Woombye locals return from medical mission to Vietnam
Milo Frawley, a retired nurse and long-time resident of Woombye and Dr Anthony Ahmadi, one of the dentists at Hinterland View Dental were delighted to be able to contribute.
Two Woombye locals have joined a larger group of over 100 Australian and Vietnamese volunteers to deliver healthcare in rural Vietnam. The mission was conducted by the AusViet Charity Foundation (AVCF). The AVCF have organized such annual trips for over a decade.
Dr Anthony Ahmadi, one of the dentists at Hinterland View Dental, and Milo Frawley, a retired nurse and long-time resident of Woombye were delighted to be able to contribute. “It is a good thing to volunteer your skills to help others with much less or no access to healthcare services” Anthony said. “It was my first trip and I certainly had to do some adjusting to practice within the limitations of rural Vietnam”.
This year, the mission was in Quang Binh Province in the middle of Vietnam. The village, Phong Nha, and surrounding districts has a population of about 30,000 people. Average local income would be less than A$5000/year and many people do not have regular healthcare.
Milo was on his second tour with AVCF having travelled before in 2024. “Anthony is my dentist and at my April appointment this year he asked what was I up to? I shared about some of my local volunteering activities and eventually details of my planned volunteer trip to Vietnam in August,” Milo said. “It was quite funny. Anthony lit up and said, ‘Wow, that is something I would really like to do!’, and the rest is history.”
The mission takes over a week but several days are travel, set-up, and pack-down. There are three clinical days and these can be long and arduous. This year the medical service saw over one thousand people with onsite referrals to pharmacy, optometry, audiology, ultrasound, physio, laboratory for bloods, and ECGs (heart activity). The dental team (seven dentists plus technicians, assistants, and sterilization staff) treated almost 500 patients. AVCF delivers a very comprehensive service.
“Next year is a long way off, but I could easily see myself doing this again”, Anthony said with a smile.
To learn more, donate or volunteer, please visit AVCF.org.au.
