Friday, July 2, 2010

Just a little glimpse of our trip ...

This is just one of the videos our class made as a reflection of our trip.

Thank you for all of your support!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-bLisNPWsA

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Last Day.....Saigon, by Brenda and Freida

Here we are, our last day. The students have described this ending of our trip as bittersweet. We are all ready to be with friends and family, but the experience in this country has been life-changing for all of us. We are so proud of the students and our fellow faculty members as we end our weeks of service and exploration with the people of Vietnam. We feel so fortunate to have shared this experience with this special group of students who demonstrated such dedication and compassion to everyone. These last days, we have learned more about the culture and the cities along our way. The days have been so hot and the clinic days were many times very hectic, but nobody complained....nobody quit....we just kept working like a well trained, professional team. What more could a group hope for??? So at the conclusion of it all, we want to thank all of the people who supported us as we look forward to our reunion in Atlanta.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

from Ho Chi Minh to Ca Mau(ld) and back

I have the distinct pleasure of writing the second to last blog entry. Pleasure is a relative term, I guess. I know that I've lost track of the days and only know, and barely at that, where we are in the world. We have all tried to keep track of the time in the US - I don't know how successful most of us were, but I know that the more I tried to do that, the more confused I became - so Happy Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (take your pick).

We arrived in Saigon City yesterday afternoon following ANOTHER 4 hours bus trip. The roads between Can Tho and HCMC are fairly developed in places. Some of them are better than I-16 headed to Savannah (but not for too long - gotta keep us on our toes, right?).

It is a bittersweet, though somewhat rushed relief to be back in the New Epoch here on Cach Mang Thang street in District 1. I'm certain that I couldn't find this place on a map if I had to. The traffic NEVER stops - and by never, I literally mean never. Jacob and I heard the honks and beeps of the motor scooter brigade out of our window all night long and last night, as we were leaving dinner, Xavier, Kim's brother-in-law, explained crossing the street - (in his French, Vietnamese accented English) "The philosophy is different. You go forward or you stop, but you NEVER go back. If you keep moving, traffic will part to accomodate you, but traffic will not stop."

One of the benefits of writing at the end of the trip is that I get to tell the stories that haven't been told yet.

Finally, last night, after Kim's family hosted all 20 of us for an amazing dinner, Katie Beth Judd, with much prodding and coaxing, sang Karaoke. She scored a 94/100 on the vietnamese karaoke version of "Seasons of Love." I think Simon Cowell would've been more generous with his score than the karaoke machine. We all hooted and hollered for her, generally making a ruckus, which caused one of the tenants to shut the door to the karaoke room.

Kim's nephew, Louis, one of the most precocious 8 year olds we've encountered (he now speaks French, Vietnamese - which is an accomplishment all in itself - and English) goaded by Kyle, performed his breakdance moves for us. He and Kyle then proceeded to become friends using their common tongue - French. I don't know about everyone else, but after listening to Kyle and Louis talk, I wish I had stuck to those foreign language lessons my parents told me were so important.

Jacob, Lauren, Vian, Shane, and Kyle spent the afternoon in HCMC being fitted for suits. It was a madhouse in Mr Binh's (the tailor) showroom - with our group of 9, Xavier, and the staff of 9 - all trying to communicate somehow at the same time. There was pointing and measuring and gesturing and discussion and trying on of jackets and pointing to pictures - all in bare feet and all with a general sense of camaraderie. One thing I've learned - good business knows no language barriers - compassionate medical care doesn't either.

Ok, its almost 8:30 here, time for breakfast soon, but before I go, a story and then a reflection.

Last Friday night in Ca Mau, Kim, Katie Wells, KBJ, Naomi, Lauren, Jacob, Kevin, and I went to see a Buddhist temple after clinic. In retrospect - they had this planned all day long! We walked down a dark alley littered with fruit peels and smelling of either feet or durian fruit to this large temple complex, where I was coached by Kim to fold my hands and keep them folded for the entire time that I was on temple grounds to show respect for the Monks and for the Buddha. I complied, and kept thinking that it was a strange gesture, but that I'd go along anyway, afraid to offend any monks.

We removed our shoes and entered the temple to watch the Friday night offering service led by the temple monk, equivalent in rank to the junior pastor. With my hands folded, I tried hard to keep concentrating on the service, thinking through the whole thing, wondering if it was rude to make eye contact with the monks who were on my left and sneaking glances at their shaved heads and bare feet. Someone down the line from me got tickled (hmmm, who in our group starts to laugh in inappropriate places?) and had to hide her face in her shirt (so that only her head of long blonde hair showed) to stifle the laugh. We filed out, I bowed, still holding my hands up, wondering why the rest of the Americans were being so rude. The laughing spread as we were met by one of the monks outside the chapel. Finally, someone showed me a picture...

Kim Phunong - you trickster you! I had been had.

Ok - so 3 weeks in Vietnam. Come and see what this country is like - any words I use here to describe it will fall short of the reality. We have experienced a country full of people and stories with some interesting culture and some interesting places. I've seen patients in clinic living in circumstances that are abominable with bleak futures glean hope from a smile and a reassurance that they will be ok, that their pain is bearable, and that someone, even if they are millions of miles away, will remember their faces. I am now convinced that there is only one way to get to know a culture and that is through its people. Nothing anyone in any part of the world makes sense without hearing the stories (sometimes through the limited common language of a translator). The Communist Vietnamese and the Capitalist Americans share the same humanity - and that, I learned, from the stories.

--Bob Bina

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Super Saturday

We are done with clinics. Whew! Everyone took full advantage of our situation and reverted back to a college sleep cycle. The average wake up time (at least for us males) was 11:30; perfect time for some grub. After our ritual noodles, we headed out to the Vietnamese version of the projects; a pair of long buildings, separated from everything else and surrounded by dirt. These are the poorest people I was told by one of our escorts. Well good, thats why we're here. We distributed rice we had brought for the community, with a conveniently placed Vietnamese flag surrounding the food collection point. It's phenomenal how little these people had and their attitude. Many wouldn't allow us to help them with their 40lb bags (malnourished women) back home.

Taking our flexing muscles elsewhere, the vans were reloaded with the other half of our purchased ton of rice. Our next stop was the orphanage, which included the elderly who no longer had anyone to take care of them and the abandoned youth. This was intensely emotional for all involved. Many of the kids had disabilities and a few were mentally ill. Our loving staff of nurses and pharmacists (among others) did what they do best and took many of them to their hearts and plenty of personal connections were made. Hugging was the physical exercise of choice. The team brought toys and supplies to donate along with the food for the orphanage. A soccer match was also played with the boys. The MVP of the day was definitely a young boy in a wheel chair who played, on the ground, goalie. He was diving everywhere, pulling off great saves and had quite a throw on him too.


When we look back on this trip years down the road we will certainly have much to reflect on. Everyone has certainly been touched in one way or another. When gearing up for this journey I was fully prepared for the physical demands that everyday would throw at me. What I wasn't ready for was the overall emotional investment I would make. Everyday at the clinics brought new opportunities to reach out others and today was no different. The orphanage brought the full spectrum of emotions from smiles to tears. I know personally that it was pretty tough seeing these kids in such deplorable circumstances and realizing how little we can actually help. With this said, befriending these kids was the best thing to do, and that's just what we did. It was pretty awesome spending time with these kids as they showcased their huge smiles and sincere joy with everyone they came in contact with. Little was actually communicated verbally, but much was said through gestures, which told the whole story. At the end of the day I know the short time spent at the orphanage made an impact on everyone involved. This event reminded me of something Katie Beth said during a nightly meeting the team likes to have to discuss our days. She said something to the effect that God is using this experience as a chisel and that we would return to The States a change person. She was right, it's amazing at how much the team has grown over these few weeks and we will certainly make the most of our final few days.

This was surely one of the most rewarding days thus far because we got to spend some quality time with severely poor and needy people, instead of simply spending 3 minutes of clinic time with them. It helps that the children and the elderly (perhaps mainly Helen) are so darn cute. The little things can make a huge difference for these people. I hope we made these people's day, they definitely made ours.

Posted by Kevin Lindsay BME and Jacob Matthews BMB


Friday, June 18, 2010

Finishing the Week Well





















WOW! What a great week to finish strong. Today we saw 157 patients (and maybe a few more that didn't get counted). That brings the four day total to 485 "officially" seen. What a variety from babies to a 94 year old blind lady who rode home on a motor scooter with her 80 yr old daughter and grandson sandwiching her in the middle. (Picture above). We have been so welcomed and warmly received by the Vietnamese people. Each day the people have made all of us glad we have come to Vietnam - trying hard to communicate to us with their stories - none of which we understand verbally, but their eyes tell the story. One lady said she came to see us today because she had only seen westerners on TV - and she heard we were so pretty. She had come and see.

Bob gets the award for seeing the strangest cases.

Bill definitely can get patients through the quickest.

Frieda brings smiles to all the kids she sees.

Katie meets patients eye-to-eye with compassion and caring.

All the while each of the providers make teaching students their first priority - except when Brenda hints that things need to speed up - we have 50 more patients to see.

The pharmacy is incredible - pictures can only show the basics of how organized and precise Lauren, Naomi, Vian, and Kim are able to manage a system that requires incredible attention to detail in the midst of chaos.
Killer Uno and Scrabble are vicious evening challenges. Some say the rules change depending on who is playing. Ask for those details later.

Looking forward to a relaxing weekend of getting to know Vietnam better.

Posted by: Gayle Bina












Rat Tales by Stephanie Kinsey & Alex Stouffer
















Last day of clinics in Ca Mau and we must say it was a special day. All started with our usual ambulance chauffeur to our clinic site. We must say we have a special animal bond with our driver. So let us fill you all in.... Helen decided one day on our trip home from clinics that she would make a goat sound. Then we all started making animal noises.... from moo, to pig snort to horses to meows then all a sudden we hear a muffled goat sound from the drivers seat. Yes it was our driver, and yes we all laughed hysterically. So basically the animal game continued and next thing you know all the officials were in on our game, I guess you can say it became a way of communication among us. The new language in Vietnam called Animalanese trademarked by a wise group of people. When you don't speak the same language its crucial that you find another way and a way that makes others smile and laugh. The funniest part was when Stephanie got barked at and she meowed back. Also cannot forget about our ambulance pet, Jacob who literally he was petted on his arms and the driver was fascinated with his blonde hair. Vietnamese people rarely have arm hair or facial hair as we found out quickly from Shane and Jacob being petted constantly. I guess you can say Animalanese is a great way of communication considering we all are petted and poked like we are part of a public petting zoo. So our rides home do get better but we cant share all our experiences but we can say between Jacob, Vian, Helen, Alex, Steph, Shane and Sarah we have probably shed a few pounds from laughing.... which we need considering rice is a staple here in Vietnam.
Its Friday so we decided this entry should be full of funny stories that all of us have experienced:
Lets try to rewind to the begining of the trip.....
Alex and Steph have encountered several battles with the bathroom and lets say bathroom has conquered us every time. I promise we are actually really bright but some how another stephanie managed to turn the shower on waiting for the right temperture and next thing you know the shower hose was flying around like a wild snake and managed to flood the bathroom and soak Stephanie.... We were laughing so hard we forgot we should probably turn the shower off. Another night Alex flooded the bathroom in ankle deep water and all we had was a wash cloth to soak the water up. I promise we really are intelligent... we blame jet lag.
Sarah had some technical difficulties as well... however her's managed to cause a little harm to Helen's skin. Sarah had the water scorching hot and screamed for help and of course Helen ran to help and ended up with burns in some random areas.
Freida is wonderful with children and truly connects with them in a way many people could not. She always gets the crying kids to stop with her cute little games. However today after she stuck a otoscope in a child's ear the child revenged and peed all over her. At least we know the child is well hydrated.
Critters are our friends in Vietnam. First night in Ca Mau Alex and Stephanie got all cozy in their hotel room when something awoke us from our sleep. Something was scurrying across the floor and next thing you know we are screaming and standing on stop of furniture. Yes it was a rat... or as others say a mouse but we claim it to be a large mouse or a small rat. We always thought that rats would run the other way when they saw a human but no ours is a brave sucker and ran straight for us... and ran Stephanie into the hallway screaming bloody murder. Thankfully our good ole neighbor friends came to the rescue. They lifted our beds, mattresses and everything else you can imagine to try and find this critter however no success. Our friend the rat only likes to come out in the presence of Alex and Steph... leaving others thinking we are crazy but its okay we sleep with chopsticks and a flashlight as a source of protection. Rat 2, Steph and Alex 0....
Funny Friday from Vietnam.... Stay tuned for more Rat tales.
With love,
Stephanie Kinsey and Alex Stouffer Nursing candidates May 2011

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Have you ever been to Ca Mau? ... probably not...

We had such a busy day today! Four providers, four pharmacy students, many nurses and a few other students saw 113 patients in six hours. Our numbers keep moving up as we continue to make our place in the community.

On first arrival to the clinic, we were greeted by all of our daily patients (ie- old people lined up to get their blood pressures taken) and a young man who had been in a motor scooter accident. Katie, Jacob, Kim and myself (Lauren) were all able to tend to his many wounds covering various areas of his body. When I asked where he would have gone if we were not there, he did the polite smile and asked a diverting question. To me, I took this as if he would not have had any type of medical attention. I believe he would have been "okay" but this "road rash" needed some proper cleaning with hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin.

Other patients we saw were also interesting but to prevent any alarm we will let each person tell these stories when they get home...

After being in the clinic a few days, we have began to develop relationships with the children in the area. Today's adventure included our daily "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"and counting to five in English taught by myself (Vian) and Gayle on previous days. However as the day went on, the children seemed to really "stick-er" around... Stephanie was able to take this time and give all of the children (and a few adults) cheek cheers (ie- stickers). They loved this! But what they really enjoyed was going outside of the clinic and blowing bubbles! She did a great job of entertaining her "paparazzi."

From our hotel, we take 3 vehicles to clinic. One is a Land Rover where three adults sit on two seats in the back row. I (Lauren) have luckily had this experience everyday. During our 30 minute ride, we go about 50 mph down a "no-lane" road dodging pot-holes, people, mopeds, bicycles and anything that may wander into the road. We also travel down a "no-lane" dirt road that is very bumpy and composed of at least 10 bridges allowing space for ONE car...unfortunately moped drivers have not realized this. Another vehicle we take is a van...boring. The third vehicle is an old ambulance. However, it does not house a gurney or even medical supplies; instead it carries a leather love seat and an oxygen tank. Alex, Sarah, Shane and myslef (Vian) all have the pleasure of riding on it (yes four people, one love seat). And, if we forgot to mention before, every time we pass (ie-dodge) something we have to honk. Luckily in the ambulance we get to flash the lights and blare the siren. Good times had every day...

Finally, this post would not be complete without commenting on our new "pet:" the screeching cat that roams the hotel. He perches on our pseudo-windows and calls for his long lost girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, and us, she has not returned home. Maybe tonight we will all be so lucky for her to get here or him to leave...

Almost daily, we have meetings with our entire medical team. Tonight's food for thought included us identifying where we are in our lives and how this trip has impacted us. For some, this week has solidified our career decisions but for others our career paths may change (sorry, mom).

We have definitely learned a lot and are eager to share more when we get home. Tomorrow is the last day of clinics. We plan to see, treat and care for about 100 people. Check back then!

Written by: Lauren Riley and Vian Nguyen, Doctor of Pharmacy Candidates 2011