After being screened by Chinese medics at the Kabul Royal Hospital, the first group of 21 children, aged 2 to 14, arrived at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University on Aug 30. As of Monday, 17 had undergone successful operations and were recovering well. WANG JING/CHINA DAILY

"I heard about the program about two weeks ago, so I took her to Kabul from my hometown to see the Chinese doctors," he said. "I trust the highly skilled doctors will help Marwa become healthy and have a normal life."

The children and their guardians were expected to stay at the hospital for 15 days, during which staff members will help them to relax in their new environment.

The Red Cross Society of China, which runs the humanitarian program, has said it aims to initially help about 100 children. Meanwhile, the Red Crescent Society of Afghanistan estimates nearly 7,000 Afghan children with congenital heart disease are in urgent need of treatment.

Doctors from Shanghai, Beijing and Xinjiang arrived at Kabul Royal Hospital to start screening children for the program on Aug 26.

To get there, they traveled in armored vehicles, as suicide bombings and kidnappings are still a threat in the city. However, personal safety was not their major concern.

"Our goal was to bring the children to China for surgery as soon as possible. Anything else was less important," said Sun Shuopeng, secretary-general of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, the fundraising arm of the society, who led the foreign aid team.