Facing the World

Facing the World(FTW) is a UK-based charity that seeks to help children in Vietnam with devastating facial disfigurements. The focus is educational, with FTW providing training in craniofacial surgery, through its Fellowship Program, to doctors across Vietnam so that surgery can be offered to increasing numbers of children.

History

Founded in 2003, FTW has been been active in Vietnam for the greater part of its history. This is because the occurrence of birth defects in Vietnam is estimated to be some 10 times higher than in neighbouring countries. Since 2008, the charity has run missions in which its surgeons operate on children with craniofacial defects and provide on-site training for the local teams. In 2014, Da Nang General Hospital and the charity co-hosted the first national Vietnam Craniofacial Conference.

Operation

FTW's reach in Vietnam has expanded over time, and the charity now has intensive collaborations with Hong Ngoc Hospital, Viet-Duc University Hospital, Da Nang General Hospital and, recently, 108 Military Hospital in Hanoi. Further appropriate hospitals will be added to its program.

Fellowships in the UK for Vietnamese doctors are key to the charity’s overall success. Visiting doctors shadow FTW surgeons, and observe and learn new techniques and approaches. These fellowships are then built on during missions to the hospitals in Vietnam where UK and Vietnamese teams jointly operate and put the new approaches and techniques to use. Recently, FTW has begun working with The Toronto Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), who are now also hosting Vietnamese doctors under the FTW Fellowship Program.

In addition to its training program, FTW seeks to enable donations of vital equipment to its partner hospitals that will improve efficiency, and enable increasing numbers of operations to be performed. Equipment needs are identified in collaboration with the hospitals.

The charity is run primarily by volunteers. All the doctors donate their time as does the CEO (Trustee).

Recognition

Official status in Vietnam has been granted through Paccom registration. The charity has signed Memorandum of Understanding agreements with VAVA, the Vietnam Red Cross and Direct Relief. FTW has a Vietnamese patron and two long-term financial supporters, giving it a sound platform from which to continue to expand its services throughout Vietnam.

The charity was commended by the UK’s Prime Minister with a Points of Light award in recognition of excellence, and has been awarded the prestigious medal for “Peace and Friendship among Nations” from the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations. The charity has received the official endorsement of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnam and the Vietnam-UK Network. Most recently, the highest State award in Vietnam, the Government Friendship Medal, was awarded to Katrin Kandel (FTW's Volunary CEO) and Facing The World.