Tanglaw Volume VII Number 1

Back To Vietnam

by Regina Ancola-Upton

From November 6 to 16, 1997, a group of 36 medical missionaries, headed by Dr. Tony Racela, chairman of the Medical Missions Foundation of Kansas City, and his wife Lucie, shared their medical expertise and performed plastic surgery on the poor and under privileged Vietnamese children. The members of the team hailed from all over the country; Kansas City being the coordinating city was joined by nurses from Chicago, Indiana, Philadelphia and North Dakota. Three Vietnamese physicians from California were also at hand. The medical mission also provided medical supplies and equipment to Quang Tach (Danang Hospital) and Quang Son Clinic where the needs are far greater and health care is less than basic. The pictures we took brought back lots of memories of the wonderful if not unique times we had during our 10-day trip. Every place we go, every morning we wake up, we ask same question:" What challenge are we going to confront?" Yes it is a challenge to deliver healthcare under such limited resources -- hardly no interpreter to translate, a few OR rooms were provided, French rest rooms, (!!!) and of course the unfamiliar food and delicacies, that were graciously offered by the locals.

PNAGKC nurses are joined by local Vietnamese hospital staff in-between surgery breaks.

At the end of the day however, some of us, if not all, had the unique feeling of fulfillment; some with doubts: "Did we do any difference at all to these people?" Yet joined by the same spirit of concern for these long suffering yet very sacrificing patients and their families. The team efforts brought us together, from knowing a little bit of history of Vietnam and working side by side with the few privileged, elite and educated Vietnamese in the confines of Danang Hospital. Our tourist guide, named Song, patiently guided and entertained us to every bus ride city to city. Drs. Chyan and Quynn our official interpreters provided us in depth political, social, and economic history of their birth country.Tired and somewhat exhausted, we managed to enjoy lots of things. I, particularly, liked the cyclo bicycle ride. Young high school girls in their long white traditional "Ao dai " riding bicycles--the panels of the long dress and shiny straight long hair billowing behind them like orchid petals. And yes! Shopping, the most enjoyable part was going to this small fishing village with temples and bridges dating as far as 1700.

On the last day of the mission, the Vietnamese physicians bid goodbye to each of us. During the simple luncheon, they delivered their carefully prepared speeches; a mixed feeling of sadness and joy made us cry. His parting words as "Each of you sacrificed your time, to share your talents, in return treasure the experience" We will be forever grateful. Thank you for the three T's in life. Cora Zamora, Sonia Tumanut and myself are grateful to MMF for giving us this opportunity to be part of the team. In return, we got to know most, if not all, the members including the Vietnamese team. We've parted ways and bid goodbye, we felt like loosing long time friends.

The experience added dimension to our lives. Like the last two missions, the challenges and the experience of this year, will be useful; It probably gave us greater focus for future trips. The teamwork and closeness can only grow further.