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Help orphan Khahn from Vietnam

Cleft children from all over the world

08-09-2021

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Khahn lives in an orphanage, 110 km from Hanoi. His parents are not known to the foster staff at the orphanage. That Khahn was born with a large cleft lip could be one of the reasons why he was abandoned. Now, Khahn’s foster mother Hien takes loving care of the little one. But she is very worried: will Khahn ever be able to have a surgery for his cleft, or will he have to suffer from his malformation all his life?

When Khahn is 16 months old, he receives an unexpected visitor: A man from the neighborhood who has heard about the cleft child in the orphanage. The man himself was born with a cleft lip and palate and establishes contact between the orphanage and our partner organization OSCA in Hanoi. Hien immediately makes an appointment with our surgeon Dr. Ai.

Dr. Ai heads one of our two projects in Hanoi. Orphans are often among his patients. Unfortunately it still happens that the children are abandoned by their parents because of their malformation.

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Foster mother Hien waits with Khahn for his surgery.

Khahn on his way to the operating room.

Our little patient before his surgery

Khahn lives in this orphanage.

Dr. Ai visits Khahn at the orphanage a few weeks after the surgery.

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Khahn is lucky: He is strong and healthy enough for Dr. Ai to be able to operate his lip right away. The next step will be to close his cleft palate. We are grateful to be able to give children like Khahn free treatment and thereby make their lives a little better.

Please consider giving more cleft children like Khahn a better future with your donation. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support!

DCKH Cleft children from all over the world From our projects Videos

DCKH

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Cleft children from all over the world

Why we should no longer call cleft lip a “harelip”

People with cleft lip and palate often consider terms such as "harelip" or their many equivalents in different languages as demeaning and insulting. Nevertheless, these words persist in everyday language use. Read about the background behind these terms and the importance of how to talk about clefts and people with cleft.

The incredible story of cleft baby Maui from Colombia

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Lucas likes bus rides. But he has a long journey ahead of him this time: he has to travel 500 km with his parents to get surgery for his cleft lip and palate from our partner organization Ayninakuna in Cochabamba, Bolivia. But a big disappointment awaits them: During the obligatory pre-surgery COVID-19 test, Lucas tests positive. His surgery is postponed until he has recovered. But all ends well: after his recovery, his surgery finally goes without a hitch.

From our projects

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In late March 2022, after long preparations, many delays and problems overcome, our new project in the Horn of Africa region finally kicked off with our first mission to treat cleft children in Garowe in northern Somalia. It was an exciting occasion not only for our many patients who get to start a new life without cleft, but also for us. Many members of our international aid network came together to make the project possible.

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Videos

Impressions from Bolivia

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Video: Impressions from Pakistan

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