These are a few of the nearly 350 children who are currently in the Operation Healthy Program awaiting surgery. Most of these patients have already had an assessment performed. They are simply now awaiting the necessary funding for their surgeries. Help us end the wait for them and their families by donating online to Operation Healthy Heart today.

Tran Le Ngoc Binh was born into a poor family in Quang Nam Province.  His parents are small farmers and earn about $138 per year. They work extra jobs as grass-cutters, earning an additional $2 a day. Their income is unstable and is barely enough to cover the family’s daily expenses. Binh is 14 years old and suffers from Atrial Septal Defect and Pulmonary Artery Hypertension.  Doctors from Hue Central Hospital recommend that he receive surgery to save his life but the sum is far beyond Binh’s family’s means. His parents have approached East Meets West and Operation Healthy Heart for support.

Dang Ngoc Vu, born in 2006, is an only child who lives with his parents in a small house on farm land.  His parents raise vegetables and pigs. Vu’s father is a former soldier who now works as hired labor, earning an annual income of about $300.  Vu’s mother previously farmed her land, but has stayed at home since Vu’s birth and diagnosis of his heart condition. Doctors from Hue Central Hospital have recommended open-heart surgery to save Vu’s life. Although his parents have managed to save or borrow $600 thus far, and have approached East Meets West for further financial assistance to save their baby’s life.

Pham Thi Nhu Hien was born into a poor farming family. Hien’s mother has been suffering from spinal column disease for the past seven years and is unable to work. Her parents sometimes must borrow money from the bank or relatives to pay the university tuition fees of Hien’s elder sisters, who are good students. Hien also has been recognized as a “good” student for the last nine years. Although Hien’s parents have known of her heart condition for many years, they have not had the funds to treat her, and her health is worsening. The cost of surgery, which she needs to save her life, is too great for her parents’ to handle.  They have approached East Meets West for help with the rest of the funds to pay for their daughter’s surgery.

Nguyen Khanh Trong has suffered much in his short life.  His father passed away two years ago in a traffic accident while one his way home from work. Since then, his mother has supported the family by farming rice and raising pigs, earning about $63 per year. Unfortunately, the harvested rice is not enough to feed the family, so one of Trong's elder sisters was forced to drop out of school to earn extra money as a maid. The doctors at Hue Central Hospital discovered in early 2006 that Trong, age 11, suffers from Ventricular Septal Defect and Pulmonic Stenosis, and have recommended that he receive open-heart surgery to save his life. His mother has approached East Meets West and Operation Healthy Heart for support via an introduction by the Quang Tri Provincial Committee for Population, Families, and Children.  

Tran Thi Bich Ngoc was born in 2003 and suffers from ventricular septal defect, a congenital heart condition.  Ngoc and her family are officially recognized by the local authorities as “living in poverty.”  Her young parents are farmers that earn only $125 per year. Ngoc’s father also works as a sub-mason, but this job is unstable and he suffers from bronchitis. Ngoc’s mother must stay at home to take care of their two children and cannot add to the family’s earnings. Ngoc’s father’s income is not enough to feed the family on a daily basis; sometimes Ngoc’s mother must go without eating in order to feed her children. The family does not own a home or any other assets; they instead live in a grandfather’s house. Although Ngoc’s parents have known of her heart condition since her birth, they could not afford pay for treatment and must instead watch her become weaker each day. Recently, her condition had become so dire that she was hospitalized at Hue Central Hospital. Ngoc’s attending physicians declared that she needed surgery in order for her to survive and live a healthy life. They approached East Meets West for assistance. 

Do Thi Long is an orphan who suffers from a congenital heart defect. Long’s mother passed away when she was involved in a motorbike accident on her way to the market to sell fish. Four months later, Long’s father passed away for still-unknown reasons. With both parents gone, Long’s older brother had to drop out of school in 9th grade to earn money to support himself and his ill sister.  
After her father’s death, Long’s heart condition deteriorated and she was taken by her aunt to Hue Central Hospital to be examined. There, doctors recommended that she receive surgery to replace two heart valves.  This operation is vital for Long’s survival but far too costly for her family to afford, and thus they turned to East Meets West and Operation Healthy Heart for support.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen's family is very impoverished. In their dirt home, the normal possessions of family life in Vietnam – a motorbike, television, even an electric rice cooker – are no where to be found. In 1997 Tuyen’s father was seriously ill with a high fever but because the family did not have enough money for treatment in a timely manner, he ended up becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Consequently, Tuyen’s mother became the sole breadwinner in the family. The income generated from the land the family has for planting rice is only $113 per year. In 2002, when Tuyen was 2 years old, she first showed symptoms of a heart condition. She needs surgery soon if she is to survive but the cost of surgery is clearly beyond what Tuyen’s family can afford to pay. They have turned to EMW and Operation Healthy Heart for assistance.

 

Vo Thi Hong Nhung lives with her family in a small house with a tin roof and cement floor. Her parents are both farmers who possess a small plot for planting rice. This quantity of rice is only enough for them to eat for 6 months. To supplement the family’s income for the rest of the year, Nhung’s parents work as hired laborers. Nhung suffers from a serious congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot (T4F). There is no way she can survive without an operation, but her family does not have the money to pay for one. Nhung’s family has turned to EMW in grateful hope that they might be able to help save Nhung.

 

For more info
Contact Laura Ward at laura@eastmeetswest.org or call 1-800-561-3378.