Day 2
6:00 AM – I’m up writing stories from the previous day. I get dressed and head to the dining hall to get an early breakfast and some space to write.
7:00 AM – a majority of the team arrives for breakfast. We all take our food and catch up from the previous day. Dr. Tam leads everyone in a quick team meeting to review what worked well and what needs to change. Much of what was shared would be taken into account during today’s set up.
8:15 AM – We’re late loading the bus and departing. We were supposed to be out at 800a.
9:30 AM – We arrived at the town of Alangalang. There was already a crowd gathered at the entrance of the empty town hall. Approximate 200-300 patients. The mayor of the town was at the very front of the crowd explaining to his townsfolk how they will be seen so as to keep as much order as possible.
9:45 AM – We’re inside quickly getting set up. The dentists have to use makeshift tables. The doctors have small round tables that look like they could be used for picnics. Dr. Tam forgot his bag at home, so he had to take off to get it. All of his patients have been diverted to other lines. The pharmacy team had to set up along the front of the stage. Their line has been much more manageable this time around.
All said, the mayor has done a fantastic job in keeping people organized. The support staff of nurses and physicians has been very helpful in translating for the doctors and patients.
10:15 AM – The mayor just let in a group of around 25-30 patients who need to see the dentist. The dentist asks me to put on the light and gloves and take a mirror; I’m to screen everyone again to make sure that everyone actually needs emergency extraction. It takes me only a few minutes to get through the line.
11:00 AM – The Houston Saigon Radio team has started their interviews. Dr. Tam still isn’t back yet. It’s an hour drive and back, so he’s going to be gone for most of this clinic visit. The lines for the other doctors are getting a little backed up.
11:15 AM – Just finished screening another large group of dental patients. Four didn’t need work, so I had them step out of line.
11:20 AM – Got an update from Mailinh that the last patients are allowed in at 12noon. Cleanup at 1230p, out at 1p. I relayed the message to the dental and pharmacy team.
11:25 AM - The dental team took a break. They've been pulling peoples’ teeth out since the first patient arrived; it's a very labor intensive task. Since they don’t have their normal chairs they have to contort their bodies in awkward positions to get the job done.
Some locals started gaming the system. They would say that their dental ticket was lost, that their child has it, or that one ticket allows for more than one person. Sometimes they would take a discarded ticket or use their friend’s. We can't hold it against them, because they all need help. However, we have to enforce rules in order to serve everyone fairly.
The dentist wanted me to screen and rescreen the line to whittle it down. I felt like her tolerance for what was permissible and what was not changed because of limited time and resources; what I would deem permissible yesterday was not so now. She thought that I was letting in patients who didn’t really need to be seen. Worse yet, patients that I rejected formed another line and started coming to see her, which added to the confusion.
I had to be firm with a few locals about why having a ticket to see the dentist is the only way they’ll be treated. One woman said that I needed to make an exception for certain people, but I insisted that rules had to be enforced so that everyone could be treated fairly.
12:30 PM - Dr. Hai has already stopped taking dental patients; he looks absolutely drained. The other dentist has been non-stop the entire time.
1:15 PM – We’re finally winding down. Almost everyone has been full throttle since the first set of patients. Thuy showed Kelsey how to drain puss from a cyst. Kelsey wanted me to film it for her, which meant that I had to watch the entire thing. Eww…
The pharmacy line was doing well, but then patients got a little unruly and crowded the table. I had to yell multiple times to get them to form two orderly lines. I’m going to have to rove from section to section demanding that people stay in order. Now that the doors have been closed to new patients, the pharmacy line is much more manageable. The doctor lines are starting to wind down.
We have 30min before we have to be on the bus. Support staff is finally starting to eat. Once the doctors and dentists are through, they’ll eat, and then we’ll be out.
2:00 PM – We’re packed and on the bus. We’re heading to a small town called Sante Fe. No clinic. We’re just stopping by for a very short moment to deliver gifts to the kids and adults. The kids receive new backpacks full of assorted new school supplies, and the adults receive a bag full of various non-perishable foods, batteries, and personal hygiene products.
Support staff starts to bring in the heavy bags of gifts. Within a few minutes, the mission team is handing out backpacks to the large group of grateful children.
A fraction of the mission team is 50 feet away giving gift bags to the adults. Everyone has lined up in an orderly fashion. Our mission team is keen on making sure everyone stays in line and treats each other fairly, so we’re finding multiple ways to maintain order.
Our Buddhist monk is walking around waving and the kids and giving them thumbs up. They love him!
2:30 PM – We’re in the bus and out to Dulag, the final town of today’s mission. It’s an hour drive away, so it’s a good chance to get in a quick sleep.
A small storm has come into town. It’s nothing too severe, but we did have a heavy rain for a few minutes.
3:30 PM – We arrived at Dulag. The medical, dental, and pharmacy teams are meeting to discuss where everyone is going to be stationed. We’ll open clinic for a few hours before heading home for the day.
Stations have been decided, and everyone is setting up quickly. We have these operations down pat. Within 10 minutes everyone is up and running; we’re ready to see patients.
3:40 PM – Patients are starting to trickle in. The pediatrics line is the dominant line; parents are bringing their two or three kids over to be seen and receive medicines. The dentist line, however, is much lighter than we’ve come to expect. One of the dentists was actually about to take a quick break because she was still tired from working non-stop at Alangalang.
4:40 PM – The patient lines are starting to dwindle. This clinic is winding down much faster than expected. This is probably due to the comparative size of the town. The dentist line picked up a bit, so they’re going to take bit longer to finish. This will make a great time for us to give out more gifts to the kids.
5:00 PM – We’re starting to distribute gifts to the kids. They’re all very orderly and well behaved! They love the backpacks and school supplies. It started to sprinkle, so we hurried up the distribution for fear that it might rain harder. The kids are in and out, thanking the mission staff and our local volunteers along the way.
5:30 PM – All of the kids have received their gifts. We’re now loading the remaining gifts and medical supplies in the van. We’re ready to head home. It’s been an exhausting day, and we’re all still reeling from the late work we had yesterday. Despite the fatigue, we're thrilled and satisfied with our work.
After loading, we decided to kill a few extra minutes taking group photos and walking to the nearby beach.
6:30 PM – We took a detour to one of the nearby mass graves. It was dark, so we couldn’t see much without a flashlight. Small candles illuminate some of the makeshift graves. A few family members are at the side of their relative’s graves. It’s a very somber moment for the entire team.
We met a man at the first grave we came across right after entering the gravesite. He explains that he lost his mother, wife, and two kids in the storm. He’s the only one left. How he’s able to explain his story without breaking down is beyond me.
The team quickly agrees to share in a moment of prayer and song for this man and the terrible loss of his family. We pray and sing in Vietnamese. A few of us console him personally. A few others take a moment to take in the emotion and gravity that comes with being at such a place.
One grave has over twenty names. And entire family of multiple generations was killed in the storm.
7:00 PM - On the way out, a few more mission members give parting words of consolation to the man who lost his family. We board the bus and head out. The man walks with us to the bus to send us off.
7:30 PM – We make it home. Some drop off their items in the house and head right over to the dining hall for their first beer of the night. Others take some time to shower and change before dinner.
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