Tuesday, May 31, 2016

105 blessed years

In 2013, we had the honor of traveling to DaNang, home town of one of our team members. Prior to visiting, she told us that her Grandfather was 102 years old, thus I had to meet this man.
Part of our journey this year was to revisit Chi's Grandfather who is now 105 years old. Needless to say, it was again such an honor to spend some time, albeit short, with a man who has lived and seen over a century of lifes beauty.
An additional blessing this year is that he got a chance to meet his great great grandsons for the first time. Kevin is 20 and Chris is 19, both of who have never visited Vietnam nor met their great grandfather. Seeing this interaction was truly amazing.

Thank you Chi for once again sharing your family with ours!!

It made all of our team reflect on our ancestry. Some never knew their grandparents, some only when they were barely old enough to recall, and others, like me, and very fortunate to have known all 4 for many years.

Today I send warm, loving, respectful, and thankful thoughts to my own Grandfather, Charles, who will be 96 this year. He has taught me about life, respect and honor. His presence in all of our lives made us a better, stronger family.





Hoi Yen church visit

We took half a day to travel to a the Hoi Yen church outside of DaNang. This poarish has been in existence for over 400 years and once was the place of pray for over 4000 people. It is located in a very rural and poor region of the country. During winter season, the area is affected by numerous typhoons every year. Over the course of many years of weather destruction, along with poor construction, the church was damaged beyond repair. When you pull up the path, all you see is the original foundation for the church, about 2 feet above ground level. The community assisted with the salvage of any materials and the building of a small shed to house any of the original artifcacts from the church. Today, mass is held in a temporary building until funds and supplies can be obtained to construct a new church. 
We met the current priest, who has been at this parish since 2008. His congregation is now at 400 people.
His hope and prayers are that his community will overcome this hardship and rebuild the church within 5 years. 







Sunday, May 29, 2016

Charity work in Quang Ngai

Our team traveled from DaNang down the coast approximately 2.5 hours last night and arrived in the city of Quang Ngai. Prior to the  mission, our team was in contact with a local University, Middle School and Orphanage. It is here where we begin our charity work. It consisted of two events, first visiting children and giving gifts to the orphans, and second, visiting families homes to provide scholarships to 10 outstanding middle school students.

First, the orphanage:

The Phu Hoa orphanage has been in existence since 1963 and is currently run by 1 nun and 4 lay people. It is the home to 25 children who have been abandoned and left at the doorstep of the building. The government assists the facility to the amount of $20 USD per child per month. Some charity organizations send funds or supplies, but it is rare for an International Charity team to visit the children to show the love and care and compassion they truly deserve. As soon as our team van pulled into the parking area, wide eyed and beautiful children began to appear. It wasn't long before each member of our team was surrounded by children who craved hugs and love. We provided each child a gift package pre-ordered through our contacts in Vietnam, containing books, crayons, pens/pencils, and toothpaste/toothbrushes. The joy on their little faces was priceless.






Second, the home visits to the scholars:

As a team from Temple University School of Pharmacy, we know the daily struggles that many students from our own area endure and have been fortunate enough to provide many of them scholarships for outstanding academic and leadership activities. With this in mind, our charity team decided to use a portion of our funds raised to provide scholarships to 10 outstanding middle school students. The scholarship consists of 1,500,000 VND ($75  equivalent) which will pay for 1 year tuition, academic books and school uniforms for the child. The children were selected based on outstanding academic achievements and need. The professor at the local University gave a presentation the day before to the Scholars describing our intention saying " you have earned this honor through daily hard-work and dedication. It is the hope of our team for this to continue so they can become leaders in their community and provide a better life to those around them". Most of the recipients of these scholarships have lost either one or both of their parents and are being raised by grandparents. Each student was genuinely grateful and displayed shy, yet, sincere gratitude for this amazing honor. Almost all of them promised to study hard and do well in school so as not to disappoint our team!!!







Friday, May 27, 2016

Temple DaNang

We have Temple Philadelphia, Temple Rome, Temple Japan. Is it possible to have a future
Temple DaNang???

One can never tell!


Cultural tour of DaNang

The past few days we had the pleasure of visiting many of the educational, historic and spiritual places in the city of DaNang. First came "Monkey" mountain, named for this due to the previously inhabited area of monkeys. Today the government declared one side of the mountain a natural preserve which now is the home of those monkeys. On the opposite side of the mountain rests one of the oldest Pagodas is Vietnam with a enormous Buddha statue seen for miles across the sea from the mainland. This area was known as a demilitarized zone during the war and is now the area where many locals and visitors alike travel to pray and meditate. Its an awe inspiring site both structurally and more importantly spiritually and serene.

Next came Marble mountain, an area where caves where discovered containing some of the largest slates of marble in the world. Over 80% of the marble statues seen in Asian are carved from marble discovered in this site. Within this mountain are caves with beautiful carving throughout its natural walls.

We ended the day visiting the Cham museum. This museum describes the lives of the Cham people, a fierce population who ruled the Central area many years ago. Many valuable artifacts were stolen from this area over time, but many treasures exist depicting the culture and history of this now close to extinct population.

You can also see some of the most unique bridges in Vietnam spanning the river that runs through the city. Most notably the fire breathing dragon bridge which is lit in the evenings making this site unmistakably DaNang.






Wednesday, May 25, 2016

When it rains, make a waterfall

Today we landed in DaNang, a city of 1 million people in the Central region of Vietnam. It is a beautiful city that has been gentrified over the last 5-10 years. This city was chosen as part of our Cultural awareness portion of the mission for various reasons. First, it is very close to the city of Quang Nai, where we will be doing charity work in local orphanges and visit children's homes to present them with Scholarships to School (More later in the blog). Secondly, it is the home town of Chi's family, and whenever I get a change to meet her grandfather (105 years old), I can not pass that up. Thirdly, it is a beautiful destination, featuring sunny skies and hot temperatures, enough to evaporate any remaining thoughts of a cold winter and prepare our team for a long hot mission.

Oddly, however, today's weather brought a rare and unusual heavy thunderstorm, forcing us to delay our plans and wait it out.

While drinking caphe sua da in a local cafe, we watched as the lightning, thunder and harsh rain pelted the rooftop. It was at that point one ofour team members pointed out some writing on the wall of the cafe. it reads: "The world is a book and who those do not travel....Read only one page"




As I stated, when it rains, make a waterfall!!!!   We would have likely not gone into this cafe if not for the rare thunderstorm, thus never stopping to read such a moving and meaningful quote.

It sums up my feelings of not just travel, but one of the many purposes of our Pharmacy Missions. Yes, we travel here to help, care for, and treat the needy in Vietnam, but this mission also enriches our team through an appreciation of cultural diversity. Some things just can not be learned from books.


Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat Em Joyce!!!

As has become the Vietnam Pharmacy Mission tradition, when a member of our team celebrates a birthday, we officially welcome them to our family. Today happened to be Joyce's birthday. Knowing that she would be expecting a "pleasant" surprise, we had to get creative in order to fulfill this tradition. First came the actual cake, a unique iPhone cake, and low and behold, a hidden cupcake under my chair. Many minutes passed while singing Happy Birthday, making wishes and blowing out candles. Then came the cutting of the first slice, which of course has to be performed by the birthday girl. then "SMASH"!!!!!

I did take the advice of Joyce's team members to be cautious to avoid her hair.

Success, as Joyce claims "I was waiting for this all day and you still managed to surprise me"!!!

Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat (Happy Birthday) Joyce from all of us!!!!



Presidential Visit

Chance would have it that President Obama was visiting Saigon during the same 2 days we were. The people of Saigon were very excited to have the President of The United States visit their country/city. With excitement sometimes comes unexpected circumstances as the take off of Air Force One delayed our departing flight to DaNang by over 2 hours. It didn't seem to affect anyone as the airport windows were crowded with tourists and locals alike just trying to get a glimpse of this rare event.


Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Local Culture shown by Kha

After a morning of organizing all of our medication and supplies, it was time for an evening to enjoy the local culture of Saigon. Starting with the introduction to Kathy's cousin Kha.

It is always such a treat for me to meet new friends in Vietnam. Kha was kind enough to take us to an amazing dinner in Saigon to experience much of the local cuisine. Our team tried many of the local Vietnamese dishes such as Bun Cha Ha Noi (Dried rice with pork), Banh Xeo (Vietnamese crepe stuffed with seafood), Bun Hen (Noodles with mussels), and two of my favorites So Huyet (Blood clams in garlic) and Muc (Squid).

After dinner it comes time to socialize. Part of the local culture is to sit outdoors at low tables and talk, get to know each other, learn about each other, and eat snack food, and share in a Vietnamese Bia.

Our team enjoyed more dried squid dipped in hot sauce and lotus seeds. We played Tien Len (card game) with a pharmacy flare (Yes my idea.....nerd).

Year after year, I am fortunate get to meet new friends and learn more details about my team.

Cam on Em Kha rat nhieu for taking time to meet us, show us around, and make our experience in  Saigon both educational and entertaining!!!!





Arrived safely in Vietnam

After a 2 hour bus ride to JFK, a 14 hour flight to Korea and a 5 hour flight to Saigon, the team finally arrived safely in Vietnam. Gratefully, all bags made it to Vietnam, and it was an successful pass through customs. We arrived near 23:00 Vietnam time with the temperature a balmy 29 degrees Centigrade. (85 degrees Fahrenheit).

After a brief "nap" came the tedious but needed job of inventorying last years extra medications, sorting all of the medications, and counting and labeling of 2 days worth of doses. Straight to working, sweating, but smiling and enjoying at the same time.

I am already very proud of Team 2016, as they have shown patience, resilience and dedication. And this is just day 1.




Friday, May 20, 2016

Meet Team 2016



Team 2016 was chosen for very their very distinct and unique qualities. A matrix for what I hope to be a very successful, productive and enriching experience. Team 2016 has already committed 3 months of training and preparation for the upcoming Pharmacy Mission.

Left to right:

Dr. R, Kathy Trinh, Jen Ho, Joyce Gambrah, Victor Phan, Tony Pham, and Jola Salavaci.

Wish us good luck and  good health!!!