REI-VN’s visiting professionals return from another successful volunteer trip to Vietnam.

REI sends two types of people overseas: resident professionals, who live and work in an emerging nation long-term, and visiting professionals, who spend a few weeks in a country volunteering their skills and knowledge in their various fields to local professionals.

We would like to honor some of these volunteers, who just recently took a trip to Vietnam, facilitated by REI-Vietnam staff member Cliff. In October, Cliff took a team of six doctors specializing in gastroenterology (the digestive system), cardiology (the heart), pulmonology (the lungs and other respiratory functions) to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for a two-week volunteer trip.

Cliff describes this group of volunteers: “Our volunteer teams of doctors are a generous, caring, relational bunch. This team was from all over the western U.S., from Denver, Seattle, Boise, Las Vegas, and Prescott (Arizona). What they had in common was a desire to ‘give back’ and a desire to invest in the next generation of Vietnamese doctors. Each paid his or her own way and share of the team expenses, as well as giving up their U.S. practice for the two weeks of our trip. Dollar-wise, it doesn’t make sense [for them to volunteer on an REI trip], except that they see the unlimited potential of each individual that they work with!”

The doctors served in three hospitals where REI has had long-standing partnerships. It was a sweet reunion for some of REI’s doctors, three of whom had volunteered with REI before in Vietnam, having had a chance to develop relationships with local doctors on past trips. Dr. Dick Baerg, the team’s leader, had been on three trips to Vietnam before this one, and his wife was returning for her second trip.

The doctors also had an opportunity to visit Gia Dinh Hospital, a hospital where REI teams had conducted training before in different medical specialties. Cliff says, “The Vietnamese doctors at Gia Dinh Hospital were so eager to learn from REI’s doctor volunteers! The local doctors are doing a great job, especially considering their limited resources and facilities, but we try to help them do it a little bit better.”

REI’s volunteers trained doctors at all the hospitals they visited by giving lectures on current practices and technology in their fields, as well as through bedside teaching, consulting, and elbow-to-elbow patient treatment with their Vietnamese colleagues.

Some of the doctors also found further opportunities to serve the Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. Cliff says, “The two GI (digestive system) doctors have begun talking with each other about co-sponsoring and hosting a Vietnamese GI doctor whom they’ve worked with on four previous trips to come to the U.S. as an REI Fellow for a couple of months.”

As an REI Fellow, a Vietnamese doctor has the chance to study an American doctor’s practice to learn and grow as a doctor. However, this is not just a study experience for a doctor. The hosting doctor invites the REI Fellow into his or her home to live with the doctor and the doctor’s family. The visiting doctor has the chance to develop a deep friendship with the host doctor, as well as to learn about medicine and American culture.

Cliff says, “We’re always glad to see that happen because those fellowships often turn out to be life-changing for the Vietnamese Fellows, both professionally and personally.”

But this trip wasn’t only focused on medical training. Cliff says, “Our male doctors often make trips accompanied by their wives and sometimes even by a son or daughter. On this team, there were two doctors’ wives who wanted to make a contribution in non-medical areas in Vietnam.

“…They went to a kindergarten on the outskirts of Hanoi where REI has partnered with local leaders to build and support a kindergarten. After meeting these leaders, they presented gifts and books to the kids and spent time reading simple English stories to the the kids. The kids and teachers were very glad for the visit.

“On another day, they visited organizations that take in handicapped and underprivileged kids and train them in life skills and vocational trades. They taught a cooking class for one of these organizations. These are some great Vietnamese people doing great work, and REI may be able to come alongside them to help in significant ways in the future!”

All in all, each one of our volunteers put forth great effort and sacrificed to serve the people of Vietnam. We are grateful for such qualified and caring volunteers to come alongside REI in our efforts to build people to build nations.