My OperaHOPE MEDICAL TEAM OUTREACH, ALUOI, CENTRAL VIETNAM
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 6:27:55 AM
Saturday, 27th November 2010
The grounds of the hospital at the small town of Aluoi, 70 km south west of Hue, was crowded with people from the Ktu and Taoi indigenous communities that inhabit the surrounding highlands in this central part of the Annamite range.
A Vietnamese medical team from Saigon had come to provide free health services for the day. The team of fifty included doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists, pharmacists and even barbers with supporting personnel from Asiana Travel Mate and other sponsoring companies.
The crowd of indigenous people, included elderly men and women with weathered faces, women with babies, children, teenagers and young men. Many had traveled from remote villages. Some old women were smoking pipes of pungent tobacco, others carried woven baskets or had babies slung over their backs, several wore colorful traditional clothing and a few were tattooed.
The people gathered anxiously at the registration desks set up at the hospital lobby entrance. Inside, the reception team first took their blood pressure and body temperature readings after which the doctors listened to their patients, made a diagnosis, treated and prescribed medicine.
In the ophthalmologist room, patients with cataracts and other vision problems went through an array of visual tests, (“Do you see how many fingers I am holding up?”) holding out their fingers to indicate what they could see.
In the dental section, patients put their fingers into their mouth to show which tooth bothered them and sat wide opened mouthed as the dentist probed.
It was a poignant scene; the frail and elderly ones, often speaking only their ethnic language, hobbled in supported by their sons or daughters who acted as intermediaries, translating health complaints, doctor’s questions and instructions for taking medicines. The doctors caringly put stethoscopes to chests, pressed down tongues to examine sore throats, looking over and gently probing the areas where their patients were in pain. In another building, a team gave out supplies of noodles, rice, exercise books and pencils and the barbers were snipping away.
The crowd thinned out at lunchtime and gathered again until mid-afternoon when it was time for the team to pack up and make their way back to Hue along the precarious, narrow, winding mountain road. There, they would end a hard day with a dinner fit for a king at, of course, the King’s Restaurant.
Postscript: The Saigon Hope Medical Team is a group of medical and health care professionals based in Saigon. They volunteer their services to communities in remote areas or in situations where there is an urgent or special need. They fund these missions themselves with some support from sponsors. Asiana Travel Mate supports the team logistically, with management and staff actively participating in the field.
Aluoi is along the route to the famous “Hamburger Hill” the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War. The route from Hue is very scenic with mist rising from the forested hills, along a rapid filled river but with calmer sections for rafting or tubing. Asiana Travel Mate is also committed to building and supporting a children’s center for the indigenous community living in that remote area and is actively seeking partners for the project. The children’s center will stock library books and “learning toys”, occasionally distribute food or clothing, promote personal hygiene and encourage English language interaction between visitors and the children.
To discuss how you may support this program please contact:
Andy Nguyen
Managing Director
Email: andy@asianatravelmate.com
Call from outsite Vietnam +84989177686
Call in Vietnam: 0989177686
Office: Hue tourist information Center: 45-47 Le Loi Street, Hue city, Vietnam.
The grounds of the hospital at the small town of Aluoi, 70 km south west of Hue, was crowded with people from the Ktu and Taoi indigenous communities that inhabit the surrounding highlands in this central part of the Annamite range.
A Vietnamese medical team from Saigon had come to provide free health services for the day. The team of fifty included doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists, pharmacists and even barbers with supporting personnel from Asiana Travel Mate and other sponsoring companies.
The crowd of indigenous people, included elderly men and women with weathered faces, women with babies, children, teenagers and young men. Many had traveled from remote villages. Some old women were smoking pipes of pungent tobacco, others carried woven baskets or had babies slung over their backs, several wore colorful traditional clothing and a few were tattooed.
The people gathered anxiously at the registration desks set up at the hospital lobby entrance. Inside, the reception team first took their blood pressure and body temperature readings after which the doctors listened to their patients, made a diagnosis, treated and prescribed medicine.
In the ophthalmologist room, patients with cataracts and other vision problems went through an array of visual tests, (“Do you see how many fingers I am holding up?”) holding out their fingers to indicate what they could see.
In the dental section, patients put their fingers into their mouth to show which tooth bothered them and sat wide opened mouthed as the dentist probed.
It was a poignant scene; the frail and elderly ones, often speaking only their ethnic language, hobbled in supported by their sons or daughters who acted as intermediaries, translating health complaints, doctor’s questions and instructions for taking medicines. The doctors caringly put stethoscopes to chests, pressed down tongues to examine sore throats, looking over and gently probing the areas where their patients were in pain. In another building, a team gave out supplies of noodles, rice, exercise books and pencils and the barbers were snipping away.
The crowd thinned out at lunchtime and gathered again until mid-afternoon when it was time for the team to pack up and make their way back to Hue along the precarious, narrow, winding mountain road. There, they would end a hard day with a dinner fit for a king at, of course, the King’s Restaurant.
Postscript: The Saigon Hope Medical Team is a group of medical and health care professionals based in Saigon. They volunteer their services to communities in remote areas or in situations where there is an urgent or special need. They fund these missions themselves with some support from sponsors. Asiana Travel Mate supports the team logistically, with management and staff actively participating in the field.
Aluoi is along the route to the famous “Hamburger Hill” the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War. The route from Hue is very scenic with mist rising from the forested hills, along a rapid filled river but with calmer sections for rafting or tubing. Asiana Travel Mate is also committed to building and supporting a children’s center for the indigenous community living in that remote area and is actively seeking partners for the project. The children’s center will stock library books and “learning toys”, occasionally distribute food or clothing, promote personal hygiene and encourage English language interaction between visitors and the children.
To discuss how you may support this program please contact:
Andy Nguyen
Managing Director
Email: andy@asianatravelmate.com
Call from outsite Vietnam +84989177686
Call in Vietnam: 0989177686
Office: Hue tourist information Center: 45-47 Le Loi Street, Hue city, Vietnam.
