Behind this artifact lies more than a story about the art market. It also represents hope and a source of support for life-changing surgeries for Vietnamese children born with facial differences. All proceeds from this special auction lot will be donated to Facing the World, a UK-based charity that has worked closely with Viet Nam for nearly two decades to provide life-changing surgery and treatment for disadvantaged children with facial differences.
Katrin Kandel, CEO of Facing the World, said that it’s incredibly moving to see an international auction supporting children in Viet Nam for the first time.
“Every act of generosity helps give a child the chance not only for life-changing surgery, but for confidence, dignity and a future without stigma,” she told the Viet Nam News Agency’s correspondent in London.
“To the auctioneers, donors and readers in Viet Nam, your support truly changes lives. Together, we can ensure that more children are able to smile, go to school and grow up with the opportunities every child deserves,” she noted.
The story of Facing the World in Viet Nam began nearly 20 years ago. When the organisation’s first doctors arrived in the country, they encountered a troubling reality: many children were born with severe craniofacial conditions, yet access to specialised surgical care was limited.
Behind those statistics were children unable to attend school because of facial differences, families quietly enduring hardship, and dedicated Vietnamese doctors who lacked opportunities for advanced training. In the early years, many patients were brought to the UK for complex surgeries, some costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. While those operations changed many lives, the model was not sustainable.
Facing the World therefore chose a more sustainable path: training Vietnamese surgeons and building surgical capacity within the country. International medical teams began traveling to Viet Nam to work side by side with local doctors, sharing techniques directly in operating rooms. At the same time, Vietnamese surgeons were sent abroad for specialised training at leading hospitals in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia.
Each year the organisation’s work in Viet Nam continues to grow, and 2026 will be an important step forward, Katrin Kandel stated, adding that alongside its regular surgical missions and fellowships for Vietnamese doctors, Facing the World is expanding professional training and collaboration, including specialist conferences and further international placements for surgeons. It is also working towards establishing the first Royal College of Surgeons–accredited surgical training centre at 108 Central Military Hospital in Ha Noi, which will be a major milestone for surgical education in the region.
