Friday 26 December 2014

The beautiful landscapes, people and experience of Vietnam



COUNTRY: Vietnam
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Storm Rossman, Notre Dame University

We began our next stage of the trip with an insight into the beauty of the Vietnamese landscape during our five hour drive to Mai Chau. The mountainous terrain was absolutely spectacular and we all spent a decent portion of our trip trying to capture it on camera.

Mai Chau itself was just as amazing. We stayed in the home stay section of the town which was surrounded by mountains on every side. On the whole, our home stay was gorgeous and the family were lovely. Each day we would walk through the rice fields with farm animals and dogs accompanying us part of the trip to the hospital.

We spent most our time in Mai Chau working in the hospital. Both mornings we were there we observed the way the hospital was run and partook in patient assessments, when we weren’t being taken in to watch emergency c-sections. We were able to meet and talk with staff members, practice our skills and get a feel for the hospital and the differences from here to home. Our afternoons were spent sock-clad in the theatres. We observed a number of procedures including tumour removals, orthopaedic surgeries and hysterectomies and were lucky to be able to assist the nurse and surgeon somewhat. The hospital staff were great and really welcoming to us all and gave us an amazing opportunity to experience all we did.



Our next stop was freezing Hang Kia. We felt the temperature go down the closer we got, but it didn’t take away from the amazing scenery we saw both on the way, and within the village itself. We spent our first afternoon at the local elementary school teaching the kids how to brush their teeth and wash their hands. I for one thought that this would be just a refresher course for them, but was completely proven wrong for the most part and came to realise just how isolated they were out here. All the kids were so happy to receive their toothbrush, toothpaste and soap in their mug and were reluctant to let them go so we could get them to wash their hands with us. On our way back to our lovely home stay, we had little hands waving at us the whole time.

The next two days were spent in the clinics where we divided into three teams and were put to the test. Over the clinic days we saw 233 patients complaining of a variety of ailments (mostly colds) which we treated to the best of our ability with the resources we had. The days were long and sometimes repetitive but we were able to not only improve our knowledge, clinical skills and questioning ability. We were also able to help 233 people hopefully live even somewhat more comfortable lives.



Our next day was the trek (for the 6 students who went, or a stopover back at Mai Chau for those who didn’t). 18km, mostly downhill, approximately 6 hours. It turned out to be a nicely sunny and relatively warm day. Perfect hiking weather. The trek allowed up to get up close to the stunning scenery and see things we would have otherwise missed. It was absolutely gorgeous. Although there were a few slips along the way we all made it in one piece thanks to the guidance of our super tour guides – one of which was doing it in thongs…
Then we arrived at our last village; Van.

Van was amazing right from the beginning, the home stay family were incredibly welcoming, along with all the locals we passed while exploring or in transit. Our walk to the clinic took us past the rice fields and vege patches, which offered an awesome view along with all the farm animals strolling by. Our two full days in Van were spent in the clinic as well, where we saw 230 patients with similar complaints to Hang Kia although it was interesting to compare the two nonetheless and improve our skills even more. The clinic staff were incredibly welcoming and helpful and even held a farewell function on our last night where we were able to see some traditional Vietnamese dancing, sing some Australian songs for them plus were roped into doing some dancing with the bamboo poles, which was hilarious for everyone involved and a great send off and end to our village experience before we drove back to Hanoi the next morning.

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