FC Smile

On 10 August a new charity outreach program - FC Smile - was launched in Korea. The charity soccer club was formed with the backing of JCCF and JS Foundation. Operation Smile will be their first project partner. The club aims to turn the hopes and dreams of children into a reality through soccer. In addition to fundraising events for medical expenses the club will also hold soccer clinics and other events. The twenty member committee is comprised of Jackie Chan, Lee Dong Guk, Park Ji Sung (Korean football star), Lee Hwi Jae (presenter), Kim Junsu (singer), Song Joong Ki (actor) and others.

Jackie was unable to attend the inauguration event in person, but did send a video message of support.

The first event will be the Asian Smile Cup which will be held in China in January 2016 and in Korea in June 2016. All proceeds will help children with facial disfigurements and physical disabilities (0peration Smile).

Interview With Jackie About Charity

Interview with Jackie after visiting Operation Smile ICSE on Saturday 6 August 2011. In English.



SOURCE: CNTV.CN

VIDEO: Jackie Chan Operation Smile 2011 ISCE

Jackie In Beijing

SOURCE: THE HINDU.COM

And Jackie had this to say about it on Weibo:

今天是我最近最開心到一天！看到來自世界各地的超過800多個學生參加微笑行動，用愛心善心去幫助其他人，看到他們充滿喜悅的樣子我真的很開心。如果所有人都以愛心對其他人，世界將會多麼的和平。一起加入我們，幫助他人。

---

Today is the happiest I have had recently! To see over 800 students From around the world to participate in Operation Smile, to help others with love kindness, to see them full of joy, I was really happy. If everyone loves others, how peaceful the world will be. Join us to help others.

SOURCE: WEIBO.COM/JACKIECHAN

Jackie Supports Operation Smile in Beijing

Jackie Chan Inspires Youth at Operation Smile’s 2011 International Student Cultural Exchange in Beijing

As a supporter of Operation Smile for more than 18 years, Jackie Chan will join other internationally-respected speakers at the organisation’s largest ever annual International Student Cultural Exchange (ISCE).

Almost 800 college and high school students from 23 countries around the world will gather from August 1-7 at the Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall in China to learn firsthand how to enhance their knowledge of global cultures, strengthen their character, and develop into future philanthropic leaders. Named one of the most philanthropic people in Asia by Forbes Asia in 2010, Jackie Chan is a wonderful mentor to inspire students to make a difference in their communities and around the world and help change lives for the better.

For almost 2 decades, Jackie Chan has helped to spread awareness for children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate and Operation Smile’s work in China. In 1993, he donated $2 million (HK) and an anesthesia machine to help Operation Smile provide free surgeries for more children in China.

For his many years of generous support and advocacy of Operation Smile’s work, Jackie Chan was named an International Smile Ambassador for Operation Smile China medical project. In Hangzhou, he has toured Operation Smile China’s Comprehensive Care Center, China’s first charity hospital, and lent his support for many fundraising events in Hong Kong. In 2009, during Operation Smile’s 20th anniversary commemoration of its work in Vietnam, Jackie Chan along with Operation Smile Co-Founders Dr. Bill and Kathy Magee received the National Medal for Peace and Friendship Among Nations award from the Vietnamese government.

“I have experienced very personally how this surgery is life-changing and I am honoured to have been a part of this program with you," said Mr. Chan.

The ISCE is hosted by Operation Smile, an international children’s medical charity that provides free surgery for children in developing countries who were born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. Students will participate in team-building activities that celebrate their diversity. This year’s motto – Now is the Time! – will be incorporated throughout the ISCE, motivating students to make a difference in the world today.

The goal of ISCE is to educate students on the value of service in their communities and help them establish a lifetime of giving. ISCE participants hail from more than 23different countries. Thousands of students in more than 700 schools around the world are involved in Operation Smile’s Student Programs, making a difference in children’s lives and learning the importance of volunteerism.

Jackie Chan is a Hong Kong-born actor who also is an action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has appeared in over 100 films, and has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

SOURCE: OPERATION SMILE UK

Read more on OPERATION SMILE BLOG

It is also Operation Smile's 20th Anniversary of spreading smiles in China this year and you can read more about it here

Jackie Operation Smile New Photos

Jackie Chan, originally uploaded by kakastar.

Jackie wearing his award for "peace and friendship between nations”

Click on the photo to go to this stream for lots more photos and large size downloads of these images

Jackie Chan - Peace, peace, peace

As friendly as many of his characters on screen, Jackie Chan made a rushed visit to Cambodia on Nov. 10 and 11 as part of the ongoing “Bridges” lecture series on peace. In a one-on-one with AsiaLIFE’s Nora Lindstrom, he spoke about the ongoing diplomatic row between Cambodia and Thailand, what being Chinese means to him, and who would win a fight between him and Chuck Norris.

AL: You arrived in Cambodia last night, what has the experience been like so far?

JC: I’ve been here three times. Every time it’s rushed – hotel, then location, back and forth, then leave.

AL: This time you’ve come from Thailand to Cambodia in the middle of a political crisis between the two countries. In your lecture today, how will you address this issue and talk about peace in this context?

JC: Governments are too big for me, I don’t understand what they are doing. But you can choose a friend, not choose the neighbour. [Cambodia and Thailand] have been right beside each other for millions of years – if you always argue then no one will be happy. Why can’t we help each other rather than hate each other? I think there must be a way, just to talk about the problem. I’ve travelled to so many countries, and I always ask “Why?”. I don’t understand why. I don’t understand politics. Why do they think the land belongs to them? Cambodia belongs to me, the world belongs to us – who set up the borders? Who set up the rules? I just don’t understand. I’ve just finished a movie called ‘A Little Big Soldier’. The whole movie is against war. We’ve had the script for about ten years, but I haven’t had time to shoot it. For the last couple of years however, I’ve seen the war going on in the Middle East and I just don’t understand why people set off bombs amongst ordinary people. I don’t know the inside story, but I just can’t understand why, so that’s why I went back, took my script out and decided to make the movie.

AL: Your visit to Cambodia is very short. Who have you been meeting and what have you been talking about?

JC: I can’t remember, I’ve visited so many people! I’ve been travelling for 22 days – I’ve already forgotten what I did yesterday. [Received by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in the morning, during which the two discussed future filming possibilities in Cambodia. Night before Jackie Chan performed live on CTN together with Cambodian stars and celebrities.] The songs in Cambodia are so good. I really hope I can go online to find out the lyrics. They are really simple, about loving your country, loving your home, but so meaningful. I hope someone can find the lyrics. Right now, I’m no longer interested in making movies just to have fun and make money. Now, when I do something I do it for a reason. Otherwise I’m not going to do it. I’m famous enough, I’m rich enough. Now, people ask me why I don’t go home and have a rest after finishing a movie. I can make one million a day. But I want to do charity, because I believe I have the responsibility for my own city, for the world. I don’t know how many people I can help, I don’t know how many things I can do – maybe it’s zero – but it makes me happy. When I sleep, I sleep very tight, because I’m helping somebody. If I come to Cambodia, or Vietnam, or Thailand, and I can help one person, that’s enough.

AL: You were recently in Vietnam taking part in Operation Smile. What was that experience like?

JC: Wow! I’ve been helping Operation Smile for 20 years, but mostly I’ve just been doing charity premieres and balls to raise money to send to them. Sometimes I’ve visited the children. But this time was different because I went into the operation room and... You can’t imagine what they do – I almost fainted! Someone behind me had to prop me up. But it was really touching. After the operation I saw the mum and she cried, because she could see the future of the child. The future of the child in which he can speak perfectly, he can drink, he can eat and he can go to school without people making fun of him. There’s so many of them. When you travel, there are so many people like him, like you, helping other people. We help people build homes, we help people fix cleft lips, in Cambodia we help victims of landmines... Everything can be destroyed in a second by a bullet or a bomb, and it takes decades to rebuild. Stop doing this! I ask why not help each other? If you help people then people will help you. All over the world, wherever I go people help me.

AL: Do you have any upcoming projects in Cambodia?

JC: In my next movie, there will be one shot from Cambodia, from Angkor Wat. After the first time I came to Cambodia, I went home and immediately wrote a script. The story is based in the 70s during the Khmer Rouge, and it’s about landmines. It starts with me in Hong Kong and I am a bad person. I escape to Cambodia and meet a volunteer who helps me go into the jungle. But actually I cheat her because I want to buy drugs in the jungle. But then I see how children get blown up by landmines, and in the end I leave the opium and help the children run away. Years later I’m at a college speaking and I take off my pants, and I have no legs. How many landmines are there in the world, how many children are going to die? That’s the movie I want to make.

AL: On your blog you write about participating in the 60th anniversary celebrations in China. What does being Chinese mean to you?

JC: It means a lot. When I was young, I was born in Hong Kong. I didn’t know what nationality I was. We were under the British, but we were Chinese. We couldn’t go to China, but we could not go to England either. Even if we had passports, when we went to England we still had to request visas. But I was British! That made me unhappy. It made me wonder who I was. So when Hong Kong was returned to China I could finally tell people I’m Chinese. Wherever I went before people asked “Are you Chinese?”, “No, I’m from Hong Kong”, “Are you British?” Sigh. I couldn’t even speak English! But now I can tell people, I am Chinese. I’m very lucky, and China, for the last ten years it’s just boomed and become very strong.

AL: How do you perceive China’s role in the world?

JC: I’m happy now. China suffered so many decades, you can see it. We are a new country, only 60 years old. We’re not talking about 5,000 years. We’re only 60 and for the last 50 years we’ve suffered a lot. I was not in China, I was in Hong Kong, but I saw the news. But boom, suddenly, we’ve got peace. No more problems with neighbours. Now we have peace, although there are still some things going on. I think every country should have peace. War, it only destroys people – you destroy your own country.

AL: Final question, who would win a fight between you and Chuck Norris?

JC: He would win. Because I’m the one who talks about peace. That’s the problem, everyone thinks they’re strong. If you beat me, or even if you kill me, I might knock your teeth out - we both get hurt. Before, I wanted to be a bouncer and that’s why I learnt so many martial arts. Later on, I found out I had hurt somebody and run away. Two days later I found out his tooth was still in my hand. I thought there was a problem with my bone. I didn’t know if I’d killed the guy or just knocked him down – I was scared for a whole month. Every day I watched the newspaper to find out if I maybe I’d killed someone... If you hurt somebody, you hurt yourself. In fighting, you both get hurt. That’s why when the International Peace Foundation contacted me I said yes. I’ll come right away.

For more information about the “Bridges” lecture series, organised by the International Peace Foundation, please visit www.peace-foundation.net.

ASIA LIFE GUIDE

Didn't Jackie meet King Norodom Sihamoni as well? I know the news reports said he was supposed to ...


I just answered my own question ...

Sing Tao Global Network News: Jackie Chan the day before yesterday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to participate in "peaceful dialogue and cultural bridge program" activities, stay three days met with King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen of local, as well as lectured at universities in Cambodia, and students talked about trend peace, education, employment and other topics, Jackie Chan and receive an honorary doctorate awarded to anthropology.

Jackie Chan in Cambodia this trip with the local artistes, singing Chinese songs, "We are one people", "plainly My Heart", but also with a public artist singing an English song "We are the world". Jackie Chan has visited Cambodia three times, each time a warm welcome by local people.

Doctor Jackie!

The first news reports about Jackie's reactions to assisting with the cleft-lip surgery in Vietnam last week are filtering through.

Jackie is reported as saying:

I was responsible for pulling the muscles to help doctor and use the gauze to stop bleeding while cutting. Albeit a little work, but each one must be very careful and the hand movements very steady, just a short 45-minute surgery, and now I am tired - body muscle pain, limp. Just less than a hour of operation, it was thrilling for me to see, but seeing the completion of a child by a cleft lip surgery returned to normal without missing face, the kind of feeling can't be described. When I gave the child to the mother I had tears of gratitude in my eyes for the great maternal love. Watching her feed the baby and seeing the child's confidence return no matter how I feel it is worth paying. "

Jackie also said that he felt nauseous looking at his dinner that night and couldn't eat! (I don't think raw steak was a good dinner choice - Poor Jackie!)

Jackie Chan said, "In just 45 minutes to make children regain their confidence, I am very happy to see children of different nationalities to reproduce the smile, Operation Smile to help a lot of people - hope that in Asia, China and other parts of this event more community will be more harmony, and strong." And the photo of Jackie Chan's embrace of the baby's also appears warm and moving.

SOURCES:

Netease:
LINK and TRANSLATED LINK

Xinhua News:

LINK and TRANSLATED LINK

ENT.NEWS

LINK and TRANSLATED LINK

Subao Net:

LINK and TRANSLATED LINK

Some pictures:

Jackie with Bill and Kathy Magee Founders of Operation Smile
(Jackie was assisting Bill Magee during the surgery.)

The baby reunited with his mother after the surgery

Pictures @ SOHU.COM and @ Zing.vn

There are more photos and coverage at jackiechan.com

Jackie in Vietnam - Videos

History of Operation Smile:

A Bit of History

In trying to find out more about the award Jackie received on Tuesday in Vietnam I found this article about a previous recipient. As history is one of the many things that interests me as well as the connection with China and blah blah blah - I could give you 50 reasons why I found this interesting. So here it is:

Hero’s medal recalls fleeting collaboration


(18-05-2008)

by Christoph Giebel, Assoc. Professor of History, University of Washington, Seattle, US

On May 10, 2008, in a moving ceremony in Seattle, US, Mr Mac Shin, an 84-year old Chinese-American of Hong Kong origin, received a high honour. On behalf of the Vietnamese Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), Deputy Ambassador Nguyen Tien Minh of the Vietnamese embassy in Washington DC had come to confer on Mac Shin VUFO’s Medal "For Peace and Friendship Among Nations."

But who is Mac Shin? Not many people in Viet Nam or the United States know his name. And why did he receive this rare award? Simply put, Mac Shin has a special connection to the legendary Ho Chi Minh dating back more than 60 years. And he is one of the few still alive who played an important part in the historic months of spring and summer of 1945. Here is his story.

During World War II, Germany’s ally Japan, after occupying eastern and coastal China, stationed troops in French Indochina, which at that time was governed by pro-Nazi Vichy French administrators. Yet after France’s liberation in the summer of 1944, a number of Free French in the Vietnamese parts of Indochina began covertly supplying Allied Headquarters in Kunming with intelligence.

Kunming, a city in southwestern China, was the base of the famed 14th US Air Force ("Flying Tigers") under General Claire Chennault that had begun harassing Japanese shipping and supply lines in Indochina. The success of these bombing raids depended on accurate weather reports from within Indochina, as well as on up-to-date intelligence on Japanese troop movements, bases and storage facilities. In addition, a network of agents within Indochina was necessary to rescue shot-down or crashed US pilots, hide them from the Japanese and, if possible, smuggle them out of Indochina back to Kunming.

The OSS, the forerunner to the CIA, was involved in these information-gathering activities from Kunming. But it was in fact a private group of Anglo-Americans, the so-called GBT Group, working from southern China near the Chinese-Vietnamese border regions and utilising their extended network of French business contacts in Indochina, who were more centrally important to these covert operations. Mac Shin, then a 21-year-old British subject from Hong Kong who had fled the Japanese war-time occupation of his homeland, was a radio operator for the GBT group.

In March 1945, the Japanese, by now deeply distrustful of the French, staged a surprise coup against the French colonial administration in Indochina. With most Frenchmen imprisoned, the valuable intelligence from within Indochina to the Allies in Kunming dried up. Both OSS and GBT were now looking for reliable intelligence sources among anti-Japanese Vietnamese.

They had already met a Vietnamese nationalist leader by the name of "Hoo" – none other than Ho Chi Minh – who had already once personally escorted a rescued US pilot from the rugged terrain of northern Viet Nam (then called "Tonkin" within Indochina) through Japanese lines and back to Kunming. Ho Chi Minh, a communist, led a revolutionary-nationalist organisation, the Viet Minh, that sought liberation and independence for Viet Nam from both French colonialism and Japanese occupation.

The Viet Minh was the largest of several Vietnamese nationalist groups in the Chinese-Vietnamese border areas and the only one that had, thanks to considerable popular support, been able to maintain guerrilla bases inside the northern Vietnamese regions of Indochina. Ho Chi Minh had been seeking Allied recognition of the Viet Minh and their cause, but only after the Japanese coup against the French did OSS and GBT personnel give him serious consideration.

It was decided in Kunming to send two GBT operatives into northern Viet Nam/Tonkin with Ho Chi Minh, in order to verify Ho’s claims about the Viet Minh, their strength, popular support and secret bases. If the Viet Minh turned out to be "for real" and trustworthy, these two agents were to begin training and working with the Viet Minh to re-establish anti-Japanese intelligence operations in Indochina in support of the 14th Air Force.

One of the two agents was the Chinese-American businessman Frankie Tan (the "T" in "GBT"). The other was Mac Shin, entrusted with the mission’s indispensable radio communications set.

In April 1945, Ho Chi Minh, Mac Shin and Frankie Tan flew in a couple of small planes from Kunming to the Chinese-Vietnamese border north of Cao Bang. With Viet Minh members chosen for intelligence training and a security guard detail, they sneaked across the border and stayed for a while in the caves of Pac Bo, a Viet Minh base a mile inside Vietnamese territory.

Then they set out on an arduous, dangerous trek through the jungle-covered, mountainous regions of northern Viet Nam/Tonkin, eluding Japanese patrols and reaching the main Viet Minh guerrilla base in Tan Trao, a remote ethnic minority village some 80km north of Ha Noi, about three weeks later in May 1945.

Mac Shin describes this perilous trek of some 402km, mostly on foot, sometimes on horseback, in vivid detail. Both he and Frankie Tan, lightly armed, were clad in regional ethnic minority garb, taught some rudimentary Vietnamese and otherwise told to remain silent upon contact with locals to prevent detection. Avoiding the main roads and open terrain, the group moved slowly and often at night. At times, rains turned the ground to slippery mud, yet Ho Chi Minh, already in his mid-fifties, insisted that the much younger agents ride on horseback in his stead. Mac Shin frequently worried that his radio set, used intermittently to contact Kunming, would not survive these challenging conditions of terrain and climate.

Northern Viet Nam /Tonkin was also suffering a terrible famine at that time, and Mac Shin remembers that food supplies were always low. On occasion, however, villagers loyal to the Viet Minh would greet them happily and supply the group with rice and even a chicken. Sometimes potable water could only be found in bamboo stems.

Mac Shin was drawn to the warmth and caring personality of Ho Chi Minh, whom he only knew as "Ah Kung" (Chinese for "grandfather"). Ho Chi Minh spoke quite a few languages, and they communicated easily in English and Chinese, sometimes singing songs like For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.

Ho Chi Minh tolerated Mac Shin’s youthful exuberance with good humour, but could also enforce operational principles. Once, upon crossing a river, Mac Shin encountered a crocodile-like animal swimming towards him. He emptied his pistol into the beast, and Viet Minh guards had to finish it off with rifle shots from the riverbanks, whereupon Ho Chi Minh scolded Mac Shin for wasting precious ammunition and creating a ruckus.

Once in Tan Trao, Mac Shin resumed daily or even twice daily radio transmissions to Kunming. His liaison work with his Kunming counterpart, Charles Fenn, ensured regular air drops of supplies and materials.

He reported on weather conditions, relayed intelligence on Japanese troop movements provided by scouts and helped set up a system for the region’s population to aid, if necessary, downed US pilots.

Additionally, he began training young Viet Minh members in simple and then advanced radio operations in the base’s vicinity. One of his closest students was Nguyen Kim Hung, and Mac Shin also forged friendships with his body guard, Nong Quoc Tuan, as well as Viet Minh members attached to General Vo Nguyen Giap’s staff. Meanwhile, Frankie Tan began training Viet Minh members in intelligence techniques.

Being the radio operator, Mac Shin was regarded so crucial to the mission that he was allowed to reside in Ho Chi Minh’s special security zone set up about a kilometre or so from Tan Trao in a secluded bamboo grove. He occupied a simple thatched hut on stilts very close to Ho Chi Minh’s. None of the other Allied agents ever gained that immediate access to the future leader of independent, revolutionary Viet Nam. For Mac Shin, the "128 days with Ah Kung" remain unforgettable.

For several weeks, Frankie Tan and Mac Shin remained the only Allied agents with the Viet Minh, preparing in crucial ways the groundwork for a much larger Allied-Viet Minh war-time collaboration against the Japanese envisioned for the future. Beside their training and communications work, they also supervised local people in building a rudimentary air strip in the valley of Tan Trao.

In June they were joined by the first OSS officer, Dan Phelan, but it wasn’t until mid-July 1945 that the main OSS operation began. At that time, a group of OSS officers under Major Allison Thomas, code named "Deer Team", parachuted into the Viet Minh base. They supplied the Viet Minh with substantial amounts of modern military equipment and began training them in advanced combat tactics and weapons operations, in the process setting up a joint Vietnamese-US company. Eventually, these troops were supposed to disrupt Japanese reinforcements from Indochina to China where the Allies were planning major offensives.

But the war’s end came suddenly in August 1945. Just three weeks into their mission, the Deer Team’s training program was halted. The Viet Minh were now making rapid plans to seize the revolutionary moment after the sudden Japanese surrender, move into the plains of the Red River Delta, take control of Ha Noi and other areas of Viet Nam, and declare Vietnamese independence. Some OSS officers would move with the Viet Minh and, soon after, provide some assistance to the fledgling government of Ho Chi Minh.

Mac Shin, however, was not among them. He was ordered back to Kunming in mid-August and left by aeroplane. Ho Chi Minh had taken a particular, fatherly liking to Mac Shin and, at the farewell, offering him some coconuts, said that independent Viet Nam would give him a parcel of land and help him find a wife. Yet subsequent events in China and Viet Nam would prevent that from happening, and the two never reunited.

Mac Shin eventually returned to Hong Kong and, in the mid-1950s, emigrated to Seattle where he and his wife Rose have lived ever since.

Many Vietnamese and American participants in this brief moment of US-Viet Minh collaboration look back at 1945 and, cognisant of the horrors of the ensuing wars pitting Vietnamese and Americans against one another, see a lost opportunity. However we may judge that, it is nevertheless clear that Mac Shin played an important, indeed crucial role in this historic encounter of 1945. In historical accounts, the Deer Team of Caucasian OSS officers has received the most attention, while Mac Shin and the late Frankie Tan, who went on the initial, highly dangerous and uncertain mission that only made the Deer Team’s later arrival possible, are much less known.

The conferral by the Vietnamese Union of Friendship Organisations of the Medal of Peace and Friendship Among Nations upon Mac Shin is a high honour, but also a much deserved recognition of his activities of so long ago. Friendships forged and mutual understandings brought about in the spring and summer of 1945 survived 50 years of division and helped lay the groundwork for the rapidly improving relations between Viet Nam and the US in the present.

In 1995 and 1997, GBT, Viet Minh and OSS veterans had enthusiastic reunions. In 2001, Mac Shin was again able to visit Viet Nam, return to Pac Bo and Tan Trao once more, and meet many of his Vietnamese friends. Those still surviving are staying in touch on a regular basis and, undoubtedly, were with Mac Shin in spirit on the day he received the Medal of Peace and Friendship Among Nations. — VNS

VIET NAM NEWS (Please actually follow the link to see the photographs included in the article.)

All I have managed to find out about the prestigious award for “peace and friendship between nations” Jackie and other members of Operation Smile received Tuesday night is that it is the highest award given by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO).

Operation Smile Vietnam

It is worth taking a look at the Operation Smile website for the 20 Years of Smiles Celebration in Vietnam

You can see videos and pictures on the home page, read stories from the volunteers, and take a peek in the media room which has a number of documents to download if you want to read more about the various aspects of the work they do and you can even make a donation.

I had to share just one story from their field stories - read this if you ever doubt the power and effectiveness of love and compassion to change the world.

October 21, 2009

Celebrating 20 Years of Smiles


Dr. Bill Magee and John Connor organized the first mission to Vietnam in 1989.


At my 25th high school reunion in 1987, I reconnected with an old friend and classmate, John Connor. As we caught up on life and our work, I told John about Operation Smile, which over the period of five years had established medical missions in three continents, helping children whose smiles had been lost to congenital deformities, war or disease.

John, a Vietnam veteran, worked on Wall Street but was also active in veteran affairs and helping bring home POWs and MIAs. He expressed great interest in helping our cause.

That year, on Christmas Day, John called me to discuss a new development. Vietnam was interested in getting help for disabled children in their country.

John thought Operation Smile’s charity work could help create trust and open dialogue between two war-torn countries. For Kathy and I, this was an opportunity to bring healing to children, to two countries, and to test the powers of human kindness.

The next twelve months were very active. Negotiations continued between Washington and Vietnam over sending an Operation Smile team to Vietnam.

On August 8, 1988, we went to Hanoi and met with top medical officials, including Dr. Nguyen Huy Phan. In addition to balancing the skepticism and anxiety of local officials with the excitement of local doctors and patients, it quickly became obvious that there wasn’t a system to take care of the enormous number of Vietnamese children who needed surgery. But this didn’t stop us from trying.

Six months later, in February 1989, we brought 10,000 pounds of supplies and a team of 38 medical professionals, including seven Vietnam War veterans, and worked side-by-side with Dr. Phan and his team of Vietnamese surgeons to repair the cleft lips and cleft palates of 100 children. The week was not filled with hatred; it was all about coming together, restoring life and helping children.

At the time we were unaware of the impact we had in showing compassion, love and concern for those children. In caring for their children and building trust, we established a level of medical diplomacy without even realizing it, which in turn created tangible and dramatic results. MIAs were returned to the U.S. because of the relationship created with Operation Smile. We were able to bring together people from different cultures and backgrounds and focus not on what makes us different, but what makes us similar. Through the faces of the children we helped heal, we created a bridge between our cultures. Children are the only language that all of us have in common.

Following our first mission to Vietnam twenty years ago, Dr. Phan became one of Operation Smile’s most instrumental advocates, helping found Operation Smile Vietnam and build the infrastructure to provide year-round care for the children of Vietnam. Although Dr. Phan passed away in 1997, this historic mission in honor of our 20th anniversary celebrates our country’s friendship and camaraderie, as well as our common bond to help make sure that every child in Vietnam has a chance at a normal life.

The true measure of our long partnership is the children we help. Over 30,000 children in Vietnam now have new smiles. And it all began with one man reaching out to help heal a former enemy and his country. Unfortunately, my good friend John Connor passed away from non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Though he is not here to see the ongoing results of re-establishing relationships with Vietnam, he leaves a legacy of thousands of smiling faces.

Thank you for all your support and thank you to Operation Smile Vietnam for your dedication to helping heal children’s smiles. Our 20th Anniversary celebration and A Journey of Miracles is the beginning of a whole new era and Kathy and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.

- Dr. Bill Magee

Quoted from Operation Smile Vietnam

Update on Trip to Vietnam

‘Rush Hour 2’ star heading to Vietnam

World-famous actor and martial arts expert Jackie Chan will arrive in Hanoi on November 4 to attend the 20th anniversary celebrations of Operation Smile, a global non-governmental charity organization.

The 55-year-old Hong Kong-born actor is a goodwill ambassador for the association which provides free surgery and medical treatment for children born with facial deformities.

Jackie Chan will spend three days visiting children ahead of their operations and will also attend a press conference.

Teaming up with Jackie Chan is the Operation Smile’s VN Ambassador Ly Nha Ky.

This is Jackie Chan’s second visit to Vietnam. In April 2005, the actor made his first trip to the country in support of UNICEF/UNAIDS in Hanoi.

Chan, whose real name is Chan Kong Sang, is also an action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer.

He is also known around the world for his decades of charity work.

Jackie Chan established a charity foundation in his name in 1988 that awards scholarships to Hong Kong youth. Seventeen years later, he founded another charity fund called The Dragon’s Heart Foundation, which aims to help children and the elderly in remote areas of China.

SAIGON GP DAILY

Operation Smile Vietnam - 20 Years of Smiles

Operation Smile Celebrates 20th Anniversary in Vietnam with Historic Medical Mission

To mark 20 years of providing new smiles for children and young adults throughout Vietnam, Operation Smile, Inc. and Operation Smile Vietnam will launch “20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles” from November 4 – 14, 2009. In 1988, General John W. Vessey (Ret.) invited Operation Smile to send a medical education team to Vietnam as part of the MIA/POW initiatives. In a quest to help normalize U.S./Vietnam relations, Operation Smile sent a team of 38 medical volunteers to Hanoi in February 1989. The team included seven Vietnam War veterans and comprised the largest group of Americans to enter Vietnam since the War’s end in 1975. The team of American and Vietnamese surgeons worked together to repair the cleft lips and palates of 100 Vietnamese children. For the 20th Anniversary, 15 simultaneous missions from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City will be conducted providing cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, dental treatment, as well as reconstructive surgeries for burns and facial anomalies to 3,000 children.

Norfolk, Va. (Vocus/PRWEB ) October 22, 2009 -- To mark 20 years of providing new smiles for children and young adults throughout Vietnam, Operation Smile, Inc. and Operation Smile Vietnam will launch “20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles” from November 4 – 14, 2009. To highlight the diversity of programs offered, 15 simultaneous missions from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City will be conducted providing cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, dental treatment, as well as reconstructive surgeries for burns and facial anomalies.

20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles

The free programs will be conducted thanks to the generous donation of time and talent from more than 300 international medical volunteers from Vietnam, the U.S., the Philippines, the U.K., Canada, India, Norway, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Italy and Cambodia. The teams will set up in 15 sites to provide free medical and dental screening for thousands of Vietnamese children suffering from cleft lips, cleft palates, dental problems and other facial deformities. Operation Smile hopes to change the lives of nearly 3,000 children and young adults during this 10-day period.


The 20th Anniversary commemoration will begin on November 4 with a Gala Dinner in Hanoi at the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake with attendance by Smile Ambassador Jackie Chan, officials of the government of Vietnam, Operation Smile Vietnam sponsors and donors, and team members from around the world to mark the historic significance of the 20-year partnership. Other special guests will include: Operation Smile Vietnam’s Youth Ambassador Mai Phuong Thuy (Miss Vietnam 2006), and singers My Tam and Dam Vinh Hung.

On November 6, free medical and dental screenings will begin at 15 sites throughout Vietnam, followed by one week of surgical and dental treatments for selected patients. At the close of the week, approximately 3,000 Vietnamese children will celebrate their new smiles and “A Journey of Miracles” will conclude on November 14 in Ho Chi Minh City with a Smile Festival and Thank You Concert at Le Van Tan Park attended by key officials, sponsors and team members.

Operation Smile Vietnam Board Chairman Kenneth Atkinson commented about the significance of the 20th milestone, saying, “Operation Smile Vietnam has become a well-known organization with a reputation for credibility and building sustainability. We are grateful to our sponsors, our volunteers and our staff for their tireless work and continued commitment to making a difference. We look forward to the next 20 years of helping children smile throughout Vietnam.”

Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.-based Operation Smile was launched 27 years ago by Dr. Bill Magee, a plastic surgeon, and his wife Kathy Magee, a former nurse and clinical social worker, to help children with devastating facial deformities. Today, Operation Smile has a presence in 50 countries in addition to Vietnam, where its history began in 1988 when General John W. Vessey (Ret.) invited Operation Smile to send a medical education team to Vietnam as part of the MIA/POW initiatives. In a quest to help normalize U.S./Vietnam relations, Operation Smile sent a team of 38 medical volunteers to Hanoi in February 1989. The team included seven Vietnam War veterans and comprised the largest group of Americans to enter Vietnam since the War’s end in 1975. The team of American and Vietnamese surgeons worked together to repair the cleft lips and palates of 100 Vietnamese children.

According to Dr. Magee, “When we first went into Vietnam in 1989 we did so because we believed that children are the only language we all have in common. Twenty years later, in Vietnam and in all of our partner countries around the world, we still believe that uniting people across cultures and borders for the sake of a child in need is what helps us heal the wounds of the past. We are proud of what we have accomplished together and extend our best wishes to our friends in Vietnam as they launch a new era of programs to care for more Vietnamese children every year.”

Planning for this historic program has been underway for more than a year and is made possible by generous donations from sponsors in Vietnam including: Mobifone, Unilever, HSBC, and Manulife, and in the U.S. by generous foundations, corporations and families. “20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles” is being supported by the Vietnamese government, the Ministry of Health, and the U.S. Embassy.

To follow this historical medical mission, with daily photos, videos, and blogs, visit www.operationsmile.org/vietnam.

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Our Mission: Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children’s smiles and transform lives across the globe. Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. Since its founding, Operation Smile volunteers have treated more than 135,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and the organization has a presence in over 50 countries. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.

Contact: Scott Vooss (757-321-7697)

PRWEB

OPERATION SMILE VIETNAM

Operation Smile Vietnam

Take that! Jackie Chan to return to Hanoi

VietNamNet Bridge – Martial arts movie star Jackie Chan will arrive in Hanoi on November 4 as an ambassador for Operation Smile on the organisation’s 20th anniversary in Vietnam.

He will stay for three days to visit cleft palate children at hospitals before their operations. He will be joined by Miss Vietnam 2008 Mai Phuong Thuy and actress Ly Nha Ky.

This will be Chan’s second visit to Vietnam. He appeared in Hanoi in April 2005 as a Goodwill Ambassador of the UNICEF/UNAID. On that occasion he visited Quang Ninh to meet HIV/AIDS patients and their carers.

The Hong Kong star is variously described as an action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer.

Chan has been acting since the 1970s and has appeared in over 100 films. He has a star on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2008, Chan sang at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

VIET NAM NET

“20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles” Commemorates 20th Anniversary of Operation Smile Vietnam this November

15 Simultaneous Medical and Dental Missions to Provide Free Treatment For 3,000 children. Professional Medical Volunteers from 14 Countries will Join Vietnamese Medical Volunteers in Largest Free Program in 20-Year History

To mark 20 years of providing new smiles for children and young adults throughout Vietnam, Operation Smile, Inc. and Operation Smile Vietnam will launch “20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles” from November 4 – 14, 2009. To highlight the diversity of programs offered, 15 simultaneous missions from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City will be conducted providing cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, dental treatment, as well as reconstructive surgeries for burns and facial anomalies.

The free programs will be conducted thanks to the generous donation of time and talent from more than 300 international medical volunteers from Vietnam, the U.S., the Philippines, the U.K., Canada, India, Norway, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Italy and Cambodia. The teams will set up in 15 sites to provide free medical and dental screening for thousands of Vietnamese children suffering from cleft lips, cleft palates, dental problems and other facial deformities. Operation Smile hopes to change the lives of nearly 3,000 children and young adults during this 10-day period.

The 20th Anniversary commemoration will begin on November 4 with a Gala Dinner in Hanoi at the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake with attendance by Smile Ambassador Jackie Chan, officials of the government of Vietnam, Operation Smile Vietnam sponsors and donors, and team members from around the world to mark the historic significance of the 20-year partnership. Other special guests will include: Operation Smile Vietnam’s Youth Ambassador Mai Phuong Thuy (Miss Vietnam 2006), and singers My Tam and Dam Vinh Hung.

On November 6, free medical and dental screenings will begin at 15 sites throughout Vietnam, followed by one week of surgical and dental treatments for selected patients. At the close of the week, approximately 3,000 Vietnamese children will celebrate their new smiles and “A Journey of Miracles” will conclude on November 14 in Ho Chi Minh City with a Smile Festival and Thank You Concert at Le Van Tan Park attended by key officials, sponsors and team members.

Operation Smile Vietnam Board Chairman Kenneth Atkinson commented about the significance of the 20th milestone, saying, “Operation Smile Vietnam has become a well-known organization with a reputation for credibility and building sustainability. We are grateful to our sponsors, our volunteers and our staff for their tireless work and continued commitment to making a difference. We look forward to the next 20 years of helping children smile throughout Vietnam.”

Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.-based Operation Smile was launched 27 years ago by Dr. Bill Magee, a plastic surgeon, and his wife Kathy Magee, a former nurse and clinical social worker, to help children with devastating facial deformities. Today, Operation Smile has a presence in 50 countries in addition to Vietnam, where its history began in 1988 when General John W. Vessey (Ret.) invited Operation Smile to send a medical education team to Vietnam as part of the MIA/POW initiatives. In a quest to help normalize U.S./Vietnam relations, Operation Smile sent a team of 38 medical volunteers to Hanoi in February 1989. The team included seven Vietnam War veterans and comprised the largest group of Americans to enter Vietnam since the War’s end in 1975. The team of American and Vietnamese surgeons worked together to repair the cleft lips and palates of 100 Vietnamese children.

According to Dr. Magee, “When we first went into Vietnam in 1989 we did so because we believed that children are the only language we all have in common. Twenty years later, in Vietnam and in all of our partner countries around the world, we still believe that uniting people across cultures and borders for the sake of a child in need is what helps us heal the wounds of the past. We are proud of what we have accomplished together and extend our best wishes to our friends in Vietnam as they launch a new era of programs to care for more Vietnamese children every year.”

Planning for this historic program has been underway for more than a year and is made possible by generous donations from sponsors in Vietnam including: Mobifone, Unilever, HSBC, and Manulife, and in the U.S. by generous foundations, corporations and families. “20 Years of Smiles – A Journey of Miracles” is being supported by the Vietnamese government, the Ministry of Health, and the U.S. Embassy.

To follow this historical medical mission, with daily photos, videos, and blogs, visit www.operationsmile.org/vietnam.

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Our Mission: Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children’s smiles and transform lives across the globe. Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. Since its founding, Operation Smile volunteers have treated more than 135,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and the organization has a presence in over 50 countries. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.


svooss@operationsmile.org
www.operationsmile.org/

TRANSWORLD NEWS

Jackie, Vietnam and Operation Smile

So Jackie will be re-visiting Viet Nam in November with Operation Smile.

Celebrating 20 years of making children smile

"20 Years of Smiles - A Journey of Miracles” will be celebrated next month with free surgeries and treatment for 2,000 children with facial deformities across the country.


Commemorating the 20th anniversary of Operation Smile Vietnam, the event will bring bout 300 international medical volunteers from America and different countries around the world, the Regional Development Director of Operation Smile Asia Pacific, Nguyen Viet Phuong, told Thanh Nien Weekly.


These volunteers will work alongside hundreds of Vietnamese counterparts to deliver free life changing surgeries for 1,000 children and youth born with facial deformities and provide another 1,000 with burn, cranio facial and dental treatments in 15 mission sites across the country from November 7 to 13, Phuong said.

The budget for the whole special journey to Vietnam is expected to reach US$2 million, which is being raised both locally and internationally, said Phuong.

“It is our wish and dream to be able to treat every single child born with facial deformities, but unfortunately, we often see 2 out of 3 children coming to the mission site having to go home without surgery due to the lack of time, funding and related medical equipment”, said Phuong.

As part of the celebration, a special Gala dinner will be held in Hanoi on November 4, with the attendance of government officials, ministries, Vietnamese and international celebrities from the arts, sports and business communities.

A special performance on the evening will be provided by famous movie star Jackie Chan, who is an ambassador of the organization.

All proceeds from the dinner will be used to fund the surgeries and medical treatment, Phuong said.

A whole day of festivities culminating in a big “Thank You” concert will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 14 that more than 3,000 people are expected to attend.

The “20 Years of Smiles - A Journey of Miracles” event is being supported by the Vietnamese government, the Ministry of Health and the US Embassy.

Operation Smile Vietnam (OSV), the local branch of US-based Operation Smile Inc., has been able to provide free cleft lip and palate surgeries and medical services for more than 30,000 children and youth over the last 20 years, said Kenneth Atkinson, chairperson of OSV Board of Sponsors.

More information about the program can be obtained by contacting Operation Smile Vietnam at (84) (04) 3 936 5426, 3 920 7356, vnguyen@operationsmile.org or www.operationsmile.org.vn.

Reported by Van Khoa

THANHNIEN NEWS