Voluntourism Update
Dispatch from Ban Nahom, Laos

This is the actual text from an email communiqué from Jeff Hudgens, on his 3rd visit to rural Ban Nahom in Central Laos. On March 21, 1970, Jeff Hudgens' father, Major Edward Hudgens, flying an A1 Skyraider, departed his base in Eastern Thailand to provide air cover support for a search and rescue mission of a downed American F4 fighter pilot. During the mission, Major Hudgens' plane was hit by enemy ground fire and, in his attempt to return to Thailand, his plane crashed near Ban Nahom in a mountainous area of Eastern Laos near the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail – killing him instantly. He died in Laos 3 months before he was to return home. For the past several years, Jeff Hudgens has been leading groups of American volunteers to improve the lives of the villagers through service projects, medical aid, and donations. Millions of tons of unexploded ordnance still litter the earth, above and below, creating dangerous, often lethal, living conditions for everyone.

On our second day here, we were told of a girl that was a victim of a bomb explosion. It was very cold on the first day we arrived (and the next two days as well - I thought this was a "tropical" climate LOL) and 4 teens had built a fire to stay warm. Unbeknownst to them, they built the fire on top of a bomb that exploded injuring two. 

I was asked if anyone on our team could do anything for her. I had the most medical experience on the team from my teen years when I was very active with a Search and Rescue team (back then we used to have to know a lot about first aid and emergency medical care in case we found someone in need of immediate medical care). 

Anyway, we visited her once the local medicine man/shaman/witch doctor (take your pick) was done. I checked out he wounds and they didn't look too bad - nothing I couldn't handle - until they told me they didn't think they were able to remove all the shrapnel in the back of her legs. We decided to try to ship her to the hospital in Tha Khek. Once we found out how cheap the care was, we decided to try to ship the other girl as well. The problem was she was in another village a few bumpy miles away. 

We figured out a coordinated plan that involved one vehicle getting the girl in the other village and us loading our girl in the back of our remaining truck. They were then to meet on the main highway (I provided a couple of two-way radios) in 1.5 hours. They did and drove at night to Tha Khek arriving at around 11:30 PM. 

A few days later, we stopped in at Tha Khek on our way to Vientiane to pay the hospital bill. The girl in the other village was already released and our girl was ready to go home. We paid the hospital bill ($54 for both girls!), bought them and their families bus fare back to their villages.

Needless to say, this year I am updating my medical training.

This year, Jeff's group supplied paint and playground equipment for the school, in addition to providing medical and dental aid.

The Volunteers and Local Recruits Paint the School

The Finished Playground

Volunteers Lead Games for the Village Kids

If you are interested in donating a little of your time to better the life of someone else, please help here.