GREAT WORK BY NEW VOLUNTEERS

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Hoi An
February 14th 2008

Published: February 25th 2008


Dr. JOSH SOLOMON MD - HEALTHDr. JOSH SOLOMON MD - HEALTH
Dr. JOSH SOLOMON MD - HEALTH

It has been a pleasure to have Josh on board. He has been such a big help with the members of the Lifestart disabled group.
Lifestart Foundation has been very fortunate to have had the expertise of some wonderful additional volunteers:

DR. JOSH SOLOMON, is a board certified internist, pulmonologist and critical care physician from Denver, Colorado. In January he completed the initial assessment on forty members from our disabled group.

An added bonus for me is that his notes are in English and for the most part his writing is readable!

All of the patients were taken to hospital for rounds of tests and xrays and then had their appointment with Josh.

Josh was assisted with translations by volunteer, NANCY NGUYEN who is also from Denver. Nancy is a Chinese Medicine Practitioner and a Massage Therapist. TRAN THI THANH and LE QUANG GHI, two of Lifestart Foundation Jobstart recipients also helped Josh with translations.

Dr. LE VAN QUY, from Hue also came down to Hoi An and volunteered assisting Josh. Dr. Quy comes to Hoi An every time I am there to help with Lifestart children and families.

Josh and Nancy were fantastic with the disabled group, they were compassionate, thorough and took lots of time with everyone.

For many this was the first time that they had
NANCY NGUYEN - HEALTHNANCY NGUYEN - HEALTH
NANCY NGUYEN - HEALTH

Nancy is currently back in Colorado. We hope that she will return to help us in the near future.
visited a doctor despite having very severe disabilities. It was extremely important that all of the patients did not feel pressured to rush through all of their health concerns with Josh.

There was a wide variety of problems presented which we will now prioritize and address in order of seriousness.

For the time being Josh is based in Hoi An and is happy to work on the health issues facing our group. I am crossing my fingers that Josh will stay in Hoi An for a long time..............we need more people like him.

Dr. JOHN SHERMAN, a G.P from Melbourne, Australia is coming over in March, 2008 to further help Josh and Lifestart Foundation with these patients. John will volunteer with us for two weeks.
There are far too many cases to tell you about, however I will attempt to get their individual stories out gradually via my blogs.

OGANA JOASH is another volunteer. He came to us from Kenya.

Ogana is currently working with the Vietnamese Government Department of Health in Danang. He is a Behaviour Change Communication and Advocacy Advisor in the areas of HIV and AIDS.

Ogana very kindly offered to
OGANA JOASH - HEALTHOGANA JOASH - HEALTH
OGANA JOASH - HEALTH

Ogana came to us from Kenya via Danang!
take a sex education class and mens group for me, or as Ogana preferred to call it “ a life skills class”. The students had for some time expressed an interest in being able to get accurate information, so Ogana was the perfect person to help us.

Knowledge and open discussion in this area is quite limited, the students were well informed during Oganas class and left the session armed with facts rather than myths.

ALANNA EDWARDS & GEORGIA DODD came to us from Sydney, Australia.

Both girls are enthusiastic, vibrant University students who are studying Nutrition and Education.
The girls volunteered taking nutrition classes for our disabled group and also did English tutoring with our Jobstart students.
The women in our disabled group had lots of questions and were most interested to learn about what not to eat too much of, nutrition and a balanced diet.

Lots of Love from Karen.
www.lifestartfoundation.org.au


More stories and photos can be found here: Lifestart Volunteers


VOLUNTEER MEETING

The next Lifestart Foundation volunteer meeting will be held on Saturday, March 1st. 9.00am - 1.00pm
At 182 Buckley Street, Essendon. Victoria. Australia. Please email Karen if you are able to attend karenleonard@mail.com

DAIRY DATE: JULY 26th.

The LIFSTART FOUNDATION BLACK TIE DINNER DANCE & CHARITY AUCTION.

-Can you help organize a table of friends and family?
-Can you help with donations for the Charity Auction?







Karen Leonard
Karen Leonard has resided in Essendon, Australia, all of her life. For the past thirty years she has successfully run a small business in Essendon, The Karen Leonard Music School. A dedicated traveler since the age of eighteen, Karen has visited many countries. In 2000 while backpacking through Vietnam, Karen met a young street kid and they had an instant connection. He introduced Karen to his world, his fellow street kid friends and their families. It wasn't long before Karen was supporting several street kids by encouraging them back to school and paying their education costs. After retu... full info
Joined: October 11th 2006
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NUTRITION CLASSNUTRITION CLASS
NUTRITION CLASS

Alanna and Georgie are pictured running the womens nutrition class with the help of Thanh who is translating.
Dr. LE VAN QUY MD HEALTHDr. LE VAN QUY MD HEALTH
Dr. LE VAN QUY MD HEALTH

Quy is a regular volunteer for Lifestart, he is a paediatrician from Hue.
DR. JOHN SHERMAN M.D HEALTHDR. JOHN SHERMAN M.D HEALTH
DR. JOHN SHERMAN M.D HEALTH

John will volunteer for Lifestart in March 2008 and will work in co operation with Dr. Josh Solomon.
HOSPITAL TESTS AND XRAYSHOSPITAL TESTS AND XRAYS
HOSPITAL TESTS AND XRAYS

The first members of our disabled group are pictured at the hospital waiting to go in for their tests. Photo's are deceiving..........half of these people cannot stand up or walk.
LE QUANG GHI TRANSLATIONLE QUANG GHI TRANSLATION
LE QUANG GHI TRANSLATION

Ghi will come to Australia later ths year on a traineeship with Mariana Harwick. Ghi is pictured translating for Tung, who had just travelled for three hours to see Doctor Josh.
TRAN THI THANH TRANSLATIONTRAN THI THANH TRANSLATION
TRAN THI THANH TRANSLATION

Thanh will also come to Australia this year to train with Mariana Hardwick. The translating experience is a way of improving her already very good English.


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