HANOI—February 1, 2008

Irish Aid has announced a new grant to East Meets West, for $7000 to provide heart surgeries to seven children in northern Vietnam. Most of these children will come from Thai Binh province, where East Meets West has a large program assisting people with disabilities funded by the Ford Foundation.

Although Operation Healthy Heart is well established in central and southern Vietnam, it has been applied only sparingly in northern Vietnam, mostly in Thai Nguyen where EMW has a project office building parts of a medical university. Luciano Moccia, the new regional coordinator for OHH in northern Vietnam, will coordinate getting the children treated at hospitals in Hanoi (Thai Binh is on the coast, about two hours drive east from Hanoi.)

Irish Aid is the official development assistance agency of Ireland, and has become increasingly active in Vietnam in recent years. The new Irish Ambassador, Maeve Collins, recently met with East Meets West and expressed her desire for a deeper partnership with EMW. EMW staff hopes that this means more children in need of heart operations will get the help they need.

 

To find out more, contact our Development Team at info@eastmeetswest.org.