To: Vietri,Lois T. Ph.D.
Subject: 1st message from new computer of Hanoi Plastic Surgery Center
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HI! You are the recipient of the first e-mail message from the new
computer which you donated to our Hanoi Plastic Surgery Center.
It is wonderful!! Now we can communicate with the world. When you
return home and receive this message, please send us a message to the
following address:
Thank you so much for your generosity which includes the computer and
the many pictures and the many toys.
Sincerely,
Dr. Hoang Quoc Ky M.D.
Director, Plastic Surgery Center Hanoi
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We learned many important lessons as a result of our community service experience. The most important was that it is good to be careful when working in partnership with a foreign non-governmental organization, and make sure that plans are fully approved before being carried out. Dr. Vietri, reflecting on the experience afterwards, said that for her "this experience was a real prototype for what working in a foreign country is like." The lessons learned in working with Operation Smile will be invaluable in Dr. Vietri's next project in Vietnam, building a cultural house in the northern village of Tan Trao.
The process of serving others is much more formalized in Vietnam than it is in the US; as Elizabeth observed, "Community service in America is more informal and accepted, but here your service needs to be registered with the government through an NGO." Everybody must have an affilitation of some sort to be considered legitimate.
The satisfaction gained from working with the hospital's staff and patients was also extremely important to our experience. Ken found that "interaction with the people being served is very important; as a result of that interaction, this was not only a satisfying community service experience but a solid learning experience as well."
Unfortunately, just as we could not fully grasp all the complexities of Vietnam in three weeks, we could not fully understand all the issues facing the plastic surgery center in our few days there. Ed saw that "we did the best with what we could, but we can't understand the gap . . . we can't understand the impact we had because of that cultural gap." However, we can at least see that we made a positive difference in the lives of many people. As Jennie explained, "you don't need the Vietnamese words...did you see the child's and the mother's face? It's the little things that make this important."
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