Although this wasn’t my first visit to South East
Asia, Vietnam was still a wonderfully new experience for me. As soon as we
landed in Ho Chi Minh City, I took in a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief,
as if almost feeling at home. It could have also been realising the hard work
over the last 6 months was paying off. It’s probably more than that though as I’m
forever passionate about visiting developing countries and roads less
travelled. Call it the adventurer in me but it always seems to be where I feel
the most ‘alive’. A combination of new sights and experiences, increased
knowledge and awareness about the world around us and forming relationships with
inspirational characters are a few of the plus sides of working in the
development sector.
 |
| -Tap Rua Monument on Hoam Kiem Lake, Hanoi- |
I won’t delve into detail about the work involved,
but as part of my work portfolio I help support Vietnam project monitoring
efforts to help increase the capacity of hospitals particularly relating to eye
health at district, provincial and national levels.
In 10 days my colleague and I travelled to 3
different provinces, 6 districts and 4 communes which meant we spent every
second day travelling. We were lucky enough to travel with a team from our Regional Office
who help manage the projects in-country, which meant ‘Xin Chiao’ and ‘Cam On’
was about as much Vietnamese I needed to know when it came to ordering food. Little to say we were exhausted by the end of
it all, it was still a pleasure meeting and working with some key players who
are leading the efforts to increase Vietnam’s capacity to reach the poorest of
the poor in accessing eye health. I was very nervous at the prospect of
sitting in a hospital board room meeting with doctors, hospital directors and project
managers discussing and providing input into how they are implementing their projects.
None the less a quick hello, shake of
their hand and a big smile was all that was needed to help calm the nerves. I’m
pretty sure it all went well.
 |
| -Students lining up for refractive error screening - |
My favourite part of Vietnam was Son La Province. Son La is located about an hour flight from Hanoi to Dien Bien City, well known for
the final battle with the French in 1954, it's then a 3 hour drive through the
mountains until you reach Son La City. A rural and isolated part of the country
Son La is one the poorest provinces in Vietnam, and its access to health and
medical care is also very low. The gorgeous
scenery with rolling rice paddy hills, and cloud covered peaks, with lovely people who won’t stop inviting you in for tea. Even a few of the stray
dogs are nice enough to pat, apart from one that nearly took my hand off! The
food is also amazing and I was surprised to see how much the food changed from
one province to another. I could easily turn into a vegetarian in Vietnam with
all the delicious options and flavours.
 |
| -The hills of Son La and surroundings - |
So to sum it all up, the trip to Vietnam was another
remarkable journey to a different part of the world and hopefully there’s another
chance to visit in the future. Maybe next time I’ll be able to go for a holiday!
Happy reading and best wishes,
Luke Purcell
No comments:
Post a Comment