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.