Hoa, a young mother, knew intimately the stigma of a cleft lip as she had been born with one herself. Therefore, she eagerly sought help from ReSurge International when her son Hoai was also born with a cleft lip.
Hoa and her son live with a mountain tribe in a remote area of Vietnam. She traveled a long way to have Hoai seen and waited patiently for him to be evaluated. To her delight, Hoai qualified for surgery. What she did not expect was that, in the process of screening little Hoai, our surgeons noticed that she too could benefit from a surgical revision of her cleft repair. Hoa had selflessly brought her son in with only his future in mind, and now her life also would be renewed.
Hoa and Hoai represent just two of the 500 surgeries performed by us each year in Vietnam, where per capita spending on health care is just $95 annually. It is rare to perform surgeries on both mother and child. In this situation, we were greatly honored to do so.
