Many of you have followed the story of Tim, a wonderful young man who grew up in the Kaifeng orphanage in Henan province. When LWB volunteers first met Tim back in 2006, he was just 14 years old. He became part of our education program, and we learned very quickly just what a wonderful student he was.
Tim in 2006
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You may have heard the buzz about the 2014 Cleft Exchange, which will take place April 21-25, 2014 in Kaifeng, Henan. If you are new LWB supporter, you may wonder what the excitement is all about. And we are more than happy to share so you, too, can join in the excitement! Read more.
The value of volunteering lies at the very heart of Love Without Boundaries, which is nearly entirely run by volunteers and likely would not exist without their efforts. VolunteerMatch, an organization that matches up volunteers with organizations in need, recently held a “Why I Volunteer” photo contest spotlighting outstanding volunteers, and we are thrilled to announce that our very own Dr. John Ness was the winner! Many of our readers will remember Dr. Ness from the Cleft Exchange trips and might especially remember the above photo of him in the “baby pile,” surrounded by some of the babies whose cleft lips and palates he helped heal this spring. Read more.
Cleft trips are always emotionally and physically exhausting. The months of preparation, the long plane rides, the huge, overweight suitcases that are wrestled through the airports and begged through check-in without overweight fees, the physical aliments in a foreign country, and the long, hard hours in an unfamiliar hospital all become insignificant compared to the moment that the first child comes back from the operating room. Read more.
Today one of the volunteers said it is a shame that these trips don’t last two weeks, as everyone has truly hit their stride, and the entire China/American team is working seamlessly together to help the kids.
Thursday morning was very busy as many rural families came to the hospital to check in and lots of babies were being discharged. The OR day began at 8 a.m. with two local children going into surgery for palate repairs. Xian was Dr. Ness’ first patient today. She is a very beautiful girl with a very attentive dad. Dr. Ness said that she was so lovely that he wanted to do a lip revision as well as her palate so that she wouldn’t have any scar at all. Read more.
