Sugarcane Superpowers
by Tin Nguyen
After only a few days, my first workcamp is already full of memorable experiences, some great and some less amazing. One of the more traumatic moments of this trip happened this morning after I was blessed with a stomachache from a suspiciously delicious cup of sugarcane juice. That juice gave me superpowers, so I was able to single-handedly stop a moving bus for several minutes while I went to take care of that stomachache and admire the surrounding forest. Luckily, when I came back on the bus, everyone was a good sport and I was only lightly roasted for this incident. But seriously, thank you to everyone for helping me out through my pain.
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Medical Clinic Field Notes
by Bùi Thanh-Hằng
Finally, the medical clinic day has arrived. The medical team consisted of 5 physicians: Dr. Hoang Phi, an internist from Houston, TX, Dr. Mai Anh Mai, an internist from Saigon, Dr. Thai Nguyen, an internist, Dr. Tito Nguyen, à radiologist and acting pharmacist, and myself, an ear, nose, and throat doctor from Orange County, CA. Dr. Bich Loan Pham, a pharmacist from Saigon, had obtained all the medications we needed about 3 months before this trip. We also had assistance from Dalton Bui and Tri Pham in the pharmacy department and Kim-Oanh Phi, Thanh Bui, and Stephanie Nguyen in the registration and check-in department. Our medical clinic was set up in an old and shabby house belonging to the local government. It had an antique tractor in the corner, which cannot be moved. We arranged 4 old school tables for the 4 physicians and several tables for the medications for our pharmacy department.
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Swirls and Wings
by Katie Nguyen
The young hands of a first grader; the brown hands of a sixth grader. All are the same: small, light, and warm, with calloused palms from the dusty work in Vietnam. This completely opposed my own hands: large, heavy, and overbearingly hot, with calloused fingers from the writing that I do. This was what I noticed as I held the hands of growing students in the Da Nang province, painting elegant swirls and cheerful bumblebees on the backs of their hands. Seeing their bright smiles and happy steps as they walked away to show their friends their new decorations certainly made the hard, sweaty days leading up to this point worth it.
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Imagine
by Olivia Trinh
Each day we took a 2 hour bus ride from the busy streets of Tien An into the forests of Tien Ngoc. Tien Ngoc is one of poorest districts, where most of the jobs are centered around the rice fields. The roads changed from paved to dirt roads that met never ending shades of green rice fields and rolling mountains of green.
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Reflections on Day 2
by Stephanie Nguyen
Today we are pros! With yesterday’s practice sessions and several trials & errors, we managed to complete painting 90% of our classrooms! The plan is to complete the final touches of the 7 classrooms in 3 days, in time for the robotics and clinic sessions of the work camp.
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The Not-So-Ordinary Graduation Trip
by Jacqueline Hoang
My first trip to Vietnam was back in June of 2014 with my family. I had no idea what to expect coming to the country where my roots were, where my parents grew up, the great place that I had always heard about through stories and seen through pictures online.
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