Returning Home to Heal

11/7/2025

Former refugees and their children return to Vietnam to provide life-changing surgeries for kids in need.

Last month, a Mending Kids team led by general surgeon Dr. Nam Nguyen of Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach departed Los Angeles for Nha Trang, Vietnam on a general and urology mission to provide critical surgical care to underserved children and to share knowledge with local surgeons. The mission was coordinated by Mending Kids, with the invaluable support of Dr. Uyen Tran, an anesthesiologist whose outreach helped rally local partners and make this effort possible.

At this time, most specialized pediatric care in Vietnam remains centered in Saigon. While the government covers care for children up to age seven, the three-hour flight—or even longer bus ride—to the capital, and the cost of staying there—make treatment out of reach for many families in the region. Without our team’s presence, several of these children would have been sent away, unable to receive the care they needed.
This mission was especially meaningful. The team, made up of former refugees and children of refugees, returned to uplift a community they had not seen in decades—fifty years after the fall of Saigon.

In just one week, the team screened 26 children and mended 16, providing life-saving and life-changing surgeries for some of the most vulnerable. Beyond the care delivered, the team also spent time mentoring local doctors and nurses, strengthening the skills that will continue to serve children long after their departure.

Unlike many organizations, Mending Kids relies primarily on individual donors and small grants. Yet, as word spread about this team and its story, members of the Vietnamese diaspora and friends of the doctors came together, funding and supplying much of the effort themselves.

To our steadfast supporters—and to the new friends who joined us on this journey—thank you for believing in these children and helping us make their lives matter. And to the dedicated team that poured their hearts, skill, and sweat into giving back to a community they longed to serve again, we have much respect.

Help us return to Vietnam in 2026

Vietnam 2025 Photo Album