these children for as long as possible. We also plan to have summer camps and many different projects for them in the future.  We hope they will give back to their local communities in the future.

Please pick a child or a few to make Christmas Cards. Email eastvillagers@gmail.com the # of the child you are writing cards for so we can keep track of those who still need cards. Language barrier is also an issue.  Letters and Cards can be hand written or electronic.  We have a group of translators to translate these cards to Chinese, and we will attach these translations to the cards. Vice versa.

Please send your cards to 上海市闸北区芷江中路531弄10号402室乙 and ecards/eletters to eastvillagers@gmail.com.

This year (2009), Project Little Red Scarf (小紅巾)  plans to support heart surgery for hundreds of children in Gansu, China. Surgery cost per child is around $4000 or more. $30 USD can provide needed nutrition for one child for a month following heart surgery. Your support of nutrition money can ensure proper recovery of these children who are from very poor families.  Or, you can donate to the general fund to cover the heart surgery cost and help save hundreds of children’s lives in Gansu, China.

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4C the Power is please to present an Acoustic Holiday Party which is being hosted by the Far*East Movement.  Guest performers include AJ Rafael, Vudoo Soul, Lydia Paek, IZ and other special guests.  We are so excited to be collecting small school supplies for the children of the Red Scarf Project in China.  Nancy Nguyen will be taking the school supplies with her when she travels to China after Christmas!

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The Team HBV Collegiate Chapter Conference brings together individuals representing Team HBV chapters worldwide, Jade Ribbon Campaign advocates, and hepatitis B and liver cancer experts. The conference provides a professional forum for Team HBV chapters to share insights, best practices, and strategies to advance hepatitis B outreach, education, and communication. The conference is an excellent opportunity to receive updated hepatitis B news and legislation, network with other chapters, and advance the future of hepatitis B and liver cancer outreach education.

Follow your friends and chapter members throughout the conference! All Team HBV Conference attendees will be sharing their thoughts and experiences LIVE throughout the conference using East Villagers and other social media networks.

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Thanks to the following people and organizations for supporting Birdie for ALL fundraising event:

Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation Matching Funds

Kathy Zhu, Sunnyvale

James and Jenny Chang, Cupertino

Charles Fan, EMC, Shanghai, China

Liang Peng, Cindy, Jessica, San Jose

Sheshagiri Haniyur, Cupertino

Roger Yeung, Burlingame

Stephen Stella, Santa Clara

Hyunjung Kim, San Jose

Qin Yu, Zijue Zhang, Albany, OH

Marian Griffin, San Mateo

Xiaolin and Mingye Zang, Campbell

Shengli Wang, Dragon Life System, Chicago

Yasheng Zhao, Winsor, Canada

Lucy Guo, Jiang Wang, Chicago

Yiqing Guo, San Jose

Bei Qin, Chai Family Foundation, San Jose

Nghiem  Nguyen, San Jose

Yong Liu, Jane Chen, Scarborough, ME

Gong Chen, Chicago

Chaoyi Chen, Durham, NC

Dennis S. D. Chen DDS, Inc.
10430 S. De Anza Blvd., No. 185
Cupertino, CA 95014
Phone: (408) 996-3191

Santa Clara Dental
478 East Santa Clara Street Ste. 103
San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: (408) 280-7070
http://www.sjfamilydentist.com/contact.html

The total fund raised so far is $1,500.  Thank you for helping us reach our goal.

Target to reach is $1,500 (with Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation fund matching the total amount could reach $3,000).

Photos from Birdie for ALL Fundraising Ceremony

Grace Chen, 8 year old golfer, support childhood leukemia research to save other children’s lives.

Grace hands $3000 check to Dr. Gary Dahl to do leukemia research at Stanford University, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Grace, Mom, Dad and Birdie for ALL supporters.

Ping and Amy Chao with Grace, Chao Foundation matched funds for Grace’s fundraising, $1500.

My name is Grace Chen. I am an 8-year-old golfer, and I am starting a donation program to support childhood leukemia research to save other children’s lives. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, affecting more than 3,500 children in the U.S. every year. 250,000 children and adults worldwide are also diagnosed yearly with some form of leukemia. This represents about 2.5% of all people diagnosed with cancer.

In the major junior golf events I play (two world junior golf championships with details below), the Gracious Life Foundation (GLF) and I are reaching out to you for help. You can pledge three or more dollars for every birdie I score or a one-time donation of any amount. Anything you can do for my efforts would be greatly appreciated.

Birdie for ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia) Sponsored by Gracious Life Foundation

All donations will benefit Dr. Gary Dahl’s cutting-edge leukemia research at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Dr. Dahl is a world-renowned oncology expert and pediatrician in leukemia disease research and treatment in the Department of Hematology and Oncology.

All donations will go to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH)
In support of Dr. Gary Dahl’s pediatric leukemia research

The Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation will match funds for any donations made to Birdie For ALL.

Grace’s scores for the following world championships will be posted online daily, so it is easy to follow her results:

Callaway Golf Junior World Golf Championships
July 14-17, 2009
Sycuan Resort, Pine Glen Course
San Diego, CA
http://jwgc.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/jwgc9/event/jwgc91/contest/10/leaderboard.htm

2009 U.S. Kids Golf World Championship
Aug. 6-8, 2009
Pinehurst, NC
http://www.uskidsgolf.com/uskgTournaments/redirect.cfm?locationID=results&type=WC&year=2009&age_group_id=23

Support our Project Birdie for ALL on East Villagers and join our organization: Gracious Life Foundation.

Latest Updates

Grace got a total of 5 birdies (2 at Junior World at San Diego and 3 at US Kids Golf World Championship at Pinehurst, NC).

At San Diego Junior World, she did great on the first round and ranked 3rd place but did not do so well on the 2nd round then pulled back to 15th place among all players.

At Pinehurst US Kids World Championship, she did well on the first and second round (placed tied 3rd and 2nd place individually) but got challenged at 3rd round by best pairing players and hardened green and eventually Grace ended up as tied 6th place among all 48 players from all over the world.

All three rounds updates can be seen on the following blogs at East Villager website:

First round:

http://www.eastvillagers.org/gracec/blog/309/

2nd round:

http://www.eastvillagers.org/gracec/blog/311/

3rd round

http://www.eastvillagers.org/gracec/blog/318/

Overall ranking:

http://www.uskidsgolf.com/uskgTournaments/redirect.cfm?locationID=results&type=WC&year=2009&age_group_id=23

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In celebration of healthy food, healthy living, and healthy communities, 99 Ranch Market and the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University have joined together to create the Jade Ribbon Campaign reusable shopping bag—an environmentally-friendly way to raise awareness about an urgent health concern for Asians.

In an effort to raise awareness about hepatitis B, the major cause of liver cancer, 99 Ranch Market will introduce the Jade Ribbon Campaign reusable bag at all Northern California 99 Ranch Market stores. A kick-off celebration will be held at the Cupertino 99 Ranch Market on Friday, July 24th, where Miss Asian America Queen Louisa Liu will promote the bag and importance of solidarity in building healthy communities. A long time supporter of the Jade Ribbon Campaign, the Miss Asian America Pageant is dedicated to raising awareness about this vaccine-preventable disease that claims the lives of one million people every year.

Alarmed by the fact that 1 in 12 Asians are infected with chronic hepatitis B and 25% of those chronically infected will die of liver cancer or liver failure, 99 Ranch Market is committed to protecting the health of their valued customers. A recognized leader of quality ethnic food, the supermarket chain will give customers the eco-friendly reusable shopping bag, along with educational materials on hepatitis B, with every donation of two dollars or more to the Jade Ribbon Campaign to support hepatitis B education and outreach.

Together, Miss Asian America, the Asian Liver Center and 99 Ranch Market will encourage Asian Americans to unite together to promote the health and future of our community.

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转 眼已是盛夏，孩子们马上就要结束紧张的学习生活进入暑期，我们爱心汇点基金会的“小红巾计划”也进入了高峰期。连日来，前来登记心脏手术的患儿络绎不绝， 当我们问他们为什么不早些来，为什么都要等假期时，孩子们告诉我说：“现在是假期，现在看好了病，等开学就可以继续上学不耽误学习。”我怜惜地看着那些一 脸病容的孩子不由心中感叹：贫困和疾病掩不住童真，更掩不住孩子们求知求生的欲望。

These cases of ill children’s receiving the free treatments demonstrate how the compassion of human beings overpowers the ruthlessness of the illness. It is unfortunate for these twenty-four children (including Ban Wu, Qien-Qien Li, and Yue Li) to have to suffer the illness; however it is very fortunate for them to have received various assistances. Through numerous channels of support such as the Hope Scholarship, these children had attended elementary school without having to pay any tuition. They also had received the open heart surgeries – free of charge, which was made possible by many generous people who donated to the Love Focus Fund of CCHC. Special thanks to those compassionate donors who have brought hope to the living world. I also have high hopes for the children… Wish them a happy and healthy life! May wisdom and diligence bring the children a bright and prosperous future!

疾 病无情人有情。吴盼、李琴琴、李越等24位来到医院；这些孩子面对疾病时是不幸的，但面对爱心时，他们又是幸运的。这些孩子在各界捐建的希望小学中可以不 受学费的困扰，尽情地汲取知识。而同时，他们在爱心人士捐资的“小红巾计划”中可以不受诊费的烦扰，安心地得到最好的治疗。在这里我想再次感谢向“爱心汇 点基金会”捐资的各界爱心人士，感谢他们为生命带来的希望，同时我要由衷地祝福这些孩子：祝愿孩子们顺顺利利，祝愿他们从此健康快乐地地成长，用智慧和汗 水展示生命的光辉与灿烂！

Out of the 24 children, Ban Wu, Qien-Qien Li, and Yue Li drew most of my attention. Ban Wu was very shy and seldom talked. She would not leave the hospital after she was discharged and would not reveal the reason for her reluctance to leave. Holding back her tears, she eventually parted from us after she had a chance to bid farewell to Doctor Cao who performed the surgery on her.

这20多位小朋友中吴盼、李琴琴、李越3位给我的印象最深。

吴盼是位腼腆的女孩，很少说话，出院前怎么也不走，也不肯说为什么，直到见到他的主管医生后，才依依不舍的离去。

吴盼出院前和她的主管医生（曹文峰医生）道别

李琴琴是位14岁的女孩，通常我们救助往往是12岁以下的孩子，但她的家庭经历的磨难另我们吃惊。（我将她姐姐替她写的救助申请拍了照片）。

Qien-Qien Li is a fourteen- year-old girl whose age is above the age limit of the children receiving the open heart surgeries. We normally do not take children who are older than twelve. We were very moved and shocked by the application letter written by Qien-Qien’s sister who described the extreme hardship and tragedy that the Li family had gone through; therefore, we decided to do our best to help ending the sufferance of Qien-Qien. (Below is a photographic copy of the letter.)

李琴琴的救助申请

李琴琴术后恢复中

Yue Li is ten years old and attends fifth grade. He wrote his own application letter describing how the poverty and his illness had driven his mother away and all the sacrifices and hardship that his grandmother and father had to endure to raise him. At the end of the letter, Ban stated that if he was given a chance for a new life, he would donate his organs after his death to help others in sickness so he could return the favor he had received from the Love Focus Fund of CCHC. I was in tears before I could finish reading Ban’s letter. This led me to recall the saying of “When the poor people are smiling, they actually feel like to cry.” by the famous Chinese author Shi-Zhi Yu. Below attached are photographic pages of Ban’s letter.

李越是位10岁的孩子读小学5年级，他的救助申请是他自己一字一句写的，读着他的申请，我的眼睛湿润了，他让我想起中国著名作家于是之先生说的一句话“穷人想哭的时候总是笑的”。我也将他的救助申请拍了照片.

李越的救助申请                 李越在康复中

There are still over 20 children who are undergoing treatment and I will cover their situations and progresses in my next report. To this date, the Little Red Scarf Project has given a healthy life to eighty-six children; this accomplishment is mostly attributable to the generosity and compassion of the Ping & Amy Chao Foundation, the Love Focus Fund of CCHC, Dr. Yi-Fei Dong and all his team members at the Lanzhou People’s Liberation Army General Hospital.  We could not have thanked all these caring people enough!

还有20来位孩子的情况我在下篇中报道，另外2009年里截至到今天已86位小朋友得到了“小红巾计划”救助，我们再次感谢“爱心汇总”基金会；Ping & Amy Chao Foundation (趙修平夫婦基金會)。感谢中国兰州总医院的董逸飞主任及他的团队。

————————————————–

June 11, 2009

A new blog posted by Dr. Min-Kai reported that nine (9) more children in Gansu China had successfully received heart surgery under project ” Little Red Scarf”. See complete details from Blog by Dr. Min-Kai :  www.eastvillagers.org/minkai/blog/129/

————————————————–

This year (2009), Project Little Red Scarf (小紅巾)  plans to support heart surgery for hundreds of children in Gansu, China. Surgery cost per child is around $4000 or more. $30 USD can provide needed nutrition for one child for a month following heart surgery. Your support of nutrition money can ensure proper recovery of these children who are from very poor families.  Or, you can donate to the general fund to cover the heart surgery cost and help save hundreds of children’s lives in Gansu, China.

小紅巾計劃2009年將資助 選自全甘肅省最貧窮家庭的 一百位孩子。每位孩子的手術費大約 4000 多美金。手術後一個月的營養費大約 30 元美金。

Donation Information

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The Good Samaritan Medical and Dental Mission is a non-profit  Christian organization based out of Riverside, CA.  We originally started as a project of the Youth and Young Adult fellowship of the United Methodist Church, but since then, we have diverged and expanded into a free-standing organization that goes to Vietnam every summer to provide medical and dental care.  We are unique from many other organizations in that we provide a full spectrum of health care to the under served populations of Vietnam.  Our full medical capabilities is one of the things we are most proud in.   Some of out services include (but not limited to): medical imaging (ultrasound, xray, and EKG), a full surgical team, a full dental team, a full optometry team, a mobile pharmacy with a full spectrum of pharmaceuticals, a full team of primary care physicians, a full lab time with state of the art equipment, and a team that works with the local church.  Another aspect we our very proud is the transparency of our actions.  When entering Vietnam, we have all the full licenses, paperwork, and permission to do all the procedures we do.   We absolutely do not affiliate ourselves with non-legitimate actions, such as bribing airport security for the entering of materials.  By doing this, we bring honor to our name, to the name of the United States, and to the name of our Jesus Christ.

Being a Christian mission, we heavily depend on our Lord to be the driving force of this mission.  With His grace, we are allowed have the last 10 years full of growth and impact in Vietnam.   In addition of being a Christian mission, we are a medical mission.  This is our main function in Vietnam: to provide medical and dental care to the people of Vietnam.  We are not evangelists, and this is for many reasons.  The biggest reason is, the communist government of Vietnam is still hesitant of the protestant church, and still restricts many our many rights.  Therefore, if we worked under the umbrella of evangelism, we could never enter the borders of Vietnam.   Despite not spreading the Gospel overtly, we have indeed made a big impact for Christianity through our actions.  By affiliating ourselves with the local churches in Vietnam, we are building up the credibility and trust.   Also, by wearing our logo that has a cross on it, we instigate many questions from our patients for our motives in Vietnam.  Only then are we allowed to share that we are here through God’s love.  As a result of these small but important battles, we have begun to change the government’s view on Christianity in general.

There are many testaments in the progress that we have been making in Vietnam through the last 10 years.  For example. for the past few years we have been invited to the the Hue Medical College to create a medical residency for Emergency Medicine.  This was after gaining the trust of the local government and the Ministry of Health after years of doing such great medical work in Vietnam.  So every spring, our mission sends a group of professors from various universities such as UCSF, UCLA, UC Davis, Loma Linda have collaborated in creating a residency program in Vietnam using the the latest techniques and theory of our time.   Another victory that we have achieved happened after the summer of 2008, when we were broadcasted in a special 1-hour documentary on Vietnam’s premier television network, HTV.  In the documentary, the writers wrote about how a group of selfless student volunteers, with the partnership of a large team of medical professionals, has showed Vietnam so much genuine love through their actions.   Lastly, we are currently putting our plans into action to build The Good Samaritan Medical and Dental Institute–a state of the art medical center that will be built in Nha Trang Vietnam.  This Institute will be a beacon of light in Vietnam, providing free medical care to those who can not afford it.  The plans have materialized in full swing already.  As of summer 2008, we have enlisted a group of contractors, architectures, and medical professionals who will be helping us make this dream a reality.

All of these victories have not been possible without great help, and a series of miracles.  First and foremost, we owe all our success to our Father in heaven–without him, we would just be another “good idea.”  Also I would like to credit the founder of this mission, Dr. Vien Doan and his family.  There are many dreamers in the world, but few materialize their dreams into reality–Dr. Vien is certainly the latter.  Another person who gets much credit is Dr. John Branch, who has also been with the mission from the beginning.  Dr. Branch is currently serving as the medical director for GSMDM.   Last but not least, a great part of the success of the mission lies in the selfless loving hearts of the student medical volunteers that come to Vietnam every year.  It is though their sacrifices (money, time, and strength) that this mission still is what it is today.

The future of the mission is bright.  Over the years we have treated tens of thousands of patients in Vietnam, and have operated a great deal too.  However, there is still more to be done.  There are still thousands  of more of sick people and hundreds of more persecuted of the churches.  I just want to take a minute to ask that you the reader would join our cause.  Prayer is one of the most important things you can do for us.  Also, donations go a long way.  I just received our annual report a few weeks ago.  It turns out that only 3% of our budget goes to overhead costs–the rest goes to the patient in Vietnam.  This is an astonishing low statistic, and it proves that out heart is for the people in VIetnam.  We have sponsored many heart surgeries in Vietnam, which is only about $2,000 USD.  Where can you get a heart surgery for that low of a price in the U.S.?  If you feel compelled to be a part of this mission please click on the link provided below, and it will redirect you to our home page.   Thank you for your time, and God bless.

“Changing Lives, one at a time”

Ben Khuc

GSMDM, Secretary

http://gsmedicalministry.org/

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July 2004 – I am sitting in an old building located deep in the remote villages of Vietnam, my native country to which I have returned for the first time since 1991 as part of the Good Samaritans Medical Ministry.  As I begin to place the blood pressure cuff on the arm of the elderly woman sitting across from me, I ask why she is here today to see the doctor.  In a sorrowful voice, she replies, “Son, my entire body is in pain, especially my back because of the hard labor that I do everyday in the fields.”  As I listen to her story, I am filled with a flood of emotions. I know that the only way to relieve her pain effectively is to have her cease working in the fields, but this is an option she cannot afford with children depending on her. There is no such thing as a retirement plan for Vietnam’s elders, which means for this woman there is no escape from the pain and sorrow.  While my time in Vietnam turned out to be one of the most emotionally, physically, and intellectually challenging times of my life, it was also the most inspiring and fulfilling, confirming the depths of my desire to become a physician, so that I might help to provide the care of which the people of my home country are so desperately in need.

The goal of our Christian missionary team was to bring hope and healing to those who have none.  During my travels across Vietnam, I was able to help treat over 5,000 patients in a very short period of time.  The weather was hot, the roads were anything but smooth, and there was little time to rest, but what made the hardships worthwhile were the faces of the people we met each day who had literally traveled hours on foot to our clinic with the hope that we would be able to help them in some small way. Their perseverance, optimism, and sense of human dignity in the face of almost unimaginably adverse circumstances bolstered my flagging spirits, and I found my frustration and sadness transformed into resolve.

During my time there, I witnessed levels of pain and suffering for which I was totally unprepared, but I also experienced the power of human connection and felt the rewards that come from giving freely of oneself in the service of others.  I left with a renewed sense of determination and purpose, knowing for sure that I have been called to the field of medicine.  It has become my deepest conviction to learn the discipline so that I can return once again to Vietnam, armed with the skills and knowledge to make a real difference in the lives of my native countrymen and women.  Vien Doan, D.O.,  Director of The Good Samaritans who I’ve known for the past few years, had a vision.  His mission statement was “For the needy will not always be forgotten.  Psalms 9:18” While I am unsure exactly where I will be ten years from today, I am certain that the needy will not have been forgotten in my heart and that I will have given, and will continue to give, all that I have to help them, one family at a time.

© Peter for East Villagers Non-Profit Community News, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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