In May 2005, Global Health Force volunteers delivered medicine and medical care to ten sites in Central and South Vietnam privately run by convents, monasteries, and local parishes. We brought in medicine donated by Catholic Medical Mission Board. We found that despite the very little resources available to them, our local partners had found ingenious ways to provide for the poor, neglected, and ostracized in society. This was especially evident at the leprosy village in Di Linh, the orphanages for blind children in Saigon, a center caring for malnourished Montagnard children in Ta Nung, and homes for the disabled.

Ta Nung center for malnourished children and orphanage for ethnic minority children

The road leading to the remote village of Ta Nung in the Central Highland is a quiet, winding, narrow pass that opens up to the village. Many houses are old, dilapidated shacks. GHF visited the village and went to two sites caring for children in the area. The first site was a center run by the local parish. In the past few years, it has provided care to malnourished children ages 3 to 8. Their family, village elders, or teachers noticed developmental delays in the children and brought them to the center. The center provides the children three meals a day, educate them, and make sure they are progressing appropriately.

The second center GHF visited was an orphanage for Montagnard children. The children are cared for by two nuns. The nuns also run a village medicine cabinet. The Da Lat Catholic Diocese runs 11 of these medicine cabinets. These sites provide free simple and common over-the-counter medications to the poor. The average monthly wage in Vietnam is $40, yet a pill of Advil costs 20 cents. Therefore, most Vietnamese cannot afford treatment for their chronic illnesses, and acute diseases are diagnosed either later with poorer outcomes or go untreated with devastating effects as we observed with many of the blind children in Saigon. At this time, the diocese can only fund $35 per quarter, per site. GHF hopes to continue to provide some free medication for the medicine cabinets.

Homes for the disabled

GHF visited three sites in Lam Dong, an area 6 hours north of Saigon. The sites provide homes for developmentally disabled children, mute and deaf children, and a nursing home for the elderly. The nursing home is staffed by 4 nuns who live in the same complex as the patients. The nursing home lacks portable toilets, diapers, and other necessities because of lack of money. Some of the nuns must work as tea and coffee pickers to help pay for the cost of the nursing home. There are a few old wheelchairs shared among the 15 patients, and pain medication is scarce.

At the center for the developmentally disabled and center for mute and deaf children, GHF volunteers encountered the same enthusiasm and relentless commitment among the staff. The developmentally disabled children learn to be self-sufficient, and depending on their abilities, some of the children learn skills such as sewing, raising livestock, or gardening. The mute and deaf children receive a more extensive education. They learn basic reading, writing, and math in addition to sign language. There is strong emphasis placed on lip reading and speaking to help the children survive in a society with little or no access and resources for the disabled.

Daycares and nursery schools

There is no free education in Vietnam. Even ?public? schools cost money. Unfortunately, the law makes it illegal for religious organizations to provide mainstream education beyond preschool. Some of the sites we visited offered free daycare and preschool to poor children whose parents cannot afford daycare for their children. GHF noticed the lack of toilets, books, and toys at these sites due to lack of funding. The children did receive two meals a day and early education, something many of them would not have without the centers.