Bhojpur is a hill district located in the northeastern part of Nepal. It is home to 172,098 people, and reports 4,474 pregnancies per year.  In 2014, One Heart World-Wide started the needs assessment process for this district, but due to the earthquakes that destroyed parts of Nepal in 2015, we had to pause our initial program activities and focus on districts such as Dhading and Sindhupalchok, where over 90% of the health facilities sustained either full or partial damage.

​In late 2015, we started up our program activities in Bhojpur again, and in 2016, we have started rolling out the second phase of our Network of Safety – Program Implementation. Over the next three years, we will train community outreach providers, implement a community outreach program, upgrade health facilities into birthing centers, and train Skilled Birth Attendants. We will also develop a basic health infrastructure, provide health education, and foster community empowerment in collaboration with the local District Health Department. Our goal for the next five years is to double the rate of deliveries with a Skilled Birth Attendant, and reduce the maternal and neonatal mortality by at least 50%.

By the end of November 2015, OHW conducted a need assessment for the district, as well as reviewed the secondary data. We set up our field office in January of this year (attached a photo), and hired a district coordinator, a training supervisor, as well as an administration coordinator. By February 1st, 2016, our program, the Network of Safety, was formally launched with the local government and the local stakeholders. So far we have installed 15 solar suitcases in existing birthing centers. This allows the local Skilled Birth Attendants to provide a safe delivery, especially during the nighttime. In addition we have have identified 9 women from respective birthing centers in the district that have been admitted to attend the 2 month training, conducted by the Nepali government within their national SBA training program. Their training will begin shortly. OHW is not only sponsoring their training, but providing them with the necessary equipment. Lastly we so far have assessed 10 birthing centers in the district that we will upgrade and equip in 2016, and in collaboration with the local Village Development Committee. Our overall target for 2016 is to fully and / or partially upgrade and equip 15 to 20 birthing centers, train 30 to 40 Skilled Birth Attendants, and train approximately 780 community outreach providers.

We had a wonderful time in Portland attending our strategic partner, Kidspire - Orphan Impact's gala. Supporters generously gave over $200,000, and we were able to announce our grant to them this year on stage.

Chao Foundation partners with China Cal to run two programs in Yunnan Province, China focused on treating congenital heart disease.

China Cal’s program to train county doctors to properly examine newborns is progressing as planned. With the help of a grant from The Ping and Amy Chao Foundation of Los Altos, CA, China Cal has added an evaluation component and a University of California, Irvine Program In Public Health PhD graduate student. Ms Fangqi Guo, who will be the principal investigator for an evaluative study of the training program, will work with the China Cal team in Yunnan for several months this year. We are also grateful to the Masimo Corporation for their kind gift of 125 pulse oximeters to be used in each of the rural Yunnan county hospitals for screening newborns for critical congenital heart disease.

The following is a summary of PhD candidate Fangqi Guo’s research plan.
Undiagnosed congenital cardiac shunt lesions with pulmonary hypertension and critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) kill 3 to 4 of every thousand children in developing countries. Most of these heart defects are completely curable if discovered early in life. Yunnan Province is a slowly developing province of China. The estimated number of infants that die from these heart defects is about 400 per year. Pulse oximetry is an effective screening method to detect CCHD in very early stage. We will  provide rural Yunnan county hospitals, where most babies are now born, with equipment and training for doctors and nurses responsible for the care of neonates. We will train these doctors regarding proper neonatal cardiac examination. We will evaluate the increased knowledge and change in behaviour of these trainees. Though rural Yunnan is one of the poorest regions of China, both medical insurance options and financial assistance mechanisms are growing and the level of medical care is continuously improving. The conditions for increased awareness and discovery of undiagnosed congenital heart cases are therefore ideal for addressing this problem in Yunnan Province.

The China California Heart Watch and the Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation of Silicon Valley, CA will collaborate in a pilot project to support surgical care for Yunnan children with congenital heart disease. All children receiving support from this collaboration will undergo corrective surgery at KMU First Affiliate Hospital in Kunming, Yunnan Province, This pilot project will enhance additional support that the China California Heart Watch and one of its partner organizations, the Children's Heart Link of Minneapolis, MN, are providing to KMU to improve the quality of its care for children in Yunnan Province. 

About Chao Foundation
The Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation was founded in California’s Silicon Valley in 2005 by Ping Chao and his wife Amy. The foundation was established to fund nonprofit and public welfare initiatives that (1) improve children’s health in developing countries; and (2) nurture a spirit of philanthropy among the younger generation in China and of the greater Chinese Diaspora. While the Chao Foundation is based in the Bay Area and has local projects, many of its programs focus on developing countries in East Asia, from China and Cambodia to Vietnam.

Orphan Impact is pleased to be the recipient of a $25,000 grant from the Chao Foundation and Transparent Fish Fund. The funds have been granted to support the Orphan Impact computer and internet training program for 288 orphan children, age 8 to 17, in orphanages throughout Vietnam. This is the second consecutive year Orphan Impact has received a grant from the Chao Foundation and Transparent Fish Fund. The generosity of this grant has been instrumental in helping Orphan Impact to strengthen core program areas and expand to reach more children in more orphanages.

About Transparent Fish Fund
Transparent Fish Fund is a 501©(3) US non-profit organization founded in 2011 in Palo Alto, California, established exclusively for charitable purposes to connect credible Chinese and East Asian grassroots NGOs with individuals from the West. The greater mission behind this work is to foster a sustainable long-term NGO culture in East Asia, and in doing so, spread a global spirit of philanthropy.

About Chao Foundation
The Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation was founded in California’s Silicon Valley in 2005 by Ping Chao and his wife Amy. The foundation was established to fund nonprofit and public welfare initiatives that (1) improve children’s health in developing countries; and (2) nurture a spirit of philanthropy among the younger generation in China and of the greater Chinese Diaspora. While the Chao Foundation is based in the Bay Area and has local projects, many of its programs focus on developing countries in East Asia, from China and Cambodia to Vietnam.