*** Check out a new video documenting MingHe's story made by HandReach volunteer Laura Madden at http://lauramadden.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/minghe-video-for-handreach/ ! ***

In January 2010, HandReach took a team of six American clinicians to Beijing to offer a week-long Hand Clinic to offer free surgeries and rehabilitation plans for pediatric burn survivors at the China Air Force General Hospital. On this trip, HandReach staff spent time with a young boy named MingHe (whose name means "Bright River" in Chinese), whose incredible story we could not leave untold. National Geographic videographer David Ross Smith offers this video about MingHe, his parents, and the unspeakable odds they face in their journey of healing. Go to the link below to view the video.

http://aprescriptionfromthedoctor.com/brightriver.htm

HandReach began in 2002 as a provider of education microgrants to some of China's poorest rural schools.  In 2006, the Executive Director of HandReach, Dr. Brecken Chinn Swartz, encountered a young girl with severe burn injuries begging for help on the streets of Beijing.  Through the process of obtaining reconstructive care to help the girl achieve her dream of walking again, Dr. Chinn Swartz realized the tremendous gap that exists for poor children throughout the developing world debilitated by complex trauma njuries whose families cannot afford much-need care.  Responding to this need, HandReach launched the Children's Healing Initiative (CHI) in 2007 to bring together the best hands in the world to help children left disabled by burns and amputations recover and get back to a full, productive life.  HandReach's vision is that no child injured by trauma anywhere in the world will be left without resources to recover, obtain a full education, and lead a productive, healthy life.
 
As part of our mission to enhance the capacity of poor rural clinics in the developing world to better meet the needs of pediatric trauma survivors like MingHe, HandReach is developing a Prosthetics Unit Project (PUP) that can support a number of local clinics in providing custom prosthetics fitting and state-of-the-art rehabilitation for the children who need it most.  The HandReach Children's Healing Initiative is partnering with institutions in the developing world (beginning in Beijing, China) to bring custom prosthetics fitting and rehabilitation to local hospitals and clinics to allow underserved child amputees and burn survivors to gain full mobility.  Through their treatment, clinicians will be trained in best practices that will improve their competence on all subsequent cases.

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure.  For more information about MingHe, and HandReach, please visit HandReach's homepage at www.handreach.org.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate!