Day 2 of Orphanage!

Sadly, it is our last full day in Vietnam but it was well spent today at Thien Binh Orphanage. The bus ride to the orphanage was quite long but Ken brought his new guitar and we spent most of the ride singing to Ken, Bryant and Cece’s guitar playing. We arrived in high spirits.  As we entered the orphanage, it was around noon and the kids were in the cafeteria area eating their lunch and some were washing their own dishes. We slowly went up to the small tables and met some of the kids. They ate pretty fast when we said that we were going to play with them and give them candy once they finished their lunch.

my slow eater

Almost immediately the MEMO boys broke out the soccer ball and started a game with the older kids. Meanwhile I was feeding this little 4-year old boy who was more interested in his dessert than his lunch. After we finished, I gave him chocolate and apparently that was the key to his heart. He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside to where all the other kids were playing. When he joined up with his other friends, I took the opportunity to take out my camera to snap a few pics. One of the kids spotted it and asked if he could take a picture. I gave him my camera but showed him to put his wrist in the wrist strap and told him to be very careful. He started to take pictures of all of his friends and they were being super goofy and less shy in the pictures. I figured that the boy would take good care of my camera so I let him hold on to it.

the photographer taking a photo of himself

Soon, the kids were getting toys but I found my kid and he was too shy to go and grab a toy but as soon as the crowd of kids disappeared, the box was empty. Then I went on a mission to find any extra toys lying around. There were some kids holding 2 toys and the first one that I asked didn’t go so well. I asked another boy if I could have one of his toys and he just handed it to me, after which I gave to my kid. It was a Class of 2007 owl (Thomas: con chim ma di hoc) and he was super happy. Soon, we all got together for a group picture and the kids went back to their rooms. Some of us started migrating towards the kids’ living areas and I decided to follow to see what it looked like. We ended up in a room full of 1-2 year old babies! They were so cute and mostly napping. Some of them woke up and we played with them. 

Alex rocking a baby to sleep =)

Johnathan and an adorable baby

It was one of the most peaceful moments of the trip for me. Later on the bus, I looked through the pictures that the little boy took…



- Vivien

Day 3 of Clinic

At today’s clinic in My Tay Phuoc, Cai Lay, Tien Giang, I was put in Pharmacy. I have to say it was a lot slower than the other clinic roles. The pharmacists were doing most of the work taking prescriptions and picking out drugs while I was mainly put to work refilling the supply of drugs on the table. At clinic, the EKG/ultrasound station was quite a walk away from the triage and consultation room so I would see the crowd control people sweating and super exhausted walking patients back and forth. Part of me wanted more action than being under the shade in the pharmacy. Just like they say – be careful what you wish for – I was then asked to be crowd control and take people over to EKG/ultrasound station. It was sooooo hot and I felt kind of bad for the patients who had to walk back and forth, especially the older, frailer patients. They were all so sweet though. Many of them asked me where we were all from, how many days we were going to do clinics and how long we were going to be in Vietnam, and they also praised us for doing good work.

Again, the EKG /ultrasound stations were the last to finish and so I was on duty up until the very end. It was another great day for clinic. Afterwards, we had lunch and then went to the beautiful Evergreen Resort where we toured the gardens and had the entire dining room to ourselves!


-Vivien


(pictures coming soon!)

Day 3 at Bệnh Viện Đại Học Y Dược

For the 3^rd day that we spent at the hospital, I got up earlier in order to join the orthopedic team and Dr. Ninh for surgeries at the hospital. We saw a total knee replacement and an arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery and we learned so much from him. What I enjoyed most was listening to Dr. Ninh and the head of the orthopedic department debate over what techniques they believed in the most and what procedures Dr. Ninh considered "outdated" in Vietnam as compared to what doctors use in the U.S. 

Scrubbing in =)

Drilling down the piece of bone outgrowth at the rotator cuff. View from  the arthroscope.

First Day of Clinic

It was the first day of clinic, which was held at a nearby school in Long An Province, and my job today was Intake. In the beginning, patients were rushing in with all of their invitation forms in one big pile, which made Intake’s job of filling out intake forms pretty much impossible. I stood by with the other Intake members watching patients bombarding CeCe with questions and I felt really confused and worried that the day would end in complete chaos. Suddenly, I was moved to the Triage table to help translate.

Intake was able to improvise and the forms were filled out at the triage table while Intake worked on controlling the extremely large crowd of patients waiting outside the clinic.  Soon, the patients were being systematically let in to the clinic and the patient flow began to run more smoothly. I spent most of my time helping to translate and fill out Intake forms at Ron’s and Alex’s triage table (as well as converting the thermometer readings from Fahrenheit to Celsius - thanks, Will for letting us use your phone!). 


Triage had finished first so the local people working at the clinic pushed together all the tables so we could sit and eat (cháo and cá). Overall, I really enjoyed being able to communicate with the patients and I was happy whenever they understood what I was saying (and whenever they thanked me =)). We had officially finished our first day of clinic and are now looking forward to tomorrow for new clinic roles, lessons, and adventures.


- Vivien 

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Airport Lounging

Team Earth nametag!

                The recognition that I was about to embark on a two week trip to Vietnam hadn’t quite hit me until I was in the car, headed to LAX, while going through a frantic mental checklist of what I might have forgotten to pack. When we got to the airport, I immediately spotted our huge group that was already there in Terminal B and felt a sense of excitement mixed with anxiety. I already felt behind, as I scrambled to tape the address sign onto my medical supplies box. My team leader, Alex, then gave me our team t-shirt and my name tag, which helped calm my anxiety because I was finally there, and checked in and it was official.

                I separated from the group after we all checked in our luggage because my family all wanted to grab food on the top floor. This trip would also be a little different for me because my dad, my uncle, and my cousin would also be with me. Yet, I hope to spend a lot of time with the rest of our group also. Finally, we drifted towards the gate to our flight and my dad and I said our goodbyes to my mom.

                Here, as I’m writing at the airport in Seoul, I know that this is just a transition period between our homes and Vietnam. Many of us are either napping, or trying to find something to do with our time as we wait (showering, playing on Ipads, etc.) We had our team trivia competition earlier with team Air as the winner! Afterwards, we took our team pictures and had some time to chat together with our teammates.

Team meetings

Dental team meeting

                The bloggers (Cece, Tuan, Anton and me!) are currently having a meeting as I’m writing this and so I feel a little better having something to do. This year, we’re having 3 clinic days soon after our arrival day in Vietnam so I’m a little nervous but I know that it will work out in the end because we are all taking part in something that we are all passionate about.

Collecting our luggage and medical supply boxes in Tan Son Nhat airport

- Vivien