Little Red Scarf is in Lanzhou, Gansu province and provides financial support and encouragement to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care and help the children sustain a healthy lifestyle.

It had been 2 months since we visited Ga Lan. We were concerning about the family and so I called on her again today. According to Ga Lan, she was fine and does not take medicine now. Her baby is 6 months old. The goat produces more milk now, but it seemed not enough for a growing baby. The weather will soon become warmer and the goat will have more to eat. We hope the situation will be better. 

Ga Lan said that she still remembered when we visited her in the winter. She still feels guilty that she did not have enough space for us to spend the night in her home.  She is moved by the support she has received from her donors. She hope to see us all again.

We understood Ga Lan’s situation. There was not enough space for us to stay at her house. We hope she will be better and the goat will grow stronger. 

Original article written by Ying Guan, translated by Maggie Li and edited by Yanyan Zhang

Longwan Caring Home is located in Dahua County, which was listed as one of the poorest counties in Guangxi Province. Longwan Caring Home is a big family consisting of orphans, single parents, and abandoned children. The normal expense of the Home is sustained by plantation, breeding, and small business.

Children from Longwan are growing up every year and our caring services are also getting better every year. Every activity helps us learn more about them. We call these people our mountain people, because there are so many that come from the mountains to receive care. 

During the 2014 Chinese New Year holiday, 7 children visited the mountains with a guide, teachers and volunteers. 

Walking to Nongwei village, we saw a child carrying a big basket on his back. There were beer bottles in the basket. We inferred that mountain people drink a lot. 

Though it was cold, children living in the mountains live happily, but tenaciously. The children were playing and chasing each other around and growing up naturally. This is a big difference between the children living in the mountains and those living in the cities.

Though they are poor, they still preserve the traditions of celebrating Lunar New Year. They had hopes and prayers, expecting a good harvest in the coming year. People living in the mountains have steady belief. They keep working throughout their lives. There are many old men who are nearing 70 but are still as strong as ever.   

We visited Meng Jinchun’s family. She was feeling better after suffering from a sickness. She was cooking. She said she would be livelier if she had not been sick. In the mountains, children often expose their wild sides. They love to climb mountains and trees. 

Meng Guanyuan and Meng Guangui lost their father when they were quite young. Their mother left the children and got remarried, so they do not have a good relationship. We visited their mother and their mother had 3 children after she remarried. Her current husband drinks a lot. With tears in her eyes, she explained to us why she left the children all those years ago. 

Original Article Written by Banai Hua, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

People with leprosy are sent to isolated villages where they are abandoned and forgotten by society. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry has a special place in its heart for these people and organizes groups of volunteers to travel to villages plagued with leprosy in order to provide medical, living, and psychological assistance. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry is located in Kunming, Yunnan.

Dear Transparent Fish Fund,

My name is Mao Jingzhong and I am a rehabilitation patient at Aziying Rehabilitation Village near Kunming. On behalf of all rehabilitation patients I would like to thank Transparent Fish Fund for buying a three-wheeled motorcycle for us, solving our transportation problem to and from the town. 

We live on the mountaintop of Aziying and is the only leprosy village around. In order to purchase goods, we have to go to a town 5 km away. We mostly walk over, and because of our disabilities, we often walk for a whole day. Not only do we waste a lot of time walking to and from town, but also when we come back, the ulcers on the heels would worsen.  Later, when people from other villages began to plant and bake tobacco here, the road became wider and more cars came around. Sometimes we would hitchhike to go into town, but when we come back we still have to walk. After hearing of our situation, Dr. Liang Ping became very concerned. Last year, with the help of TFISH and Mr. and Mrs. Chao, we were able to buy a three-wheeled motorcycle. Dr. Liang and I went together to the auto market in Kunming and bought it. 

Because I am relatively more familiar with machines and because my eyesight is okay, I usually drive everyone into town to buy goods. Local villagers saw me and thought I became wealthy and bought a three-wheeled motorcycle. After hearing my explanation, people were very touched and they thought that Mr. and Mrs. Chao were great people and that TFISH is a great organization. Other rehabilitation patients from the leprosy village were particularly touched after hearing of this donation. They all believe that TFISH is an organization that really helps people and they tell others about how great Dr. Liang and TFISH are.

There are still four rehabilitation patients here. Last year, one patient passed away. I am the youngest here (at age 58). We are all very thankful to Dr. Liang and her friends, who come and visit us often. They give us medicine and shots, send us clothes and blankets, and also send us rice and other goods. Now they even solved our transportation need through TFISH. We sincerely express our thanks to our friends in the U.S. We are so thankful for your help and welcome you all to visit Aziying Rehabilitation Village!

Thanks again Transparent Fish Fund!

Mao Jingzhong from Aziying Rehabilitation Village

January 9, 2014

Original article written by Mao Jingzhong, translated by Allison Zhang, EV Intern

People with leprosy are sent to isolated villages where they are abandoned and forgotten by society. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry has a special place in its heart for these people and organizes groups of volunteers to travel to villages plagued with leprosy in order to provide medical, living, and psychological assistance. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry is located in Kunming, Yunnan.

Dear TFish Foundation and American friends, 

We are lepers living in Yangquangou village of Yiliang county. The village is 20 kilometers away from the county and 17 kilometers away from ancient town. The nearest village to us is Muyang village. There are 12 lepers and 5 children. Sometimes, another 3 lepers would come to the village, so there are total 20 people living in the village. Villagers avoid us. They are afraid of our illness. People seldom visit us, except doctors. We work and live within the village and seldom go out.

We would like to thank Liang Ping and other domestic and overseas friends who came to visit and treat us. They also gave us living goods and helped to clean and cut hair for us. They solved a lot of problems for us. They came and did close exchanges with us, which influenced our neighbors and relatives who started to visit and talk with us and would not be afraid of us. We were deeply moved and admire Liang Ping and her team. People here took their visiting day as a festival. They would came to the village early and waited the team with us together. We would like to take a hot water shower as people in the city. When Doctor Liang Ping knew our wish, she promised to work with it.

We did not expect our wish achieved soon. We later knew that TFish, Mr. and Mrs Zhao and some American friends raised money for us. In order to have a safe and firm bath room, the house was made of reinforced concrete structure, while the other houses in the village were made of bricks directly. American friends and Doctor Liang Ping came and instructed the construction in person. The house was constructed in high quality with their leadership. The solar-powered bath room has been operating smoothly so far, which brought great convenience to us. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to TFish, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao and American friends for your unselfish help. 

Thank you again!             

Wu Pingxi and other people from Yangquangou village of Yiliang county. 

February 9, 2014. 

Original article translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

Through the “Little Red Scarf” plan, Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation, founded by technology expert Ping Chao and his wife Amy Chao (Li Hongli), helps children living with congenital heart disease in the Province of Gansu. Recently, the foundation hosted a charity art show with artist He Yuanming to help seven-year-old child “Hongyan (alias)” have enough money to undergo surgery for congenital heart disease. Hongyan will be the 1,000th child helped by Little Red Scarf. The foundation announced on the 18th that Hongyan’s surgery was successful and that surprisingly, she could already walk only a few days after the surgery. In the future, the foundation will continue this support plan to “not only help the sick children stand up again, but also to help their impoverished families rise once more.”

Hongyan is from rural Gansu and suffers from the most severe form of congenital heart disease. Because of a lack of oxygen, her fingers are bent and her entire body is tinted purple. She also cannot walk and can only stand for a few minutes, spending most of her time squatting or being carried around by her family. Her father already passed away and her family lives in poverty. She was also projected to have a hard time recovering from the surgery. The incredible and complete success of her surgery is also a milestone for the Foundation. 

Mr. Chao points out that because Hongyan could scarcely stand before the surgery, everyone was expecting that she would need a period of recovery time before she can walk. No one expected that she was able to walk immediately after the surgery. The foundation’s representatives in Gansu immediately sent a video of her walk, making everyone enthusiastic and proud at the same time of her progress. Mr. Chao says, in the future the foundation will continue to help children with congenital heart disease both by funding their surgeries and through the “Care Plan” that helps their families transcend poverty.

Mr. Chao explains that after reaching the milestone of helping the 1,000th child, the foundation will reach even poorer rural areas to find sick children who are also most in need. They will also initiate the Care Plan to support non-medical needs of the families. For example, the foundation will loan money to Hongyan’s family to help them purchase an ewe so they can start a small business, which will alleviate their poverty.

Many thanks to Dr. Chung Truong of Sahaya International for writing the following thank you. We feel very lucky to have the opportunity to support an organization like Sahaya International Inc (USA). We applaud them for the great work they are doing in Vietnam: building houses, providing scholarships, and making it possible for children to go to school. 

"Deepest gratitude to the Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation and to the Transparent Fish Fund for their support and friendship!!!!

Sahaya International's Vietnam program has been awarded a $10,000 in grant by the Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation (www.chaofoundation.org) and Transparent Fish Fund (www.tfishfund.org/sahaya.html) .The grants will provide much needed financial resource to continue our humanitarian mission of providing shelter to the impoverished families and rebuilding of a damage bridge in Kien Giang, Vietnam. On behalf of the precious children and families in rural Vietnam, we would like to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to The Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation and The Transparent Fish Fund for their kindness and generosity. The Chao Foundation $7,000grant will be used to provide homes for seven families and $3,000 to help rebuild a broken and dangerous bridge for a whole village. The Transparent Fish Fund will give Sahaya an opportunity to have their events matched. May Sahaya International, The Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation, and The Transparent Fish Fund continue their humanitarian friendship to help those in need."

People with leprosy are sent to isolated villages where they are abandoned and forgotten by society. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry has a special place in its heart for these people and organizes groups of volunteers to travel to villages plagued with leprosy in order to provide medical, living, and psychological assistance. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry is located in Kunming, Yunnan.

2014 is the Chinese Lunar Calendar year of the horse. It is said that in this year is is easier for people to be successful. With help from TFISH, leprosy patients in the Volcano Village are going to receive more attention. In 2014, our visits have gone very well. We visited four leper villages. On January 10th there were two teams who visited the villages. One American team was led by Liang Ping. Another was led by a Shalom volunteer and they visited the Yangquangou Village.

1)      Visiting the Yangquangou leper village

On January 11, 3 teachers from Kunming International School and 14 volunteers visited Yangquangou village. They brought gifts to 10 lepers, Baocai, his sister and disabled people living around. Huoshui, a teacher from the international school helped to repair electrical appliances, install locks and handles and fix water pipes. The volunteers cut hair for the lepers. The following photos show the activities.

2)      Visiting the Volcano village of Chuxiong Prefecture.

TFish bought rice for 20 lepers last year. During Chinese New Year, Shalom raised money and visited the villages on January 9 and 10. They brought greetings and gifts (rice and other goods) to 20 lepers and their family members. The volunteers also provided medical services for the lepers.

3)      Second Visit to Volcano village.

Thanks to increased publicity from TFISH, the Volcano village received more attention from people, specially the story of Yin Litai. Volunteers sent e-mails to Liang Ping and asked to visit the village. During January 16 and 17, Liang Ping led a team of 15 people to visit Volcano village. They brought medicine and goods according to the various needs of the lepers. They helped the lepers with personal hygiene as well. 

4) Visiting the Yangquangou village of Yiliang county

January 30 was the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Shalom organized volunteers and visited the Yangquangou leper village on January 26. They provided treatment and medicine for the lepers and they also sent greetings to Baocai and his sisters. They paid a New Year’s call to the lepers and wished a happy Chinese New Year to them.

Original article written by Ping Liang, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

Grounded on core values of respect, love, and service to the elderly, the Xin Yue Senior Citizen Service Center of Chongqing, China, promotes social work services for senior citizens and builds harmonious living environment for them.

On the first day of 2014, I received a call and was asked to take an express. I was wondering who would send me a letter. The postman gave me the letter. Holding it, I thanked him for his work. 

I could not wait to open the envelope and it turned out the letter was from TFISH! I did not know when they had sent the letter to me, but it was a surprise to receive such care and encouragement from afar. Thinking of our interaction, mutual trust, and understanding with TFish in the past year, I know our cooperation has improved in a meaningful way. 

We achieved a lot during our cooperation with TFish. Apart from monetary support for the project, we found that we are now able to develop faster. We like the saying, “transparency makes trust”. If 2 people are interacting with each other, but they do not have a sincere and honest attitude, the relationship will be ruined. In December of 2013, it was the one year anniversary of the organization. Our project management and financial planning were in a state of disorder. When we were at a loss, one of our partners introduced TFish to us. We got timely help but at first I was annoyed by the management regulations, project tracking reports, financial reports, etc. After several months however, everything became clearer. Our information began to be uploaded and issued on time and we achieved more attention and care from society as a result. Our project management had become much more sophisticated. We really thank TFish for their care and support for us. Thank you for bringing so much happiness and care to our senior citizens.

We have been ranked as an organization in our community that is one of the most moving. However, we always feel guilty about the distance between our organization and those who silently support us. Therefore we thank you for your care. We with all of our partners the best. We hope we continue to witness a lot of moving stories in our community and we hope to always see the beauty present in society.  

Original article written by Ling Feng, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

March 8-9, 2014, Los Altos, CA - Chao Foundation sponsored a charity art show to fundraise for Hongyan's high surgery fees. TFish was able to fundraise enough for Hongyan's surgery through donations and buying of paintings. He Yuanming has been an artist for over 35 years. His works were collected and exhibited numerous times around the world in countries such as China, the US, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The Hong Kong Ritz-Carlton Hotel has collected He Laoshi’s three works titled “Galloping,” “Morning Breeze,” and “Eight Horses.” The works of art have been enlarged to become a mural on the ceiling of the lobby and were named “Horse Galloping Across the Sky.”

Aside from being an exceptional artist, He Yuanming is also a very caring person, especially for the poor families in rural China. He Laoshi’s exhibit in the Bay area coincidentally occurs around the same time as our foundation’s Little Red Scarf project approaches its milestone of helping our 1000th child receive heart surgery in rural Gansu province, which was a goal we had set six years ago. After He Laoshi heard about this, he immediately decided to donate eight of his paintings to help these children.  On behalf of these children and our foundation, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for his kindness. We also thank our volunteers and donors who generously gave their time and resources to make this art show a success.

We would like to acknowledge our Volunteers for all their help:
Jack & Ying Ying Wang
Jei Shuan Chen & Su Chen Wu
Annie Cheng
PC
June Wang
Daniel Nguyen
EV Interns (Allison Zhang, Allison Sun, Katie Lan, Ricky Shin, and Kaitlyn Cheung)

Donors
He Yuanming
Huang Family
Wei-Jin Dai
Henry & Lisa Chang
Kris Wang
Charlie Bui

Click here to see full donor list...