Mission Completed…

Steve Mason  and I greatly appreciate the team’s donation of time, resources and dedication in making this trip such a resounding success.  We had set some lofty goals in January 2019 when we toured the sites and met with our new partners in Hue and Da Nang. I feel grateful and blessed that we had the team that we did that allowed us to achieve the goals we set.

To that end, here is a recap of what we accomplished, along with some metrics that will show the lasting impact on the peoples and the lives that we touched over the time we were in Vietnam.

* 500 disabled and disadvantage patients evaluated and treated in Hue over three days of clinics at the regional hospital outside Phu Vang.

*   95 Disabled and victims of Agent Orange evaluated and treated at the Outreach Center near Da Nang (DAVA).

*  Donation of $1500 USD toward equipment purchases to outfit the new physical rehabilitation room at the regional hospital in Phu Vang. This new room, near our clinic site, will be outfitted with therapy equipment supported by our donation and a placard noting our organization’s help will be placed outside. This equipment will be targeting primarily children, many of whom we saw during our clinic there.

*  Follow-up fund of $1200 USD has been left behind to treat, diagnose, and support patients that we identified during our clinic in Hue. These were patients on our master list to which each of you contributed.  The patients had a range of follow up needs from hearing aides, prosthetic refitting, additional cardiac screening, and assorted diagnostic and follow up needs. The funds will be administered by Ms. Houng and our liaison at the hospital.

* The founding of an English language medical library at both the Hue University and the Da Nang School of Medical Technology and Pharmacy. With our donation of books brought from the US and a grant that was secured from USAID for the donation of 80 English/Vietnamese medical dictionaries, each of these Universities will create a dedicated space in their libraries for the books donated during this mission trip and in subsequent missions by our team and others that follow us.

* Mentored and partnered with 40 medical students from the universities in Hue and Da Nang providing English language experience in a clinical setting with US based physicians, dentists and nursing staff.  We had the opportunity to interact one on one as well as group opportunities to educate and mentor 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th year students.

* Partner and develop relationships with medical and dental professionals in both Hue and Da Nang to further educational and professional exchange.

* Modeled compassion and outreach to two of the most challenged populations in Vietnam. 

This list is just one set of the quantifiable accomplishments we had over our time in Vietnam. I know there were many other personal connections made by each of you at many levels with the people you had the chance to work with during our time there.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our partners at the International Center in Hanoi who sponsored our contact Ms. Houng: The Hue Union of Friendship Organization (HUEFO), The Da Nang Victims of Agent Orange(DAVA), The Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, The Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, The regional hospital and health center in Phu Vang, The Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) and of course again our primary contact and our partner Houng.

Again, many thanks to the team’s contribution to building on this mission effort in Vietnam and to the new relationships we established with members and Vietnamese partners and to our returning heroes from missions past.

Ed Atwell, M.D.

Link to Additional Photos…

https://masonphotography.photoshelter.com/gallery/MOA-Vietnam-2019/G0000Wg0YchdYfNc/C0000wM7IZbN23mQ