Trip Itinerary

Brisbane, Australia

Hanoi, Vietnam

Mai Chau District, Vietnam

Travel Log

Week 1

Vietnam Group C has a total 14 Nursing Students from Griffith and USQ universities.  We arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam which is a busy, somewhat chaotic, but extremely vibrant city. Crossing the street is an art form in itself and this was to be the first lesson taught to us by our guide Tuan.  It is an acquired skill that takes guts, determination, and sheer hope that you make it through the relentless flow of scooters approaching from every direction.  Our first afternoon included a city tour via a cyclo ride which is a bicycle rider with a carriage in front for the passenger.  This put us back in the manic road traffic, this time with someone else in control!  

The following day in Hanoi, we met with local nursing students, their teacher, a western medical doctor, and a traditional medical doctor student.  We gained insight about their degree which was similar in structure and length to ours. It was obvious however that upon graduating, nurses have limited scope of practice in comparison, and therefore have to complete further specialised study.  We also later learned more about currency and dialect from our guide.

Whilst in Hanoi we visited the Ethnicity Museum, Women’s Museum, and the old prison which shed light on Vietnamese history and culture.  A sure highlight of the day was lunch at KOTO.   The staff are orphans or children who previously lived on the streets who were Invited to be trained in hospitality for 2 years before earning the opportunity to work in the restaurant. To their credit the food, drinks and service were outstanding.

Next we arrived at Mai Chau for our first homestay in Na Phon Village and we spent time in the district hospital where some of the group witnessed a natural birth (there may have been tears).  We all got the opportunity to observe two surgeries – a fibroid removal and an emergency appendectomy. For many of us it was our first theatre experience and we all stayed upright.  One of the students even got to scrub in and assist with the procedure.  We donated some scrubs and crutches and visited the playground built through the donation of a previous nursing group.

Next leg of the trip was up the mountain to Pu Bin.  The following one and a half days saw us provide our first two clinics.  We worked well as a team and provided primary health care to 123 locals with symptoms ranging from stomach ache to coughs and colds, back pain, colitis pain and more.  

We await the next week ahead of us with anticipation and rising confidence.

Week 2

Week two took our group to the village of Mai Hich where we settled in for a five-night stay where our home stay served as our base for our clinics as well.

The first two days of clinics saw us inundated with over 230 patients so we put not only our clinical skills but our endurance and patience to the test!  These were long days but having patients waiting to be seen presented the opportunity to provide some education sessions on Days For Girls, safe lifting techniques and stretching.

This week we also visited the local secondary and primary schools.  At the secondary school, we delivered two independent sessions... a Days For Girls session where around 55 young girls asked questions about menstruation and were delighted to receive a DFG kit each.  Just over 60 boys were involved in the Days For Boys health session which covered topics such as puberty and reproductive organs. They were keen to understand more about themselves and about girls too.  We also provided sessions on hand hygiene, teeth brushing, exercise and nutrition at the primary school.  We left them with a donation of soap, toothbrushes, skipping ropes and school supplies.