Life After

I have had my trip to Vietnam as a focus for some months, though it feels like a much longer time. Now, being at home, falling into the routine of my regular life, returning all the many things I borrowed for the trip, repeating the details of the trip over and over to the many interested friends and supporters, I find myself still focusing on the trip... the trip next year, that is. Though the need is astounding, I left feeling that with God's help, I made a ripple, that all the hard work and raising of funds was worth it, not just because of the trips effect on me, though I am sure there is much to say on that subject. I actually feel that I may have made a difference to more than one person, that I might have influenced many hearts and minds in this foreign land with the love of Christ and the practicality of medical knowledge. And next year, I want the ripple to be bigger, multiplicable, waves of love and relationship and earnest service. I am even now making a plan, hoping that my time in the next year will not let me grow static, but will keep my focused on service. I owe my Lord so much more than that, and yet, it is one of the expressions that he asks of each of us in different ways. I want to live up to the challenge, to "live a life worthy of the calling." Lord help me to live that kind of life.

There was doubt along the way. First of all, funding, and God provided, and I am convinced that he had a good snicker at my foolishness. Then there was the doubt that I would be able to come away with the knowledge that I have described here; people were changed and touched, not though my strength and power, but through Christ in me and the team and the power and strength that he provided. And he wants to do this in every place, every day. This makes me smile. Thanks, Jesus!

We want to get some pictures up soon. Jessica has been trying to get on the blog and load some up, but has not been able onto the blog of late. I will attempt to load a couple of mine up, but she has all the good ones, so I will load some of those up when I get the disk from her.

Thanks again to everyone that helped make this trip possible, and please realize that the ripple that was created on the other side of the world is as much a testament of you and God in you as it is proof of God working through and leading our team.

Love to all--

Amanda

Home Sweet Home

I'm so happy to be sitting in my nicely air conditioned home, drinking a really cold lemonade, and typing this blog entry. It was such a long day/night of flying and hanging out in airports, but it's finally come to an end. Poor Jennifer has one more flight to go from DC to Charleston, SC, but that flight will be so much quicker than our 14 hour flight from Korea to DC.

I think the trip was a huge success! We all had a great time and I felt like we created some good relationships for future visits to Vietnam. We will be keeping in contact with several people from the National Children's Hospital and Choung My Hospital. I look forward to giving them suggestions for improvement of their practices by sending them emails and maybe some pictures of how we do things in our hospitals.

This medical mission trip has been such an amazing experience and I really am looking forward to going back next year. I think I already said this in another blog entry, but I want to say it again. GVI IS WONDERFUL!!! They deserve so much credit for the success of this trip. They knew what orphanges and hospitals in Vietnam needed our help. Without them we wouldn't have been able to communicate very well (we probably could have survived at that National Children's Hospital, but it would have been a challenge). They were wonderful tour guides and knew some yummy restaurants to take us to. All of them are wonderful people and we will miss them till we see them again next year.

Thanks for following the blog and I plan to post the pictures tomorrow or the next day.

Jessica

Time to Say Goodbye

We just finished shopping and got some really cool stuff. Tra was a huge help--her presence alone helped us get some good deals. The worst part of the day was saying goodbye to her. She's only been working at GVI for 2 months and she did such a wonderful job helping us manage our money, get taxi cabs and most importantly not get run over by motorbikes. We will all miss her and reminded her that we'll see her again when we come back next year.

Tonight at 5pm we have a debriefing and then a chance for one more Vietnamese meal. I'm sure there will be many more sad goodbyes, but hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch through the Internet.

I think we've spent the perfect amount of time in Hanoi and I'm ready to go home to see my family and friends. There are definitely things I will miss about Vietnam, but at the same time there are things that I miss about the States. I can't wait to get home and turn my air conditioning up full blast! I also look forward to all the bathrooms having toilet paper, soap, and paper towels or a dryer. Most of all I will miss everyone from GVI--they have been amazing and I don't have enough words to thank them for all they've done for us.

Jessica

Our Last Day

Karoke was a success last night. Even though Amanda and Tra were the main karoke stars, we all got into it and had some fun. It was so nice meeting Bic last night and those of you headed to Vietnam in July/August for the orphanage trip are going to have so much fun with her. Ming was the man last night, hanging out with 6 ladies and had fun singing karoke too.

Today we got to sleep in a little, which was wonderful, especially since we have a full day here before we start our 24 hour trip home. I just finished my last jog around the lake and will miss seeing everyone working out. It's amazing how active everyone is around here and that would explain why I haven't seen one person that's overweight. I've seen a wide variety of workouts: tai chi, badmition, massage lines, walking/jogging, workouts with sticks/swords/cloth flowers on strings and there's probably a lot more that I'm forgetting or haven't seen yet. It just makes me so happy to see how active everyone is.

This morning we're headed to Joma for breakfast, where they have some delicious coffee and food. I'm looking forward to getting another London Fog (Earl Grey and vanilla latte)--I hope we have this back in the States or I may need to get my own latte machine, so I can keep having them.

After breakfast it will be time for shopping with Amanda and Tra. I'm so happy that Tra is going to go with us and help us do some bargaining. Everything is so reasonable I feel guilty to bargain for a lower price, but I guess that's what they expect. I'm glad that Amanda has figured out how to count Dong (Vietnamese currency) because it still confuses me. Two nights ago I paid for dinner and it was 880,000. Can you imagine seeing that amount on your restaurant bill in the States--oh my! 100,000 dong is equal to 5 US dollars and I think the bills go as low as 1,000 dong, which would equal something (my brain hurts already trying to figure it out).

Alrighty, I think that's all for now. But I'm pretty sure we will post more before we leave and probably from the airport in Korea since we have a 5 hour layover.

Thanks for following the blog and I will have lots of pictures to post when I get home for your viewing pleasure.

Jessica

Choung My Hospital

Today all four of us went to Choung My Hospital, which was about an hour away from our hotel. It's a very small hospital (outside of Hanoi) compared to the National Children's Hospital that we went to earlier in the week. Here in Vietnam they have 3 different levels of hospitals, which dictates their funding and what type of medications they are able to use. I think Choung My Hospital was a level 2 hospital and they have a limited amount of equipment and supplies. We hope to provide them with some fetal heart rate monitors (they currently have one and are in great need of more) and some supplies for the operating room (maybe instruments and trays). I talked with people in the Sterilization Department and learned how they do things at their hospital. Again, I feel very privileged to have all the high tech equipment that we have in the States.

Amanda met with the nurses in the Pediatric Unit and gave a presentation on asthma. Ashley gave presentations on ectopic pregnancy and fetal heart rate monitoring. It seems they have similar practices to what we have in the States, but some things vary due to their limited supplies and medications.

We saw rain for the first time today and it helped to cool things off (a little). I don't think that I've sweat this much in my entire life and it seems to be getting hotter every day. I was very happy that our cab had air conditioning and our rooms are nice and cool.

Tonight we're going out for dinner and karoke with some of the GVI staff. It seems that karoke is a little different here in Vietnam. You rent a room and just sing with your friends. I think that Amanda and Tra will be the big karoke stars tonight, but who knows, the rest of us may be inspired to join in. We'll have to let you know how that goes in our next blog.

So we're all done with our work at the hospitals and tomorrow we get to shop and relax before we head home. I think it's been a very productive week and I'm already looking forward to coming back next year.

Jessica

More Interesting Experiences

Today Ashley and I ưent to Chong My Hospital outside of Hanoi. All I have to say is ƯOW!!! I greatly appreciate everything about St. Mary's Hospital and ưill try not to ever complain again about not having enough supplies to do my job. I also ưas reminded ưhy I ưork in the OR instead of Labor and Delivery. Ưe saw tưo deliveries, an operation and a C-section. Ashley ưas able to assist in the delivery of one baby and I took the pictures to prove it.

Ưe ate some more interesting things for lunch--frog, goat and pig. The frog tasted like chicken you just had to pick all the little bones out. Ưe both decided that banana flower ưas our favorite dish. And I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but the iced coffee is delicious--I can't get enough of it. Everyone has been so friendly and ưe look forward to going back to the hospital tomorrow.

I ưould ưrite more, but this computer keeps trying to convert my ưords to Vietnamese and it's taking me forever. Plus the lights from the disco tech, ưhere I'm ưriting this, are blinding me. I think it's time for some sleep so I can have enough energy to get through our last ưork day tomorrow.

Later Jessica

Words for the Day

1. Flexibility: I guess I should say this is the world for the whole trip. I can't even count how many times our plans for the day have changed, changed back and then changed to something completely different. We have all learned very quickly to just go with the flow.

2. Patience: I guess this goes hand in hand with being flexible.

3. Sore Bottoms: This happened because of all the waiting around, meetings and lectures we attended today.

4. Caffeine: A key ingredient to start, continue and sometimes even end your day with. Tonight we went to Joma's for dinner and I think I had the best cafe drinks ever. First a London Fog, which was an Earl Grey tea latte followed by an iced coffee latte--both completely delicious!

5. Caterpillars: Lots of people have told me to try something new, so I decided why not eat a bug. Today in the hospital cafeteria they had caterpillars. I really ate one (actually several) and thought they were pretty good. They tasted like peanuts that popped in your mouth. But the more I ate them, the more they appeared to be crawling around in my stomach, which caused me to stop eating them. But who knows what interesting food I may eat tomorrow.

6. Nap-time: Anyone that knows me knows how I love my naps. This has been a crucial element for survival in Vietnam due to our busy days. I guess it's a combination of the heat and hard work, but the mid day naps have been wonderful.

Alrighty, time for some sleep and preparing ourselves for new adventures tomorrow.

Jessica

Missions That Have Been Accomplished: Another 10 Things List by Amanda

I had some fear that once I found myself on the other side of the world, I would end up not finding my niche, that thing that I was here to do. Well, there were several things that I was here to do, actually. My fear has been put aside. I have:

1. Eaten a gross amount of the most delicious ice cream ever to cross my lips and still managed to loose weight.

2. Found a real purpose for dental floss (Vietnamese food and my teeth are at war!)

3. Been able to wear flip flops to work.

4a. Been called beautiful multiple times in a day by people who don't know and love me already (apparently every Vietnamese woman wants to be a plump, fair skined woman who "looks like a freshman in college."

4b. Been told I am like a movie star.

5. Successfully taught medical information to people in a way that was constructive and not demeaning, using my job skill in service.

6. Been able to teach parents how to bring health and more functional living to their child on a regular basis.

7. Make a friend.

8. Make another friend.

9. Not be run over (this is a goal for myself most weeks, no matter the continent).

10. Make a date for real, asian karaoke.

Almost everything...

Amanda

The Work Week Begins

Baileys, Kahlua, Mint Liquour...no we haven't been drinking just indulging in Fannys ice cream (again). Who needs a real dinner when you can have ice cream instead--it's a dream come true.

But before the ice cream, we were working hard at the Children's Hospital in Hanoi today. Or I guess I should say that Amanda and Jennifer were working hard today. Amanda did a wonderful job speaking with parents of children with asthma and bronciolitis. Everyone seemed very happy that we were there and they were all very inquisitive. Jennifer observed children's behavioral health assessments. Today was mostly observation, but tomorrow we plan to give some lectures and continue helping on the units. Jessica got to take a tour of the operating room and sterile processing, where they clean their instruments and get sterile supplies ready for surgery. Ashley and Jessica were mostly there for moral support and photography to capture all the memories:)

Today we branched out from Vietnamese cuisine and ate at Al Frescos for lunch. We feasted on some good old fashion American food--pizza, french fries and tex mex food. We ate a very large lunch and were all ready for a nap afterwards. If we lived here we would be taking a siesta after lunch for about an hour. That sounds fabulous--I'm so jealous.

And most importantly, I need to mention that the staff from GVI have been wonderful. Huong, Tai, Tan and everyone else that we will meet soon, we want to thank them for all their help and guidance. You've made this trip an educational, fun, and memorable experience.

That's all for now

Jessica

We want to thank everyone for their posts, though we decided that many needed to be removed. As you may have noticed, some of our blogs and lists have been updated. We appreciate that so many are "thinking " of us and sending us "best wishes" as we volunteer here in Hanoi.

Today we worked with SS3 orphanage, and though there were fewer kids, the experience was more in depth than yesterday. There are many tangible needs that may easily be met now that these needs have been identified. Our fellow volunteers from Virginia who are coming to Hanoi later in the summer will have to be so kind as to bring another medical bag with basic supplies and instructions. The children are excited about the beach trip!

We went to a Vietnamese cultural museum today. It was very interesting, and from a medical standpoint, I must add that the exhibit on AIDS and HIV is one of the best educational exhibits on the subject that I have ever seen. As in America, the introduction of the AIDS epidemic combined with the ignorance of what AIDS meant and how it was transmitted lead to the same type of social issues that America experienced in the 1980's, though Vietnam's epidemic started only 20 years ago.

There was a Children's event going on in the gardens of the museum, and while both Ashley and Jessica were more stealth on stilt walking, I do think that I was more graceful on the balance beam :)

Fannys is the best and most beautiful ice cream in the world! Sorry that you are on another continent!

Amanda

Vietnamese Traffic Laws as Observed By Amanda

1. Speed limit is determined by how fast the person that is in front of you is going if and when you cannot get around them.

2. Stay to the right of the double yellow line, unless you need more space to pass someone, in which case blink flashers at oncoming traffic before crossing double yellow lines.

3 a. White broken line dividing road into two lanes may be more functionally used by driver if straddled with vehicle, making swerving to whatever side required less jarring to passengers.

3 b. White broken line dividing road into two lanes is only a general suggestion. Three or four lanes works just as well as long as horn is applied appropriately.

4. Red light means stop, unless you don't think it is necessary. Then don't stop.

5. If you have stopped at the red light then the green light means... honk at the other vehicles that also stopped.

6. Honking horn expresses intent if you are the honker.

7. Having a horn honked at you if you are the honkee means absolutely nothing. Keep going your merry way as you would like.

8. Try not to hit pedestrians. Just honk at them.

9. As a pedestrian, DO NOT look both ways. It will only cause anxiety. Just close your eyes, absorb the melodious honking and walk.

10. On a one way street you only go one way unless you need to go the other way, in which case you honk and proceed.

This place would be a dream for any of you in Richmond with a scooter/bike!

Here and Getting Along Fine

Saturday evening here, near the end of our first day. The 18 hours in air were trying, but that is to be expected. From the airport in the cab was...scary. See later post "Vietnam's Traffic Laws."

Everyone on the team is tired but well. This morning we went to an orphanage and were able to screen and do well child exams on about 40 children. Most of them had not been screened since 2009, if not longer. We did not get a lot of social time with the children, but during the exam found most of them either a bit of the shy side, or very interested in our stethoscopes.

Our hosts here are amazing. I am afraid to try to spell names, as I have to picture the word in my head as it sounds or I will never be able to say it. We have met Duhn ("you may call me 'get it done!'"), Hough ("huh"), Chai, and Tou (like "Pow" except with a t/d combo sound). Thank goodness that most people know a little English. I was trying some very basic greetings. In the bank an elderly woman walked up out of the blue and took my hand and said "hello." She seemed very proud to be able to say the English word. I tried to return the greeting in kind. Unfortunately, a lot of the Vietnamese language is based on the inflection with which the words are said, so when I tried to say "hello" I actually said "want soup." I didn't try to much after that, afraid of what could possibly come out of my mouth that would be more ridiculous that asking an elderly stranger in the bank for soup.

The Stress is Gone and So Are We

I'm about to go to bed, only to wake in five hours to finish last minute packing and head to Ashley's where we will convene to pack, pray, and set off for DC. We fly out of DC around lunch time.

I feel so good today. All the little details that had been bothering me, things to do, buy, pack, gather, people to talk to... its all either done, or it's not done and there isn't anything else that I can do with it. And with this acknowledgement comes peace.

It has been quite a journey already, seeing things be moved and directed in the lives of the team members and happenstances around us creating this trip and making it happen for the service of others. I know for sure that there was a moment I had my doubts that it would happen for me personally, but I think someone out there in the universe gets a kick out of reminding me who is in charge, (hunt: it's not me).

I was able to see all of my family this weekend, and it was a blessing to talk about the trip with them. Their excitement was an encouragement. Then today, Mom was able to come visit for a few hours. We ran errands and talked, then she gave me letters, a letter for every day of my try almost, with annotations as to when to open them. I came home and packed the letters with travel tissues. It's such a blessing to see my family and friends, from church and work and from the past, all supporting the effort to serve those in need. Previously, I have had trouble understanding how full time humanitarian volunteers do it, and while I still can't claim to have that kind of understanding, I can see how family and friend's supporting the effort can make a very real difference.

From the whole team and myself, thank you for your support. Whether it is "well-wishes" or time or money that you have invested in us to go and serve those in need, we thank you. We promise to do all that we can to meet the needs of those we meet and love them beyond reason, just as we have been loved.

Love to all,

Amanda

A Picture of (most of) the Team

Here's a picture of our team (Ashley, Amanda, and Jessica) at a team meeting where we went for a hike in Richmond, VA to Hollywood Cemetery. I (Jessica) will be taking pictures while we are in Vietnam and I will have tons of pictures to share with everyone once we get back. So Jennifer will definitely be in future pictures.

The Countdown

We only have about nine more days until we leave! I can hardly believe it. Currently we are working to get all the medical supplies and equipment together that we can. Also we are working on presentations for medical staff. All the rest of it seems a little surreal.

The Spaghetti Fundraiser was a huge success! Thanks for all of those who were able to attend. I hope each and everyone who came walked away with a prize of some sort.

This blog will be our main communication doing our time in Vietnam. Once we leave, we will endeavor to have at least one of the team members blog each day and let you know how we are all fairing. Until then, and if you don't mind, check in every once in a while to see any updates to our "think of us" list. Next to getting to Vietnam, well-wishes are the most essential part of this trip! Please be think of us often as we are traveling and working in Hanoi and Choung My.

More to come... Bless you all.
Amanda