This information peaked my interest, as I have written extensively about diseases that plague third-world countries, and how important it is to educate the population in order to combat furthering of the disease. Education is especially important as it pertains to AIDS. If people could understand the way the disease works and is transmitted, it would help healthcare workers immensely. Swaziland is governed by a tyrannical king, who has attempted to stop the epidemic by suggesting condoms while having sexual intercourse. While condoms can help in a sense with keeping people from contracting AIDS, they are not an end-all. AIDS can be transmitted through ANY body fluid, as well as from mother to embryo. Instead of fully addressing the problem, and trying to reach out to his people and educate them in everything pertaining to AIDS, the king took a shortcut and proposed a feeble solution.

I was heartbroken as my friend was telling me about this, and I asked her if she had been around any government-sponsored healthcare professionals who were trying to educate people, or if she had seen any hospitals while she was there. She told me that some government-sponsored volunteers (primarily Americans) would reach out to village elders to try to educate them about AIDS, because Swaziland is essentially missing a generation (people in their 20s-30s). They have found it difficult to communicate with the young generation (1-20) because they are so ill-equipped to handle the information. As far as hospitals, the ones run by the Swazi people are frightful places. Dusty, unsanitary, and many times inhumane. My friend said that very sick children would sometimes be left by themselves all day, without getting fed or played with, ultimately neglected until Americans came to the hospital and interacted with them. This is a stunning development, one which frankly shocked me.

I was so horrified by everything she told me, that I asked her what the number one way I could help was. She said that what the Swazi people really need are volunteers willing to come to the country, get plugged in with an organization, and start reaching as many people as they could. This could be healthcare workers, general volunteers, or even people serving as missionaries. Swaziland is a dying country, and unfortunately not many people seem to care. This is a real way that you can help do something that could potentially save hundreds of lives – going to Swaziland and helping to educate the people, as well as providing for their material needs.

Jenny Combs

Team 2: Servant Scholars

Grade 12

Alabaster, AL

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Post tags: AIDS, awareness, Education, Health & Medicine, Service Scholars

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Right now, the Project is targeting Africa specifically because it has over 300 million people trying to survive on less than one dollar a day. It’s a tough cycle to break, especially in Africa, because of the high rates of disease, expensive transportation costs, and geographically challenging terrain. Rural communities become stuck in a vicious cycle, unable to begin to self-sustain themselves economically. Women have a 1/16 chance of dying in childbirth. Children die of malaria every second. Many children do not get the education they need to break the cycle and begin to earn money for themselves.

The Millennium Project has a long journey ahead of it. They have Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which they hope to implement by 2015 to “reduce extreme poverty and hunger by half and improve education, health, gender equality and environmental sustainability.” They plan to reach their goals through community activism – they tailor directly to about 80 villages in rural Africa, designing specific plans of action for economic growth which will help them to meet the MDGs. The Millennium Villages Project gives villages important technological improvements like medicines and building materials which they hope will decrease mortality rates and create better environments for children to get an education. The Project won’t stop in 2015, however. The Project has built a solid relationship with government officials in the various villages, and hopes to continue the partnership for years to come in order to eradicate extreme poverty for good.

This organization does something crucial, and that is to train community health workers. These people haven’t been to nursing school, or to medical school, but they are taught the basics of health care in order to make rounds in the villages in order to decrease mortality rates. They have a year of training, but that year is proven to help workers save hundreds of lives. Many of the female community health workers have important tasks like attending to pregnant women during labor, encouraging women to have their babies in a hospital, tending the sick who cannot travel to a clinic, and following up on the sick they have already treated. It might not seem like much, but it has been proven time and again to substantially change the norm, and help break the vicious cycle of extreme poverty.

I believe in this Project. I hope one day that I might be able to travel overseas as a doctor, and treat those whom others have deemed untreatable. I highly advise donating to this organization – they have been harbingers of economic growth and sustainable change to the extreme poverty-stricken. Check out this website to donate, or even donate in honor of a loved one: https://secure2.convio.net/mp/site/Donation2?df_id=1800&1800.donation=form1&CFID=1708716&CFTOKEN=90066635 

Sources:

09/08 edition of Time magazine

http://millenniumvillages.org/about/

Jenny Combs

Team 2: Servant Scholars

Grade 11

Alabaster, AL

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Post tags: donations, Health & Medicine, malnutrition, Service Scholars

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Awful right? Inherent deformities like cleft palates, cleft lips, etc. in children are extremely unfortunate and heartbreaking to look at. These kids can’t eat properly; they can’t enunciate simple words; and of course they don’t know how to express happiness by smiling.

Operation Smiles give volunteer doctors and medical students a chance to change these unlucky children’s lives. Surgeries are given at low costs or none at all, depending on the family’s financial conditions.

I volunteered with Operation Smile last summer and it was an eye-opening experience. Seeing the transformation of a child’s face from its deformed state to its post-surgery look was an unforgettable experience.

Operation Smile has missions all around the world, and if you want to get  involved in a local or international mission, just go to their website to find more information.

This is Angel before and after surgery:

Angel -- before surgery

Angel -- after surgery -- SMILE!

(Photo courtesy of operationsmile.org)

It’s almost Valentine’s Day. Would you want to give some love to these adorable children who need your help? I think you would.

Quyen Nguyen

Team EVSS 5 – Int’l Health

Latin School of Chicago ’12

Feb 2011

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Did you know that 80% of deaths in the whole world are caused by unsafe water and sanitation? That’s more than war! 42,000 people die every week because they don’t have access to a clean water source. 90% of those deaths are children under five years old who are especially susceptible to diseases such as dysentery. In Africa, people spend over 40 million hours a year lugging water in containers to and from their villages. Most of these hours are spent by women and children, who as a result are missing school and are more vulnerable to diseases. They are also extremely likely to endure some sort of sexual assault.

What can we do to stop this? A nonprofit called charity: water ( charitywater.org ) has a pretty good idea. They have begun funding projects around the globe to install fresh water wells into villages. They’ve funded over 3,000 projects and have saved countless lives. As soon as someone donates to charity: water, their money goes to good use. The long walk for water that could have taken hours takes mere minutes. Hygiene workers show the villagers how to wash their hands while promoting sanitation. Women are empowered and given leadership positions by overseeing the well. Using the water from the new well, people are able to start growing things in gardens in their own back yards, which help to feed their families. Children can go to school and get an education to be productive members of society. Maybe a village nearby will notice the success of wells in other villages and want to jump on board, and so the process begins again until every village has a fresh water source.

Lack of fresh water is an absolutely terrible epidemic. Personally, I had no idea the problem existed in such mass quantities. My heart broke for the women and children who had to lug heavy buckets of water from remote, unsanitary water sources. Every time I drink out of my water bottle, or fill the bathtub with water, I think about all the people around the globe who would die to have what I have. And they do die. They die in droves.

Charity: water has made it possible for people to make a difference in the lives of others. By donating $20, you can give someone clean water for a lifetime. $20 saves a life. You can hardly put a price on that. You can also get involved by starting a clean water campaign, and getting others to donate. $5,000 builds a well in a village. $5,000 dollars saves the lives of many.

Sources:

Charitywater.org

Jenny Combs

Team 2: Servant Scholars

Grade 11

Alabaster, AL

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Post tags: Health & Medicine, Service Scholars

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The Good Samaritan Medical and Dental Mission is a non-profit  Christian organization based out of Riverside, CA.  We originally started as a project of the Youth and Young Adult fellowship of the United Methodist Church, but since then, we have diverged and expanded into a free-standing organization that goes to Vietnam every summer to provide medical and dental care.  We are unique from many other organizations in that we provide a full spectrum of health care to the under served populations of Vietnam.  Our full medical capabilities is one of the things we are most proud in.   Some of out services include (but not limited to): medical imaging (ultrasound, xray, and EKG), a full surgical team, a full dental team, a full optometry team, a mobile pharmacy with a full spectrum of pharmaceuticals, a full team of primary care physicians, a full lab time with state of the art equipment, and a team that works with the local church.  Another aspect we our very proud is the transparency of our actions.  When entering Vietnam, we have all the full licenses, paperwork, and permission to do all the procedures we do.   We absolutely do not affiliate ourselves with non-legitimate actions, such as bribing airport security for the entering of materials.  By doing this, we bring honor to our name, to the name of the United States, and to the name of our Jesus Christ.

Being a Christian mission, we heavily depend on our Lord to be the driving force of this mission.  With His grace, we are allowed have the last 10 years full of growth and impact in Vietnam.   In addition of being a Christian mission, we are a medical mission.  This is our main function in Vietnam: to provide medical and dental care to the people of Vietnam.  We are not evangelists, and this is for many reasons.  The biggest reason is, the communist government of Vietnam is still hesitant of the protestant church, and still restricts many our many rights.  Therefore, if we worked under the umbrella of evangelism, we could never enter the borders of Vietnam.   Despite not spreading the Gospel overtly, we have indeed made a big impact for Christianity through our actions.  By affiliating ourselves with the local churches in Vietnam, we are building up the credibility and trust.   Also, by wearing our logo that has a cross on it, we instigate many questions from our patients for our motives in Vietnam.  Only then are we allowed to share that we are here through God’s love.  As a result of these small but important battles, we have begun to change the government’s view on Christianity in general.

There are many testaments in the progress that we have been making in Vietnam through the last 10 years.  For example. for the past few years we have been invited to the the Hue Medical College to create a medical residency for Emergency Medicine.  This was after gaining the trust of the local government and the Ministry of Health after years of doing such great medical work in Vietnam.  So every spring, our mission sends a group of professors from various universities such as UCSF, UCLA, UC Davis, Loma Linda have collaborated in creating a residency program in Vietnam using the the latest techniques and theory of our time.   Another victory that we have achieved happened after the summer of 2008, when we were broadcasted in a special 1-hour documentary on Vietnam’s premier television network, HTV.  In the documentary, the writers wrote about how a group of selfless student volunteers, with the partnership of a large team of medical professionals, has showed Vietnam so much genuine love through their actions.   Lastly, we are currently putting our plans into action to build The Good Samaritan Medical and Dental Institute–a state of the art medical center that will be built in Nha Trang Vietnam.  This Institute will be a beacon of light in Vietnam, providing free medical care to those who can not afford it.  The plans have materialized in full swing already.  As of summer 2008, we have enlisted a group of contractors, architectures, and medical professionals who will be helping us make this dream a reality.

All of these victories have not been possible without great help, and a series of miracles.  First and foremost, we owe all our success to our Father in heaven–without him, we would just be another “good idea.”  Also I would like to credit the founder of this mission, Dr. Vien Doan and his family.  There are many dreamers in the world, but few materialize their dreams into reality–Dr. Vien is certainly the latter.  Another person who gets much credit is Dr. John Branch, who has also been with the mission from the beginning.  Dr. Branch is currently serving as the medical director for GSMDM.   Last but not least, a great part of the success of the mission lies in the selfless loving hearts of the student medical volunteers that come to Vietnam every year.  It is though their sacrifices (money, time, and strength) that this mission still is what it is today.

The future of the mission is bright.  Over the years we have treated tens of thousands of patients in Vietnam, and have operated a great deal too.  However, there is still more to be done.  There are still thousands  of more of sick people and hundreds of more persecuted of the churches.  I just want to take a minute to ask that you the reader would join our cause.  Prayer is one of the most important things you can do for us.  Also, donations go a long way.  I just received our annual report a few weeks ago.  It turns out that only 3% of our budget goes to overhead costs–the rest goes to the patient in Vietnam.  This is an astonishing low statistic, and it proves that out heart is for the people in VIetnam.  We have sponsored many heart surgeries in Vietnam, which is only about $2,000 USD.  Where can you get a heart surgery for that low of a price in the U.S.?  If you feel compelled to be a part of this mission please click on the link provided below, and it will redirect you to our home page.   Thank you for your time, and God bless.

“Changing Lives, one at a time”

Ben Khuc

GSMDM, Secretary

http://gsmedicalministry.org/

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July 2004 – I am sitting in an old building located deep in the remote villages of Vietnam, my native country to which I have returned for the first time since 1991 as part of the Good Samaritans Medical Ministry.  As I begin to place the blood pressure cuff on the arm of the elderly woman sitting across from me, I ask why she is here today to see the doctor.  In a sorrowful voice, she replies, “Son, my entire body is in pain, especially my back because of the hard labor that I do everyday in the fields.”  As I listen to her story, I am filled with a flood of emotions. I know that the only way to relieve her pain effectively is to have her cease working in the fields, but this is an option she cannot afford with children depending on her. There is no such thing as a retirement plan for Vietnam’s elders, which means for this woman there is no escape from the pain and sorrow.  While my time in Vietnam turned out to be one of the most emotionally, physically, and intellectually challenging times of my life, it was also the most inspiring and fulfilling, confirming the depths of my desire to become a physician, so that I might help to provide the care of which the people of my home country are so desperately in need.

The goal of our Christian missionary team was to bring hope and healing to those who have none.  During my travels across Vietnam, I was able to help treat over 5,000 patients in a very short period of time.  The weather was hot, the roads were anything but smooth, and there was little time to rest, but what made the hardships worthwhile were the faces of the people we met each day who had literally traveled hours on foot to our clinic with the hope that we would be able to help them in some small way. Their perseverance, optimism, and sense of human dignity in the face of almost unimaginably adverse circumstances bolstered my flagging spirits, and I found my frustration and sadness transformed into resolve.

During my time there, I witnessed levels of pain and suffering for which I was totally unprepared, but I also experienced the power of human connection and felt the rewards that come from giving freely of oneself in the service of others.  I left with a renewed sense of determination and purpose, knowing for sure that I have been called to the field of medicine.  It has become my deepest conviction to learn the discipline so that I can return once again to Vietnam, armed with the skills and knowledge to make a real difference in the lives of my native countrymen and women.  Vien Doan, D.O.,  Director of The Good Samaritans who I’ve known for the past few years, had a vision.  His mission statement was “For the needy will not always be forgotten.  Psalms 9:18” While I am unsure exactly where I will be ten years from today, I am certain that the needy will not have been forgotten in my heart and that I will have given, and will continue to give, all that I have to help them, one family at a time.

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