Day 5: Hospital Day 3

Our shifts at the University Hospital Center continues today, as my group got a tour of the ICU rooms and got to interact with some more heart patients. About half of the room is now replaced with new kids, since most of them probably went into surgeries yesterday. The new kids are a bit quieter than the ones from yesterday. One girl, Tuyết Nhi, was four years old. She was adorable just like any other kids here. She was with her grandmother, whom she seemed to be very close to. She was very playful with her grandmother, but she was very shy when I approached her. She soon fell asleep, and I had a small chat with her grandmother. Tuyết Nhi had no father, for he left her and her mother even before she was born. Her family came from the poor rural area. At the age of 2, she almost died from drowning when the flood hit her area. Her mom and her grandparents worked together to raise her. Her congenital heart diseases were supported by another charity, which I did not really fully understand when she explained to me. Well, at least that she was able to diagnosed her condition early and have it operated so she can have a longer and happier life. The grandmother continues to tell me about her family. Aside from her daughter, who was Nhi’s mother, she also had 4 other boys. She worked really hard to help her youngest son, who was 17, to stay in school. He worked really hard during the summer for 1,000,000 VND to help his family. That’s about 50 dollars…












After lunch we head for the Heart Institute to visit more children patients there. This institute had about 100 doctors and run as a non-profit facility. We packed for them two bags of toys, so every one of us grabbed one of the toys upon arrival to give to one of the kid. Even though the visit was not long, it was long enough to make an impact on us. One of the heart patients that we met had all of his arms and legs amputated due to complications after the heart surgery itself. I spent most of my afternoon here talking to another patient named Minh Trung. He is 12 years old, and he recently had his surgery and will be leaving the facility in a few days. I was there with Jacqueline, Kalvin, Andrew P, and Kevin. We talked to him, and found out more about his family. His family was from Tien Giang, and most of the money used for his surgery was from money borrowed from relatives. Oh, and also, Trung is a very good looking kid. Everyone who was there agreed so as well. He was really sweet while talking to us and answered nicely all the questions we asked him. When we asked him what he wants to be when he grows up, he said he wants to be a lawyer and an actor. It was amazing to see a kid who had been through that to still look forward and have a dream. I really hoped that his dreams come true.






The patients that I encountered today will always have a special part in my mind. They are some out of millions like them in this country who struggled so much every day to survive. It’s a blessing that they still have an opportunistic look and strive to achieve their dreams. Here’s a prayer to this war-torn country so the people can soon escape poverty and move forward.
Over and Out.