These Newcastle doctors and teachers are digging deep to take to Vietnam some medical procedures and teaching methods that many Australians take for granted.
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| HELPING HANDS: Jill Bates, left, with Dr Peter Armstrong, Narelle Cassey and Stephanie Berick, Dr John Cassey, Sandra Graham and Dr John Graham. - Picture by Jonathan Carroll |
The group of seven will leave for the southern highland city of Da Lat today where four will perform pediatric surgery in Lam Dong Hospital and three will teach blind children at a school in the region.
Surgical nurse Sandra Graham said the group had been invited back to the hospital after a stint last year and had raised the money for the trip themselves through donations, a trivia night and garage sale.
"We take most of the medical supplies and have had help from hospitals and medical suppliers," she said.
The group also pays for the cost of the operations over the two-week trip so as not to deplete the resources of the hospital where they will work.
The teachers will use music and song to help teach English at the region's blind school for children.
Mrs Graham said many children in Da Lat could not afford to travel to Ho Chi Minh City for medical procedures and lived with conditions that were easily treated in Australia.