This week we talked with Diane Ngo, Capital Budget Analyst with Budget and Resource Management in UCSF Finance, about how she found her artistic talent and how she uses her artwork and her experience as a polio survivor to help others heal. She reminds us that you don’t have to be a medical professional to play your part in advancing health for everyone.  

Tell us about how you discovered your artistic talent. 

Art came easy to me, but I never took any classes. I was sketching for fun until my late 20s when I met an architect who was like a spiritual father to me. He always had a sketchbook with him. He stayed awake at church by sketching the sermon, then started sketching baptisms and weddings and giving the sketches as gifts. Intrigued, I started sketching people and things around and he encouraged me to sketch in pen, not pencil, to help build confidence and muscle memory. When I moved to San Francisco, one of the ways I would relax was to sketch. In 2014, my dad suffered a massive stroke and later that year,  I also got really ill. As I was recovering, all I could do was work, go home and sleep. During that month I started sketching with more focus and started sharing my work online. I was shocked at the positive response. People started asking to buy my work, and I had an idea that if I was able to make any profit, I wanted to donate it. I didn’t want my art to be a business, to become “work.” My father always taught me the importance of giving back and by donating my art proceeds, it was a tribute to him. I chose causes to donate to that help people heal. I’ve raised $10k through my prints and online art, Bao Linh Art, art with a mission. 

Advancing Health Worldwide doesn’t just mean the clinical and medical side of care. There is a human touch to it. I’m lucky to be a part of that, and that’s something all of us can do. Here’s where I’m donating the proceeds of my artwork (more here): 

Shriners Hospital 
As a polio survivor, I’m indebted to Shriners for the incredible services they provided to me from age 8-21, including medical care, therapy, and leg braces at no cost to my family. 

Wheels for the World 
I’ve been involved in this charity since 2003. We travel around the world to help communities by providing wheelchairs, therapy, ministry, and other resources. Last year I took a trip to Ghana.

Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) 
This foundation provides opportunities and support to people with physical challenges, so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. Adaptive CrossFit also helps me be active in a safe way. 

Kids in Art - Healing Pediatric Cancer through the Arts 
After a mother lost her son to cancer, she started this organization to hold art workshops in the waiting rooms and as part of patient treatment plans at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and Stanford Children’s Hospital to help provide them a therapeutic relief. 

You like good news, and we want to share more of what’s good in 2019 with our FAS community. One Good Thing is the “cookie jar” of emails: open it up for a quick, sweet break in your week! Every Wednesday, we’ll share One Good Thing happening in FAS.  

Check out last week's One Good Thing: Walking for Red, and our One Good Thing webpage to see all the stories featured in our pilot.