Facing the World: A journey to bring back smiles to unfortunate children

Katrin Kandel, CEO of Facing the World. (Photo: VNA)

London (VNA) – Vietnam News Agency’s London-based correspondents visited Katrin Kandel’s home in London on a warm summer afternoon, which, Katrin said, reminded her of the heat of Hanoi summer.

Located in the centre of London, the home of the voluntary CEO of Facing the World (FTW), is decorated with beautiful paintings, some of which are from Vietnam, giving us a feeling of closeness to the homeowner.

Our talk with Katrin revealed her compassion for Vietnamese children with birth defects and the motivation for her to pursue a journey that has brought about life changes for thousands of unfortunate children in Vietnam.

In 2007, the foundation first was invited by a US charity to Vietnam where they found a very high rate of birth defects, which is estimated by some experts to be almost ten times the regional level. Following on from this, Katrin and colleagues felt very strongly that FTW should develop craniofacial centres in Vietnam given the compelling need across the country.

The visit marked the start of a long journey in which FTW has accompanied Vietnamese doctors to help bring smiles and a normal life to thousands of Vietnamese children with craniofacial birth effects.

A UK-registered medical charitable foundation set up in 2002 to treat children from developing countries with craniofacial defects, FTW initially brought Vietnamese children to the UK for treatment at the foundation’s partner hospitals with costs ranging from 50,000 GBP (over 57,000 USD) to 1million GBP per child. However, since 2008, the foundation began sending multidisciplinary teams of medics to Vietnam to join local doctors operating on complex surgical cases.

Since then, the foundation has developed a unique, clear, sustainable strategy and solution which will continue to lead to tens of thousands of children, initially in Vietnam and then beyond, receiving the treatment they need for often horrifically disfiguring birth defects.

Katrin said the key to this viable and sustainable solution is the “teach a man to fish” approach. FTW awards international training fellowships to Vietnamese medics, having sent more than 100 doctors to top medical institutions in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia to observe and learn new techniques and approaches. The doctors are offered 2-6 week fellowships which are covered by the foundation (approximately 11,000 GBP/two-week fellowship).

Katrin said by sending Vietnamese doctors abroad for training, the foundation aims to create an opportunity for the doctors to work and establish relationships with doctors in centres of excellence throughout the world.

These fellowships are supplemented by in-country medical missions where complex surgeries are carried out by coordinated teams of the Vietnamese doctors and the international doctors involved in the fellowship programme. Since 2008, there have been on average two missions to Vietnam per year, with all missions now including teaching conferences to which doctors throughout Vietnam are invited.

The foundation also regards telemedicine as an important part of its training strategy. FTW has partnered with a platform technology developed by In Touch Health (now Teladoc’s World Telehealth Foundation) that enables the development of a ‘hub-and-spoke’ outreach programme within Vietnam. The platform facilitates a two-way mentoring, educational system for international partners as well as longer term domestically. The foundation has collaborated with its Vietnamese partners to identify game-changing technology needs, which are met through donations.

Katrin pointed out that while the number of doctors can't be multiplied, technology like Telemedicine can help multiply their  expertise. By having the expertise in the centres in large cities, it means that doctors, nurses and health centres from outlying areas are able to access the expertise. Longer term, the foundation expects that the doctors will be able to assess children in all the outlying areas and determine whether they need to be brought into the centres or can be given advice remotely on how to treat their problems. 

According to Katrin, Vietnam is in a strong position to roll out the approach.  To date, 2.4 million GBP worth of telemedicine equipment and technology has been donated to FTW partner centres in Vietnam. Close to 10 million GBP in other medical equipment has been donated to the same partner hospitals.

FTW has now partnered with three hospitals in Vietnam: the private Hong Ngoc General, and two leading public hospitals in Vietnam: 108 Military Central Hospital and Viet-Duc University Hospital.  Their networks of approximately 100 further hospitals and clinics, allows the foundation’s reach to extend throughout the country, enabling treatment for the poor, primarily children, born with severe facial differences.

At 108 Hospital, the foundation opened in late 2018 the Centre for Craniofacial and Plastic Surgery, the first of its kind in South East Asia. So far 26 medics from the Centre have taken part in FTW’s  fellowship programme and two telemedicine platforms from InTouch Health have been donated to the hospital. After 8 years, the Centre is expected to reach and treat 60% of all children born in Vietnam with significant facial differences.

An operation conducted by Vietnamese and British doctors at the 108 Military Central Hospital. (Photo: Facing the World)

Katrin said 108 Hospital was a wonderful example of how the number of children being operated on  has been measured. Before the centre was established, the hospital was able to run only one mission a year into the outlying areas, but now is running one mission every month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre was still working, performing operations for children even though FTW medics and Vietnamese doctors couldn't travel.

In the next 5 years, FTW plans to enable 40,000 operations to be performed by its trained Vietnamese doctors. The foundation expects to send at least another 200 Vietnamese doctors abroad for training. Medical equipment which is considered to be game changing will continue to be donated.

FTW’s efforts have been recognised by the governments from Vietnam and UK. Katrin Kandel was awarded the Vietnamese President’s Medal for Friendship; the Medal for Peace and Friendship among Nations; and a Certificate of Merit for significant contributions to Vietnam's socio-economic development in 2021 by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations. Katrin was also awarded the Points of Light Award in recognition of excellence, commended in 2017 by the then  British Prime Minister. The foundation also received official endorsement by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnam and the Vietnam-UK Network.

Katrin said an important goal in the longer-term is for Vietnam to be very much part of the surgical expertise at FTW, acting as a craniofacial centre in Southeast Asia. When the foundation is able to expand into one of the neighbouring countries like Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam is expected to become part of the training scheme similar to the UK, Canada, Australia and America. She noted that with 108 Hospital and Viet Duc hospital being accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons for Accreditation, the hospitals are now seen as having the expertise for training which is at a level similar to the UK hospitals.

Leaving Katrin’s home, we understood why Katrin is determined to change the destiny of unfortunate Vietnamese children as she told us a touching memory about a baby she had met. The baby, perhaps only six months old, had severe defects that made her look horrific to any ordinary person other than a doctor. But the baby turned into an adorable child after an operation performed by FTW medics in collaboration with Vietnamese doctors. Katrin said it was such a lovely feeling seeing the change that could make a child who is ostracised become part of society. She said the very lovely children that have horrific birth defects and the love that their families have for them have largely encouraged FTW and herself in fulfilling the foundation’s mission in Vietnam.

We believe with such a great motivation, Katrin and FTW will achieve new successes in their journey to bring hopes and happiness to unfortunate children in Vietnam and all around the world and their families as well./.