The programme ‘Thien Nhan and friends’ was resumed in October after 2 years of hiatus due to COVID-19. Nearly 200 children with genital malformations in the North - Central - South regions were received free examinations and surgeries at Ho Chi Minh City-based Children's Hospital 2, the Da Nang Maternity and Paediatrics Children's Hospital and the Ha Noi- located National Children's Hospital and Viet Nam - Germany Friendship Hospital.

The programme ‘Thien Nhan and friends’ was resumed in October after 2 years of hiatus due to COVID-19.

Since 2011, the programme has been organised by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation to fund surgeries for poor Vietnamese children along with travel costs and medical supplies.
Aimed at organising genital reconstruction surgeries for Vietnamese children with severe urological birth defects and rare urological conditions, the programme was originally established to help the ‘Miracle Baby’ Thien Nhan, an infant boy whose genitals and leg were cut off and severely mauled by animals after being abandoned in a jungle at birth.

Under this year’s programme, in about 3 weeks, the world's leading doctors in genitourinary and urology from Italy, the U.S. and Viet Nam performed genital reconstruction surgeries as a way to give the patient the opportunity to return to normal life.

In order to ensure the opportunity for treatment for pediatric patients, doctors organised online examinations through screens connecting Vietnamese hospitals with many parts of the world. When the expert team of Roberto De Castro, a world-famous surgeon in pediatric surgery who first operated on Thien Nhan in 2004, along with his colleagues returned to Viet Nam, the smile of hope returned to the faces of fathers and mothers whose children unfortunately had genital defects.

Journalist Tran Mai Anh, founder and coordinator of the programme ‘Thien Nhan and friends’ shared: "On the journey to find smiles for unfortunate fates, I had suffered fatigue, and many times, was exhausted from busy schedules or long travel distances. But what makes us more highly concerned is how to have enough resources and money for free-of-charge examinations and surgeries for so many children. It seems that this concern has prompted us to work harder and harder so that every day 24 hours should not pass in vain. Instead, as each day closes, we can be proud that there are more glimmers of hope for the children there”.

Through following dozens of children joining in the programme over many years, the innocent, carefree eyes, optimistic smiles and full of vitality of the pediatric patients have left a deep impression on the programme’s organisers. Helping children come out of the shell of inferiority to understand that each person has their own values, not the responsibility of the doctors or program founders alone, but rather community connection.

Mai Anh hopes to connect with sponsors and benefactors to light up hope for each life, each unfortunate fate. People will understand more about the happiness of giving and receiving as contacting boy Son Bo Xanh, who underwent about 25 surgeries at many different hospitals on the journey looking for a miracle or Ko Ho ethnic boy who loses his true gender. Let’s sharing your resources to see happiness shining in each unhappy life and that must be the happiness of sharing.

The story of Mai Anh and her adopted son Thien Nhan is really inspiring. Over the past years, hundreds of Vietnamese children have received surgeries.

This year’s journey has received great support and high applause by a large number of people, knowing that there are many people who are still following every step of this journey to create new miracles on the way to find the perfect body for their beloved children.

Reporting by HIEN LUONG - Translating by A.THU