Little Red Scarf operates in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, and Kunming, Yunnan Province. LRS provides financial support and patient advocacy to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care to help the children sustain a healthy new life.


It’s my first time to see Xiao Wen on September 16, 2014 at Kunming Medical College. He was standing at the corner, looking attentively at his father. I quickly took a picture of the six year old boy and he stared blankly back at me. At this point, I asked his father whether or not he had other illnesses apart from congenital heart disease. Both parents were unsure. I checked with the doctors later and confirmed my initial suspicions -- Xiao Wen had down syndrome. 

His mother told me they are from rural area, Milie County of Honghe Prefecture.  They knew Xiao Wen had development problems but he was never diagnosed. Xiao Wen's father is the sole provider for their family of seven, they have two young sons, grandparents, and great-grandmother that live with them. On top of that, his father has been having trouble finding a stable job. Most of their income comes from working the fields and raising a few pigs. 


The local kindergarten was reluctant to admit Xiao Wen, so his mother had to take care of him. Before he was a month old, Xiao Wen got fever. His parents took him to the county hospital and was diagnosed as congenital heart disease, but the family could not afford to do the operation.  

Xiao Wen was admitted by Cardiology of First Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical College. When my lens pointed to him, he made a pose, looking like a little rabbit. I showed him the picture in the camera and he looked so excited. 

9 year old Rong Rong lives in the Dong ba district, where the mountains are snowcapped. When you meet her for the first time, you can almost feel the warmth in her smile. Rong Rong’s father proudly tells us that she gets excellent grades; she is first in her class. She gets asked this question a lot: how could such a young, energetic girl have congenital heart disease?

Rong Rong is currently living with her father, three grandparents and a sister. Rong Rong’s parents are divorced, but Rong Rong is unaware of the situation. When her father told us, he looked slightly nervous about Rong Rong finding out. Rong Rong’s older sister works in the field, but only makes enough to provide for her own life. She hasn’t been home for several years. Since the family is mostly made of the elderly and the young, Rong Rong’s father is the only one who works. He farms at home, leaving only one person to tend to over 3 acres of life. When I asked her father what he was raising, he said, “I raise twelve pigs, but these are for us to eat! It’s definitely not enough for it to go around in the community.”

Rong Rong was born with an extra toe, and around when she was 3 or 4, her family took her to the hospital for surgery. During a preoperative examination, she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. At that moment, the doctor canceled the surgery, and recommended she receive treatment for congenital heart disease first. Because the cost of the surgery is so expensive, she has not been able to receive it. This little girl with an extra toe and an atrial septal defect can hope for another 5-6 years of life. 

On September 16th, 2014, Rong Rong and her family arrived at the hospital early and even finished the ultrasound examination before admission. They have not shown even the slightest sign of impatience, and they always have a smile on their face. They waited for beds until the afternoon, and Rong Rong fell asleep in her father’s lap. Her father was afraid to wake her up, so he stayed in the same posture. This sight was quite the moving one. Despite poverty, disease, this daughter and father have managed to find inner peace and love.  

They had to wait until four before Rong Rong received a vacant bed. The doctors went over the hospitalization procedure and I got to spend some alone time with Rong Rong. We talked agout her family situation, and she told me about how her father had to do laborious farm work, and how sometimes her grandmother and mother would help, but it was still very tedious. Her grandfather was in poor health, and can only help with cooking sometimes.  After finding out how much work her parents commit to in order to provide for Rong Rong, I came to the conclusion that Rong Rong was so cheerful and lively because of her lovely and wonderful parents.

On September 18th, 2014, the third day of surgical admission process, Rong Rong woke up early for her surgery and successfully completed it at 12. When I  went to call her father, I could hear his joy through the phone.
On September 19th, Rong Rong is already looking better, just after one day!

Our 2014 TFISH Fall Campaign begins today! We have one simple goal: help a family in need find shelter. The Tran family is currently living in a broken down shack made from scraps. 

Dr. Truong from our partner organization, Sahaya International Inc (USA) visited Vietnam last month and saw the living situation of many families in need. Of all of those homes however, the Trans' conditions are the most dire. 

The family often wake up in the middle of the night to rain breaking through the roof. The floor is only dirt so it becomes unsanitary. As winter is approaching, they are in desperate need for a stable shelter. We believe we can bring some stability in the lives of the Tran family. In partnership with Sahaya International, we hope to raise $1,000 this fall to build a compact house with essential household items--- including bedding, cooking supplies, water jars, and food for the family.  

100% of your donations goes directly to the recipients so the sooner we reach our goal, the sooner we can have a home ready for the Tran family. Hopefully we can hit are mark by Thanksgiving!

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.

With the help of TFISH, the XinYue Senior Citizen Center held group birthday party for the senior citizens on June 18. Volunteers from Technology University helped out with this celebration.  

Birthdays are a special time of the year for everyone, but can be particularly emotional for the elderly. That's why we decided to start celebrating together. We had 25 birthdays in June. Granny Tang was not feeling well, but was looking forward to this event all month. She was able to eventually join the party with the help of a wheelchair.

We went around the circle and introduced everyone and their date of birth. Two women had the exact birthdate. They got so excited they held hands and jokingly declared that they were birthday sisters.The volunteers gave performances and enjoyed birthday cakes with the senior citizens who received greetings. In the end of the activity, the staff of the Home and volunteers sent cakes to 19 senior citizens who could not attend the party. We cut cakes for Grandpa Shen, who had to lay on the bed due to paralysis. He could not speak, but he nodded and smiled when we whispered birthday greetings in his ear.  

According to their motto - “Love, truth, and service to community” - Xingyang Volunteer Federation works to enhance people’s sense of social responsibility through providing them various volunteer opportunities.The office is in Xingyang, Henan province.   

Last time, we introduced you to Tian Jinguo is a 66-year-old man, blind in one eye and living off the land for most of his life.  He lives in a very remote place and he has trouble accessing water, even counting on snow and rain to fill his well.

We decided to help.

On June 10, 500 meters of pipes were donated and transported to the village. We surveyed the route for the pipes—350 meters of pipes were needed. Manual excavation could be lasted for over 40 days, so we decided to rent an excavator. A director of the local government knew this and he suggested the local government would rent the excavator.

We wanted to share some amazing stories from the recent LRS Summer Camp where we perform follow up care through poverty relief programs. This summer, we held our second camp for our children after congenital heart surgery. These children have spent too much of their young lives in and out of hospitals. Not only was this the first time any of these children have attended a "camp," it was their first experience in a city! Now that they've recovered, we want to help build their self-esteem by showing our love and care through educational activities.

This isn't an easy task. Our camp attendees all come from poor rural families, and are further isolated and stigmatized because of their poor health. They do not have the opportunities and leisure time kids are expected to have. Being low-income and in poor health, they have never had a chance for "play" or attend school. Our goal is to help build their self-esteem and inspire them to believe in themselves and their potential as many start school for the first time in September.

This summer was full of many "firsts", but we hope there are no "lasts". We genuinely believe in the impact this camp can have on rural children and will continue to help our young patients grow to be healthy, happy adults. Our goal is to hold this program every year, for as many children in need as possible! If you have the chance, please help keep our program alive and support this cause! It only costs $200 to sponsor a child for camp. Click here to give. If you would like to travel to Gansu, China, and volunteer at next year's camp, please fill out this form.

Little Red Scarf operates in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, and Kunming, Yunnan Province. LRS provides financial support and patient advocacy to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care to help the children sustain a healthy new life.

Today, I visited Rong and Ke Wen, two children who suffer from congenital heart disease in Kunming, Yunnan province.

Rong, who is nine years old, suffers from an atrial septal defect and an extra toe. When her parents took her to the hospital to determine what the necessary procedures for her congenital heart defect were, the doctor also recommended that she get surgery to remove her sixth toe as well.  Now, Rong’s parents are divorced, and she lives with her father and her grandparents because her father is able to make a living farming tobacco and corn. Her grandparents take care of her while her father works hard to provide for their family. Her aunt is a helping hand as well; she works year round to maintain the income necessary to live their lives. However, despite all of this, their family annual income is only 7500 yuan, with the annual per capita income of RMB 1500 yuan. Thus, the raise pigs for consumption, but it is still enough for everyone in the family to eat. Rong is such a clever and thoughtful girl. Not only does she have good grades, but she also takes care of her family as well. We hope we can help her through aid from Little Red Scarf. 

Ke Wen, who is six years old, suffers from patent ductus arterioles and a myriad of chromosomal disorders. Six people in his family work on a farm for a living, but the father is the main labor force. His mother takes care of him and his siblings and his grandmothers and brothers are unable to help out due to their age.The two children above, with the exception of Ke Wan’s signs of fatigued breathing, their congenital heart disease is not obvious. They show no particular signs of cyanosis. 

Hopefully, after surgery, these two children will be able to live happy lives with their family. I will return to the hospital to follow up the situation and shoot pictures of them. Without any unforeseen circumstances, the operation is expected to take place on Thursday.

In addition, today, the doctor mentioned that discharge doesn’t provide medical records, but rather only discharge summaries. If you need to copy medical records, it requires approvals from foundations and completion of complicated paperwork.

Written by  Qianhua Liu, translated by Katie Lan and edited by Yanyan Zhang

Meet this year's TFISH interns! We had our first meet up at the home office. They all had awesome ideas on how to make their communities and the world a better place and we are so excited to help them reach their goals. We left the meeting full of inspiration (and boba tea!) and ended the day of course, with a mini-photo shoot.

It was tons of fun, but don't be fooled - our interns are some of the most passionate and hard-working young people you will ever meet. We are so lucky to have them aboard the TFISH team! 

Compassion Nayong Public Welfare is based on Nayong, a poverty-stricken area in Guizhou Province. Taking the network as the platform, it carries out various public welfare activities to aid education.

This summer, Compassion Nayong was able to raise money for free lunches for schools. They were able to visit the Guizhou mountainous areas and served 3910 portions to children in the area. 17 schools applied for the free lunch and about 1058 yuan (USD$172) of operation fees were collected.

The free lunch was held on Children’s Day.  Volunteers were there to supervise sanitation and purchase of materials. It was an incredible feeling of community. Almost 4000 were able to enjoy our free lunches!  

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