June 1: International Children's Day

"Children Helping Children"

We have recently added another program: Community Outreach Program. At TCH we do not exclusively work with orphanages but also with the community in providing funding and education. The World Health Organization estimates that each year in China there are approximately 35,000 children born with a cleft lip/palate. Parents often abandon their child with a cleft because they cannot afford the cleft surgery their child so desperately needs. At TCH we are willing to provide funding for a child to receive cleft surgery if the parents are willing to keep their child. We also go out into the community and through schools and churches help educate children and adults about clefts and other medical and health care issues relating to women and children.

Children's Home Program

We welcomed three new children to TCH.

"He" is two years old, weighs 8.8 kg and has a heart defect. (left)
"You" is eleven months old, weighs 5.7 kg and has a heart defect. (center)
"Hu" is two months old, weighs 4.9 kg and has a heart defect. (right)

Medical Care Program

Through our Foster Care Program we recently had our first "Friends in the Park" outing. Foster children, foster mothers, staff and volunteers of TCH traveled to Qi Feng Park in Dongguan. The children enjoyed chasing bubbles, feeding the fish, wearing their new sunglasses, eating snacks and receiving new clothes. Everyone had a fun time.

Community Outreach Program

The cook at our staff dormitory, when going to the market to purchase food to prepare for the daily meals, noticed a young mother walking in the village with a cleft baby. After talking to the young mother on several occasions, the cook shared their story with Katrina, assistant director of TCH. Deeply moved by their story Katrina set out to meet the young mother and her baby.

After being invited into their hot one-room apartment, the young mother shared this story with Katrina:

After several years of dating, this young lady age 22, and her boyfriend age 23, decided to get married, even though their mothers did not approve. They left their hometown in Guangzi Province in December 2004 and moved to Dongguan in search of work. Both found jobs in a
furniture factory. The young lady eventually became pregnant and eight months later returned to her hometown to give birth. On January 16, 2007, she gave birth to a 2.8 kg baby boy with a cleft lip/palate. In some rural, poor areas of China people believe that having a baby with a deformity is a sign of bad luck to the family and that this will cause them to lose "face" in the community. Therefore, in this situation as in many others, very few family members or friends in the hometown were told about the baby's birth. Being shunned by her family and friends the
young mother and baby traveled to Dongguan to rejoin her husband.

When Katrina inquired about their plans for their son the young mother stated that she and her husband wanted to keep their son but did not have the money for the surgery that he needs. "We will wait until he can walk and hopefully my mother-in-law will be willing to help take care of the baby. I will return to work so my husband and I can make enough money to pay for our son's surgery when he is four years old."

This is the age the doctor in her hometown told her the baby could have the surgery however, this information was incorrect.

Recommended time to have cleft lip surgery is when a child is four months old and cleft palate surgery is 12-18 months.

Katrina shared with the young mother that we admired the parents for their willingness to not abandon their son with a cleft and that we were willing to help fund their son's cleft lip surgery.

The next step was for the young mother to talk to the young father and then for Katrina to return and talk to the young mother and young father together. Several days later when Katrina returned to the one room apartment, the father was very skeptical of us. He did not trust us because he could not believe that a "stranger" would want to help his son.

The couple has very little education and even though Katrina provided written materials and explained to them about clefts they still could not comprehend clefts and clefts surgery. So Katrina decided to offer to take them to the hospital and meet Dr. Li, the cleft surgeon.

A week later we took the young couple and their baby to the hospital to meet Dr. Li. As I sat there and listened as Dr. Li talked to the parents and examined their son, I was very impressed with how much time Dr. Li took to talk to the young parents and the compassion he showed to

them. Dr. Li was very reassuring and the couple decided that they were willing for their child to have cleft lip surgery. In fact, the young mother was ready to admit her son to the hospital right then.

Later that night I returned to the hospital and ran into Dr. Li. I told him thank you again for spending time talking to the young couple earlier in the day and he said "I like to help others." Dr. Li is Chinese however he did spend time at medical school in California and speaks a little English. I said to Dr. Li, "we are partners working together to help children in China," and he just smiled.

On June 4, Jian was admitted to the hospital and on June 6 had successful cleft lip surgery.

Jenny's Journal

Each child has a story and I would like to share with you Ni's story.

Ni was born October 11, 2006 in Guangdong Province with a cleft lip/palate. Three days after Ni was born, she was abandoned at the front gate of a hospital and was taken by police to a nearby orphanage.

December 19, at two months old and weighing 4.5 kg, Ni was welcomed to TCH. Several weeks after Ni had been in our Home she began twitching and had a high temperature. Ni was taken to Houjie Hospital and then rushed by ambulance to Guangdong People's Hospital where she was diagnosed with encephalitis, a bacterial infection of the brain. Ni was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

The following day when I returned to the hospital, my heart ached as I looked at Ni lying in the hospital bed. She had an IV in her head, feeding and oxygen tubes in her nose, and a heart/lung monitor on her foot. Through it all Ni managed to smile. I knew then that Ni was a fighter and would survive. Sixteen days later Ni was dismissed; Ni and I were both smiling as we left the hospital that day.