Vietnam Full Moon Festival Signature

The Need

***Note: Full COVID-19 Vaccination is Required for Participation***

The Vietnam you see today is steeped in ancient rites and traditions that have survived throughout history. However, the Vietnamese are suffering tremendously due to their poor health care system and lack of resources. Doctors are disproportionately located in inner cities leaving the rural villages without adequate access to care.  Consequently, thousands die every year in Vietnam due to preventable illnesses. Infectious diseases, such as Dengue fever, still remain a big public health concern in Vietnam. Also, non-communicable diseases are having a strong impact in rural communities. International Medical Relief is partnering with Vietnam to achieve a major goal of the country: to improve access to healthcare and preventative education to health conditions. This is why International Medical Relief (IMR) has been invited to the rural areas of Vietnam: to provide quality medical assistance to citizens who would otherwise be unable to access it.  

For clinic, your team will travel to many small villages on the plains and in the mountains to provide medical aid to communities that are left out of the healthcare system. You will help provide expert medical care, including lab work, and will help educate locals about the importance of hand washing, oral hygiene, purification and storage of drinking water, family planning, safe sex, and pain management. You will treat entire families, the elderly, war victims, and vibrant young people.

Our Work

International Medical Relief started collaborating with Vietnam in 2016. IMR continues to grow and strengthen our partnership with the community and since 2019, IMR has conducted four clinics. During the span of the four clinics, we had 131 volunteers and staff working with over 3,000 patients. 

With diligent planning and preparation, IMR is dedicated to ensuring that specific goals are met on our missions, each in correlation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 17.

IMR works to elevate vulnerable populations through shoulder-to-shoulder care with our local partners, creating workforce density, and a cadre of future healthcare and public health leaders in association to UNSDG 3: Good Health & Wellbeing. 

In correlation with UNSDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals, our organization works in collaboration and at the request of local hosts where we are under their direct influence and affluence. IMR never goes into a country without a formal invitation where there is a great community need for medical or dental care, and health education.

This Mission

Your team will focus on acute medical and dental needs and health education. As with every IMR team, your team will provide expert medical care (including labs, wound care, respiratory treatments, hydration, and medications) and classes on hand washing, oral hygiene, purification and storage of drinking water, family planning, safe sexual practices, stretching/pain management and more. You will see families, the elderly, war victims, and vibrant young people. You will fall in love with your patients who will greet you shyly with their warm smiles, a gentle rubbing on your arm and cheek, and hugs and kisses to thank you for caring for them. There is beauty on every corner and in every face you see. The lined faces of the elderly will tell you a story and the hope in the young people will send you home ready to come back to Vietnam to share their passion once again.

Lodging/Transportation

Your team will work on the Central Coast of Vietnam. You will have the opportunity to get to know two distinct cultures within this beautiful country as you travel to small villages on the plains and in the mountains. Your team will stay in a modern hotel in Da Nang and in comfortable accommodations in the mountains. You will enjoy the most flavorful foods available in Vietnam, including mì quảng (rice noodles with turmeric and fish or meat), bún chả cá (fish ball noodle soup), bún mắm (seafood gumbo), cánh gà chiên mắm (fried chicken wings in fish sauce), and mít trộn (a salad mixed with jackfruit and pork rind). Don’t miss the Pho – soup for breakfast is the only way to start the day – although the strong Vietnamese coffee, sweetened with thick condensed milk, isn’t a bad way to start things off either!

You have chosen the SIGNATURE TRIP, which includes upgraded lodging and dinners. Your lunches are with the team in clinic and your transportation to meet your team in the morning and return to your hotel in the evening will be provided for you.  Your hotel in Da Nang will be a 5-STAR hotel with all the comforts – impeccable service, beautiful surroundings, and all of the amenities. Your hotel, located in the heart of Da Nang, is the perfect location for walking to the markets, upscale stores, and the famous Dragon Bridge in the city. Returning here will make the perfect end to your perfect days in clinic!  While you are in the rural countryside, you will stay with your team. This is a beautiful way to travel while using your skills and compassion to care for many patients each day.

Highlights

While the most rewarding aspect of this trip will be caring for Vietnam’s rural residents, the team will also have the opportunity to participate in Vietnam’s famous Full Moon Festival in the ancient port city of Hoi An.  You will visit the wondrous caves of the Marble Mountains and spend time in the magnificent UNESCO site of My Son Sanctuary.

Many ancient cultures worship the moon in some form, including Buddhism.   There was a full moon, it is believed, on the day of Buddha’s birth and on the day of his enlightenment. This is why you will see, during the Full Moon Festival, the people of Hoi An honoring their ancestors by burning fake money and cardboard cutouts of cell phones (!) to help them have a good life among the dead. Look for the small altars filled with fruit and other foods as you walk by.

As the sky darkens, you will see the restaurants and shops turn off their lights on the beautiful Hoi An waterfront, allowing the paper lanterns, lit by candles, to shine bright.  These pastry-box boats are launched by the hundreds in the early evening and are followed down river as night darkens and the full moon rises.  Once the moon crests, they will again return to the river to bid farewell to their small boats and ancestors for another month.

Extend Your Stay

You’re journeying halfway across the globe, why not extend your stay in Vietnam to experience some of its top tourist attractions? Join International Medical Relief on an exclusive 4-Day , 3-Night trip extension provided by their partner, Worldwide Navigators! Some of the trip highlights include:

• Exploration of Thein Canh Son cave, covered in stalactites and stalagmites
• A luxury boat cruise in Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Kayaking Tour around Vung Vieng, a floating fishing village

Click here to learn more about this trip extension!