Tuan Win graduated from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire last year and hes hoping to move on to medical school. A native of Vietnam, Win came to the United States in 2000, wracked with polio and facing an uncertain future. He joined hundreds of other children from Southeast Asia who have come to America over the years, courtesy of Child Medical Connection.
Changing the lives of hundreds of Vietnamese children has been a decade-and-a-half obsession for Joe Bodanza, who has volunteered his own time and resources to support children with serious medical needs for treatment at Shriners Hospital in Springfield.
Binders and folders occupy Bodanzas bookshelves, each holding photos of Vietnamese kids once distorted by polio, warped by scoliosis, or covered with burns and tumors, all kids supported by his self-made organization, Child Medical Connection. Thanks to financial assistance from donors, including Chelmsford resident Roland Van Liew and the Van Liew Family Foundation, the agency continues to enhance lives.
At age 7 Bodanza contracted polio and so understands the diseases hardships. With no family of his own, Bodanza surrounds himself with his Vietnamese children who refer to him as Mr. Joe.
I want no money. What I have, I share with my kids. I sleep in a chair, I have coffee, thats all I need, said Bodanza. My needs are very simple. People come first. Those who dont have, come first.
It all started after Bodanza retired from the state Department of Education at age 58, and he ran a small business with his partner, a Vietnamese man, creating restaurant placemats. They traveled to Vietnam twice in 1995 where Bodanza witnessed the cultural negligence of children with disabilities. According to Bodanza, in Vietnam the handicapped are considered cursed and often shunned from society.
People in Vietnam avoid a person who is handicapped and theyre considered a bad luck person People believe bad luck is contagious so they avoid the family, the child and all the people in the house as bad luck people, said Bodanza.
Bodanza retuned with a personal mission: To bring home a youngster, Phuc (Peter) Nguyen, for polio treatment. Nguyens one-year treatment for his severe spinal curvature was $500,000.
I knew nothing, said Bodanza about the challenging process of bringing Nguyen overseas. I had more rejections for people coming here than you would believe. Kids with polio coming here were rejected.
Word spread of Bodanzas work in Vietnamese communities and on his second trip back more than 100 people appeared at his hotel room. Maxing out his credit cards, depleting his retirement income and a small $1,600 monthly state pension, Bodanza was going into debt bringing the children to America for treatment. After being advised to incorporate his work as charity, Bodanza founded the nonprofit Child Medical Connection, with the help of a pro bono lawyer. The move enabled him to receive more donations. He made three trips back to Vietnam between 1996 and 1997.
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