Opportunities Abound!

       We also serve as teachers in various medical settings, including in district hospitals and remote clinics as we conduct our ultrasound scans for the needy poor. We provide direct services during clinics in these rural and remote areas—focusing on what the local doctors request (usually thyroid, breast, and liver exams) which are problem areas in Vietnam.

We are helping only a few tribal groups now, and there are more than fifty people-groups in the highland areas, so we will never run out of people to serve! 

       We always partner with the host medical doctors who are part of the district governments, and we learn from each other. True collegiality has grown over the years, and we will visit many of these professionals again and again. It is hard not to want to return to "The Land of the Blue Dragon!"

       There are approximately 8,000 rural and remote villages in the ethnic minority areas of Vietnam that border China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. The local governments help these folks as much as they can, but all concerned welcome individual volunteers, international non-profits, and NGOs that support the on-going efforts to better the lives of these undeserved minorities.

       We supported one local farmer's efforts to construct an enclosed brick latrine/outhouse, plus the required adjacent vertical drain field for the septic system. These vertical drain fields disperse contaminated waters down and away from the local wells, fish ponds, and vegetable fields--thus providing the farm's first uncontaminated drinking water. They will still be instructed to carefully boil their drinking water, but the general contamination problem will be resolved in one season. The runoffs from normal rainstorms will no longer threaten the children who play in the creeks and streams, and after receiving readily available medicine, the parasite cycle is broken.  

       We occasionally donate ultrasound medical equipment to existing clinics so they can make home visits. Over the years we have donated several to various clinics and hope to continue this service in the future.

Here's a small sampling of projects that are always available for future consideration.

how shallow latrines contaminate nearby water wells, gardens, and fish ponds: 

This first illustration shows how shallow latrines "outhouses" contaminate the near-by wells, fish ponds, and vegetable fields.  

But the vertical drain fields disperseS the contaminated water down and away from the drinking water and crops

equipment and supplies for medical facilities

Many medical facilities have serviceable buildings but lack essential equipment to provide basic care. In the future we hope to donate X-ray equipment, more ultrasound machines, EKG devices, portable blood analyzing machines for small laboratories, etc.

Our translator's daughter Mai standing in a typical mountain clinic's room; the building structure is fine but they lack almost everything else required for a fully-functioning medical facility. Her grandfather is a medical doctor who volunteers his services to the rural poor.