Hide Article Text (OCR)
IOWAN IS VOLUNTEERNha Be gains a doctorNHA BE, Vietnam — An American doctor and nurse and their Vietnamese interpreter are part of an unusual cooperative venture in community service’ in this city of 40.000 people just outside Saigon.At the request of the Vietna-m e s e government. Dr. Jesse Landhuis of Early. Iowa, a volunteer with Church World Service; and nurse Helen Snavely of Lititz, Pennsylvania, serving with the Mennonite Central Com mittee: are operating a Viet-Three dairy herds have good records in recent studiesThree dairymen in Washing ton County have earned Dairy Herd Improvement Association P r o d u c lion Certificates for herds averaging oxer 450 pounds of bulterfat per cow for the year May I. i960 to April 30, 1967, according to Jim Frier, C o u n t y Extension Direc t o r. Washington County dairy herds are enrolled in I) II I A in Johnson and Henry counties.The awards are issued jointly by the Iowa State University Cooperative Extension Serx ice and the Iowa State Dairy Assoc i a tion to high producing herds in the DlllA central processing program, says Exten sion Dairyman Donald VnclkiTnam Christian Service medical program in this old community which has at other times been without a doctor.Vietnamese personnel are also vital to the medical team, including Miss Chau who accompanies Dr. Landhuis and Miss Snavely as their interpreter. Their schedule includes dai I y trips from Saigon to Nha Be and over to the neighboring hamlet of I,ong Kien. Nha Be is a strategic center, liable to Viet Cong attack, and not considered safe after sundown. The medical team end their day le-(ore sunset.Most of our patients at Nha Be have been under medical treat ment before, says Dr. Landhuis. but often it has been Chinese medicine or traditional folk medicine, a poor substitute for proper treatment.We see many mothers who bring in children who haven’t been well cared for. adds Miss Snavely. but we find it isn't that they don't love their children. The real problem is that they ju.st don’t know how toU Thant reports on Israeli raidsUNITED NATIONS lt;UPI-Socretary General Thant today reported three Israeli air raids in the vicinity of Damascus but he told an emergency session ofcare for them when it comes to medical matters.Miss Snavely remembers the same predicament among t h e charity patients at Philadelphia Children's Hospital where she worked prior to coming to Viet Nam. Medical assistant, she says, is supplied through tho government, but it is not as highly developed as, for instance. the Department of Public Health in Philadelphia.The staff at Nha Be's dispensary. which includes practical nurses, technicians and midwives. 12 in all, are relatively untrained. Looking to the future I»r. Landhuis says, The most important thing is to encourage the local staff to learn a f u I I range of jobs. It’s no good for us to do everything ourselves.lie often uses bis interpreter, Miss Chau, to instruct the Vietnamese staff when special cases come to his attention. In his way he hopes to raise the level of staff competence and eventually work out of a job.Dr. Landhuis indicates that more patient have been coming to the clinic as the months continue. In March, we had more than 1900 patient visits. Most of the 700 I examined by the Vietnamese staff before I s a w them.Miss Snavely adds. That is the way it should be. We try to do only those things which the Vietnamese staff is unable to do The challenge is to bring the staff at Nha Be to a level where they can meet local needs independently.
Newspaper Details
Washington Evening Journal
Washington, Iowa, US
Sat, Jun 10, 1967
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Terry K.
MN, USA 17 Jan 2017
Other Publications Near Washington, Iowa
Washington Press
Washington Evening Journal
Atlas of Douglas Sarpy and Washington Counties
Washington County Iowa
Atlas of Washington County Iowa
