I was born in the urban area in Vietnam, then I immigrated to America with my family. My dream is to become a dentist because I want to take care of people’s health and use my skills to help people. This mission gave me a chance to come back my country and to go to remote area in Vietnam for the first time. I realized that remote people lack oral care and oral knowledge. They don’t know the importance of the interaction between oral health and body health. This mission helped me have a closer look at remote Vietnamese people’s oral problems and understand the difficult living condition of people here, which gave me more motivation to pursue my dream. In addition, I learned a lot from Vietnamese people here about local culture and from all my teammates about dental and medical knowledge and the interaction between people. On this mission, we didn’t have enough dental staff and sufficient equipment to treat all dental diseases for everyone, which made me feel unhappy. However, this gives me a reason to come back. In the future, I would like to come back here as a real dentist and I want to bring more dental staff with me to help making the healthier community. In addition, I want to form the small class so we can educate the community in order to increase their awareness about how important oral health is.

Yesterday I just sat down in my apartment and cried. This mission has been overwhelming in the greatest possible way. The pain, the fear, the accomplishment, the pride, the vulnerability, the innocence of it all is beautiful to me. Feelings I never thought I had the capacity to feel. Perception that I didn’t think existed until now. A reality that was unknown to me. I just would like to give an enormous thank you and the warmest of hugs to the entire team, the team leader, the guides, the porters, and to International Medical Relief. You guys are out of this world amazing.

I can’t begin to convey the sheer admiration, respect, and love I have for all these people. This mission to Nicaragua, documenting International Medical Relief’s mission to make a very simple yet profound impact on the lives of those less privileged has touched my heart and helped guide it in a more meaningful direction. The bravery and unbridled sense of kindness woven throughout these people’s character and this experience has shown me something new and refreshing that I will never forget. From our IMR crew to the people of Nicaragua, you will be with me always.