Almost Perfect

In March 2003, a generation after the end of the Vietnam War, an American surgical team arrived in Can Tho, a regional capital on the Mekong Delta. The thirty-nine medical and support volunteers brought with them a truckload of medical supplies and equipment. For seven days they worked tirelessly, reconstructing the twisted and disfigured faces of children with severe birth defects. In sweltering heat and in primitive conditions this medical team worked staggering hours and completed 169 surgical procedures. Rebuilding imperfect faces, they gave hope and new life to children cast out, cursed to an existence of social isolation and shame. In Almost Perfect, Wayne Schoenfelds powerful and moving photographs tell a dual story. Traveling far in to the countryside to visit the families in their homes, his images tell a story of parental devotion and unconditional love, a story of disappointment, sacrifice and hope. But this is also a story of modern heroes, volunteers that make enormous personal sacrifice to help, however and wherever they can. In a world where, too often, storytellers and the media are drawn to catastrophe and horror, Wayne Schoenfeld documents a mission of peace focusing on themes that are heroic and worthwhile.