Clinic Day 1 (7/24) || Jolie Nguyen

I woke up around 4:55 AM for our very first clinic day, ate breakfast, and boarded the bus with all our 16G volunteers! We had a 40-minute drive to the clinic venue in Tra Vinh. Shoutout to Sheirica, who found my glasses on the bus that I had thought I lost! We received a pep talk from Dr. Bui and Dr. Le, who emphasized the importance of the "Four Agreements". I was stationed in Vitals to take patient's cholesterol levels and helped to translate, and it was inspiring to watch fellow 16Gers practice a different language throughout the day and communicate with patients as best they could! We got many laughs and patients called them "cute". For many patients, this was their first time receiving healthcare services, and some were initially frightened by needles and the testing they received before seeing a physician. One of the patients, an elderly female, began crying and hid her face in her sweater as her finger was being cleaned by a fellow MEMOber. Initially unsure of what to do but guided by putting myself in her shoes, I went over and held her other hand, comforting her in Vietnamese and talking about other subjects as a distraction. As the procedure concluded, she thanked all of us as we guided her towards the next station for a provider to interpret her results. A large part of providing care to such a community involves realizing the impact of small actions that comfort - kindness is truly a universal language!

Dr. Bui giving a pep talk to our 16Gers before we started off our first day strong! He reminded us to remember why we are here and what we can do for our patients.

Some of our cholesterol group members!

Each person's station set-up and the materials we used to measure cholesterol levels. We all previously received training on how to properly prick a patient's finger to collect blood in an effective manner.