You are all invited to attend as live audience for TFish and Chao Foundation TV interview, talk show, "In Our Community" on June 20th 2014.  

The event will go from 5pm-8pm and will consist of a potluck beforehand and a time to come together and network afterwards. We will be interviewed from 7:30-7:45. Parking is plentiful at KMVT15 - two sides of the building have parking including a very large parking lot in the back.

KMVT Community Television
1400 Terra Bella Ave., Suite M
Mountain View, CA 94043 

Can't make it? Watch us On Comcast 15 and 26 in Mountain View, Los Altos and Cupertino. AT&T U-Verse channel 99 throughout the Bay Area

For more info contact: [email protected]

The following post was written by our program staff in Gansu, China. 

On April 23rd, Guan Ying and I arrived at the Minle Township in Yongdeng County, our last stop. We were here to visit a special patient, Little Ye. Little Ye is one of the patients fully funded by Little Red Scarf in 2010. He is the first congenital heart disease patient sent to Beijing for surgery, and his experience differentiates him from other LRS patients in the past. At that time of the surgery, Little Ye was only four. Since the time of his birth, his family has been in conflict on whether to borrow money for him to undergo surgery. Little Ye’s grandfather did not want his son and daughter-in-law to go into further poverty because of this disease. The family was already taking care of a paralyzed, bed-bound grandmother and a four-months old newborn. He believed that his son and daughter-in-law were still young, and if they gave up this child, they could perhaps have more children in the future. This child had an extremely severe and complicated case of congenital heart disease and even if he underwent surgery, the doctors said that there was still a great chance of death. Though the grandfather was trying to look out for the family's interest, Little Ye's father and mother did not lose out on hope and were determined to find a way to provide this surgery for their baby boy. 

In June of 2010, Little Ye’s mother called the LRS assistance hotline. After receiving the call, our staff went to visit Little Ye. The family, consisting of six people, lived in three shabby rooms. Two people shared one bed. One was a paralyzed grandmother, and the other was a newborn, a two-month old baby. There was also a little, three-year old boy who was constantly carried around by family members. He could not walk on his own and had to have someone support him. There was a grandfather who sighed in despair and two distressed parents.

Through some coaxing from LRS staff, the grandfather finally agreed to have family members take Little Ye to Lanzhou for further examination and treatment. The results were startling for both Little Ye’s parents and the LRS staff – Little Ye’s condition was so severe that the hospital in Gansu could not operate on him. Only large hospitals in Beijing or Shanghai could do so. LRS staff began contacting hospitals in Beijing for Little Ye. On July 15th, Little Ye and his father and mother went on a train to travel to Beijing.

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.

On April 11th, 2011, doctors prepared for Jing Bo to undergo cleft palate surgery at the Lanzhou University Hospital. TFISH partner Little Red Scarf was able to visit him after the surgery on April 13th. His mother informed LRS that Jing Bo's surgery was successful. His heart rate was a little bit slow, however due to Jing Bo's taller than average height, doctors were confident he would recover quickly. 

Jing Bo's surgery was funded in part by The Smile Train and in part by Jing Bo's family. The family had to pay just under 2000 yuan. When LRS visited they brought Jing Bo a box of milk and some food suited to his recovery.

Three years have now passed since Jing Bo's surgery. Jing Bo has remained healthy and happy. He is even growing taller and more handsome every day. You can read more on Little Red Scarf's blog (in Chinese).

We went to the hospital to see Hong Yan the day after the hospital. The doctor said she woke up at 2:00 in the morning and the wound ached. She felt uncomfortable, since her limbs had been bound. She fell asleep half hour later. Doctor Tang told us Hong Yan was stabilizing and they would remove the ventilator in the afternoon. 

While we were excited to hear the doctor's recommendation for Hong Yan to breathe on her own, we were also nervous since we did not know how her body would react without the machine. Her lungs were weak and may not be able to work independently. Hooking her up to the ventilator for the second time would be dangerous and risky procedure.

We visited Hongy Yan after the ventilator was removed and I could not believe my eyes. She got rid of ventilator and was sleeping well. She looked fine with apple cheeks. Hearing familiar sounds, Hong Yan opened her eyes. She was still weak, but we were excited to see her healthy complexion. She could not speak. The nurse praised her and said she was cooperative and strong. She would get out of ICU a few days later. 

Everything went well. Each indicator of Hong Yan was normal and Doctor Tang said she could be referred to general ward. We are so grateful that Hong Yan did well and look forward to a fresh start in her life.

When we met Jiawang in hospital, he was 1 years old and could not speak and walk. He was held by his mother. He often caught cold. He could not be operated because of his poor immune system. The family was exhausted and his father could not go for work. 

It has been 2 years since the surgery. He became smart, playful, and completely different from the child before h surgery.

Jiawang’s brother went to school, but the school is too far away from home. His parents decided to move to the city and rent an apartment. His father work at construction sites. When we visited the family, his father went to Shanxi. Jiawang has not attended kindergarten, because the costs is too high for the family. Jiawang would pick up and send his brother to school with his mother every day. The apartment is small with about 10 square meters. The room equipment is simple, but his mother provides the family with all the necessities in life. 

Jiawang’s surgery wound has healed and we could barely can see it. The two children played happily at the small room. Jiawang looked no difference from normal children. He sometimes fought with his brother for grabbing something. We were pleased to see that Jiawang has become a rambunctious toddler. We brought a box of milk and a few posters to the family. We hope the poster can let more people know our project. We also wish all the best for the family. 

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

In the morning of March 17th, Aiju, my co-worker and I took the bus to Gangu county. After a four hour ride, we arrived at Gangu county. We were there to visit Yapeng who went through heart surgery 2 years ago. His family lives in a village 40 kilometers away, so we had to take another bus to the village. The bus driver said we were lucky, if it rained, the bus would stop running. After 1.5 hours bumpy ride, we arrived at Yapeng’s village. 

The family gave us warm welcome. His grandparents were nearing 80, but in good health. Yapeng changed a lot since we last saw him. He is much taller, likes laughing and running around. He attends preschool class this year and has to walk about 1 hour to school. He does not come home for lunch since his school is so far away and his brother would make the trek to bring food to him at school. He has been taking medicine to recover after the surgery, but recently finished his medication. His vitals has returned to normal.

Yapeng’s father is with congenital deafness. He is illiterate so his options are limited and he does mostly temp manual work. Yapeng's uncles also make a living through manual labor. His uncles care a great deal about him and brought Yapeng to hospital for physical examination and diagnosis. When Yapeng was diagnosed as malnutrition, he picked Pageng to his home and took care of him for half year.

During farming off-season, his mother and grandmother do some straw handcraft to make ends meet. Aiju and I tried helping out, but felt tired soon. The houses in the village are almost made of mud brick. There’s only one or two brick houses. As many houses in the village, 3 sides of Yapeng’s family house were made of mud, only the front side was made of brick. Yapeng’s family has running water, but it was supplied in summer. They had to save water in the cellar for the rest seasons of the year. 

When we experienced the life at Yapeng’s family, we found the poor transportation hinders the lives of the villagers.  The family just grow potatoes. His father seldom speak because of poor hearing. His mother is talkative. She thanked Little Red Scarf and said life would become better as the child grows up healthfully.

The family is diligent and kind. We hope they all stay in good health and hope the road will be repaired in the village.

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

TFISH intern Lauren Kam is making a difference her own way. Lauren has been playing the violin since she was four years old and this Sunday, she is combining her passion for music with her passion for helping others. Along with the support of her mother and sisters, Lauren is holding a free benefit concert with some of her peers. All donations collected at the event will go towards Little Red Scarf, a TFISH non-profit provides financial and social support for the treatment of poor rural children with congenital heart.

In preparation for this event, Lauren's mother has been driving her around town, buying supplies for the day of the event and dropping her off to talk to local business owners for sponsorships. Her sisters Beth and Emily personally created cards to give away as gifts for the concert. Emily who is interested in graphic design, made all the flyers, invitations, and concert programs for the event. 

This summer, Lauren plans to personally donate this money to the LIttle Red Scarf hospital in Gansu, China. She hopes to fund surgeries for 3 recipients, and would need to raise a total of $6000 for this campaign. Though it is considered a difficult goal to reach in a short amount of time, she believes that setting the aim high will challenge those who are able to give, to contribute more. "We live in an incredibly wealthy area, and it's not that much money for this Silicon valley community to raise," Lauren said. "I want as many people involved as possible in this amazing work."  

This concert will be free of charge, and will consist of musical pieces hand selected by the performers. Come out for a free night of classical music in Los Altos! RSVP: http://www.tfishfund.org/rsvp.html

If you can't make it and would like to contribute to Lauren's goals: http://bit.ly/1nUM1Kz

Think of a way to reach out to your community? To start your OWN campaign: http://bit.ly/1uptPZ8

For 2014, TFISH provided funding for our partner Orphan Impact to expand their computer class program. Now we are proud to announce that these funds were able to provide 425 children from 9 orphanages with computer education classes. We look forward to continuing to work with Orphan Impact to expand their important programs in the future!

More about Orphan Impact:  Thousands of orphaned children in Vietnam live in government-run orphanages, but a serious shortage of funding leaves most of these children vulnerable and unequipped. Orphan Impact provides relevant computer and internet skill training - involving critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity - to help these children gain the self-confidence and practical skills set that they need to succeed in their post-orphanage years.