Nu Vo's Journal

Hello everyone,

I'm here in Hanoi, finally, after a four-day-trip which we did not expect. We had so many problems, one after the other. But we made it! After seven years living in the U.S. I could not remember exactly what Vietnamese people's lives are like. The city is crowded with motorcycles and bikes, a few cars and taxies. It's so sad to see people live on the streets: selling food and goods from 7am to 12 midnight. It seems like there are more sellers than there are customers. Children try to sell postcards and maps to tourists so that they can buy food and books to go to school.

We visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, which was very interesting, and one of the hospitals in Hanoi called Nong Penh. This hospital was built and sponsored by the French. One of the doctors took us to the newborn floor. Many of them suffered from diarrhea and vomiting, pneumonia, and some of them were born prematurely. Most of the beds had two babies because there were not enough cribs. On the way out, we saw a mother holding her baby. She said that they had been in the hospital for almost a year because the baby has had problems with his eyes and intestine. I asked her why did she and the baby have bruises on their faces. She stated that they were beaten up by her husband because she had to ask him for money to buy food for the baby. We gave them 20,000 dong ($1.8 USD) which could give them enough food for the day.

We are going to the Vietnamese National Nursing Conference starting tomorrow for three days.

I'm very happy that I have this opportunity to come back to VN. I'll try my best to make a difference in people's lives.

It's very hard to find an Internet service in VN, but I'll try to keep you updated.

I just want to say hello to President Harrington, faculty, staff, and friends
from SSC, and my family. I love and miss you all!

Love, Nu

Journal Entry - 8/22/99

My family

Sorry for the long wait, there was no Internet access in my former village. It was very pleasant to see my family at the airport, including: my grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins. They couldn't recognize me, maybe I put some weight on, besides it had been seven years. There were no words to describe how happy I was when I saw them. We had to squeeze into a full size van with 12 other adults and a few children. We finally arrived there around 3am after a five-hour-drive. We had to walk carrying our luggage along a dark trail and then canoe across the river to my grandparents house. It was tricky for me to get into the canoe (I guess I wasn't an expert anymore), let alone Dick and Barbara. We slept on hard beds the whole time we were there. I don't know about Dick and Barbara, but my back hurt every morning when I got up.

Life in the Mekong is very difficult. There is no running water, people have to get water from the river. People use the water for bathing and washing. Drinking water is collected from the rain. Women go to the market every morning for food shopping. My former village called Trung Hieu. It's best known for rice production and fruit orchards. Everywhere you go there is some kind of fruit you can eat fresh from the trees. It was unfortunate to be there only six days but those were the best days in my life.

Journal Entry - 8/23/99

Home Visits/Physical Assessment

The second day in the village we made several home visits. We saw a 12-month-old baby boy who was paralyzed and suffered with status post meningitis. His 23-year-old mother stated that he was sick and had a high fever when he was one-month-old. After the fever episode, he started developing seizures. The baby is not on any treatment or medication for the chronic seizure episodes (3-4 times a day) because they have no money to buy them. There was nothing we could do for the baby but we taught the mother to exercise/massage the baby's fingers and toes a few times a day to prevent muscle contractures.

We also saw a 23-year-old man (on right) suffering from the effects of Polio. His mother told us that he had a high fever when he was three and they took him to the hospital. As the result of the illness, he was paralyzed in his lower extremities. His upper body and head are fully developed, but he crawls around like a baby. As a result of his using his upper extremities, he had severe scoliosis. He wasn't able to go to school and his parents had no money to pay for private education. The only thing he wanted was a wheelchair. We told him that we'll try our best to fulfill his dream.

Journal Entry - 8/24/99

Women's Health Center

We went to see a community clinic/birth place in my village on the third day we were there. We were fortunate to see a vaginal birth. The mother was in her 30's delivering her fourth baby. She wasn't happy to see a baby girl ( her fourth girl) because she wanted a boy. In the Vietnamese culture boys are more valued than girls. Her mother-in-law coached her through her labor and was the one carrying her out to the postpartum room. I noted that the midwife offered no emotional support to the woman. The postpartum room was furnished with four hard beds with straw mats, and there was no privacy. Newspapers were used as sheets and towels, and there wasn't enough necessary medical equipment. Patients had to bring their own clothing, towels, and diapers. Women wear their own clothes in labor and delivery the whole time they are in the hospital. I asked the midwife about pain medication availability to postpartum mothers and she said that they don't give pain medication but give prenatal vitamins and ampicillin to prevent infection. Usually the mother and her newborn are discharged after three days. The hospitalization costs about 50,000 dongs ($4) plus the medication.

We also saw a woman in her early 40's, coming in complaining of "belly getting big." She was afraid of having an ovarian cyst. She had a pelvic exam done and was told that she wasn't pregnant and her ovaries were normal. She still had her menses but they were irregular. She told us that she had 10 children and 5 of them died at a young age. We asked her what kind of contraceptive method she was using. Surprisingly, she told us that all of her children had already come out, so she didn't have to worry about it. We told her that if she still had her period, chances were she could get pregnant again, and she should think about birth control.

Journal Entry - 8/25/99

Teaching Family Planning

After I left Vietnam in 1992, I had always wanted to come back and share my knowledge that I had learned in the U.S with the people in my village. However, getting official permission to teach in Vietnam is not an easy task. But fortunately we were able to gather 25 women of my extended family and neighbors. Finally, I had a chance to teach contraceptive methods to a class of women from my village.

The women, ages 16 to 50 , met outside my grandparents' home. I started the teaching by asking if they knew why women had their menstral period every month. There was only one woman who had a very general idea. I explained why they had monthly periods and how they could become pregnant. I carefully went through different types of contraceptive methods available in Vietnam, including: IUD, condoms, oral contraceptive pills, and sterialization. We also gave out handouts in Vietnamese about birth control methods, sexually transmitted diseases, and breast-self-examinations. At the end we gave out condoms, of course, they were very happy. The class lasted about 1 1/2 hour and I was so exhausted afterward. It was very sucessful.

We are going to have a presentation about our trip on November 8 @ 11:15AM (community time), Rm MH444. Everyone is invited! Please remember to bring your friends