Giang is a happy, but shy 6 year old boy with significant challenges. When he was born the family was very sad and knew of no on who could help them. He has many friends and is well-liked in his village.  It appears that Giang has Ambiotic Band Syndrome.
Giang’s family heard about the ReSurge surgical team from a social worker visiting their remote mountain village. And, fortunately, the ReSurge team decided they could repair Giang’s cleft lip and the appearance of his nose and eye.
Giang was accompanied to the hospital by his grandfather because his father, who drove the family from their rural home, had to return to the village to work.  There are no “days off” for the rural people trying to survive day to day.
All of the surgical patients and their families crowd into rooms and gather together in the hallways.  During evening rounds the doctors checked on Giang prior to surgery.  Giang and his family do not even speak Vietnamese,  only speak their local dialect.  They are so poor that they had no food or money. Other families put together a food basket to sustain them.  Giang’s grandfather’s eyes welled with tears at the gift.   It was heartwarming to see such concern by the other families.  All of these patients are extremely poor, but to see their concern for someone with even less was inspirational and a profound example for all.  The grandfather held his grandson and rubbed his head until it was time to enter the operating room.
The surgery was long and technical.  Giang did well. The results were fantastic. He never cried after waking up from the operation.  He merely held onto his grandfather’s hand and quietly sung to himself.  His sweet disposition quickly made him one of the recovery room nurse’s favorites.  After he was moved up to his shared room, the other families helped nurse Giang and make sure he took his medicines as instructed by the surgeons. They also requested that they stay through the weekend so they could assist the grandfather in his care.
Giang’s grandfather made an effort to thank all the doctors and nurses. He was humbled by the kindness from strangers. We told him him he was a good grandfather and that he and Giang deserved the assistance.  He had to borrow a phone to call Giang’s father so he could come pick them up from the hospital so they could begin their long journey home.  He stated that it will be a celebration when they return home. People will even come from other villages to see the results of the surgery.
We wished them well and said our goodbyes.