Health Volunteers Overseas
October 2016 
The HVO Net Connection
Dear Friends,
 
Last month I was fortunate to return to Korea for a Peace Corps reunion. It was the fiftieth anniversary since Peace Corps had arrived in Korea and the government sponsored a national museum exhibit for the event. During a period of fifteen years, more than 2,000 volunteers had served in education and health care, often in very rural settings. The exhibit displayed items collected from volunteers, to show the conditions in which they lived and worked - lifestyles that no longer exist in modern Korea!
 
As I toured the exhibit with Korean colleagues from my health center, we chuckled to recall those days -- of cold water pumped from a well; long, hand-written health forms, a single phone in the health center that went through a town operator; announcements in town blared over a public address system; long lines of TB patients waiting for x-rays in an unprotected room; pregnant women arriving from the farm fields to deliver, and walking home hours later with a newborn strapped on their back. I think of the midwife with whom I worked and how she delivered on a basic table before she was able to raise funds for a simple delivery bed. I recall washing newborns in a dishpan on the floor, with water warmed on a charcoal briquette. 


The conditions were basic but what I recall most is the dedication of my colleagues - the midwife who lived at the health center and was awakened at all hours of the night, and how she rarely saw her own family who lived hours away; the county workers who spent hours walking over dirt roads to reach patients and ensure they took their TB medications; the lab tech who worked late into the night at the microscope examining sputum slides. These committed health care providers made a difference in the lives of their patients and in their community.
 
They also had a tremendous impact on my life, and it is wonderful to see how those ties have bound us together.
 
Please consider a volunteer experience in the year ahead; you can't imagine the impact it will have!


Sincerely,


Nancy
Nancy A. Kelly, MHS
Executive Director
HVO 30th Anniversary Photo Contest
The HVO Photo (& Video) Contest
HVO's biennial photo contest is an opportunity for volunteers and members to share a small piece of their overseas journey with us. This year, the contest is also a celebration of our 30th anniversary. Learn more & submit your entries on our website: www.hvousa.org/photo-contest



Submissions are due October 14, 2016
Special! - Special Opportunity
Frontiers


HVO is excited to collaborate with the open-access journal Frontiers in Public Health Education and Promotion on a one-time, special edition e-journal titled International Partnerships for Strengthening Health Care Workforce Capacity: Models of Collaborative Education. Detailed information about this Research Topic can be accessed by clicking here
 
Manuscript Deadline: November 1, 2016 - just one month left!
 
VolunteerVolunteers Needed

HVO currently has a pressing need for volunteers in the following areas:
  • Hematology - Cambodia
    • Pediatric hematology volunteers are needed to provide laboratory and clinical training in Cambodia. Assignments are 2 weeks and longer. For more information, please contact Elysabeth Stuehrmann. 
  • Oral Health - Nepal
    • Dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons are needed to provide training in oral and maxillofacial surgery, periodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, pedodontics and endodotics.  Assignments are 2 weeks. For more information, please contact Barbara Edwards.
  • Oral Health - Nicaragua
    • Dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons are needed to mentor and train dental students in Nicaragua. Clinical and didactic training opportunities are available, translation is provided by the site and assignments are 1-2 weeks. For more information, please contact Barbara Edwards.
  • Orthopaedics - Nicaragua
    • Volunteers are needed for 1-4 week assignments in fall and winter 2016 and 2017 to improve the training in the state hospital residents' program by providing clinical and didactic education in general orthopaedics and orthopaedic sub-specialty areas as requested by the site. For more information, please contact Andrea Moody.
  • Pediatrics - Nicaragua
    • Spanish-speaking volunteers are needed to help improve the quality of pediatric care at our sites in Nicaragua. Assignments are for 1 month, with shorter assignments considered for sub-specialists. For more information, please contact Elysabeth Stuehrmann.
Oncology 
Honduras
Volunteers specializing in head and neck cancer are needed to go as a team to Honduras from November 7-12, 2016. There is a need for two surgical oncologists, one medical oncologist, and an oncology nurse. Volunteers provide teaching and training to staff (physicians, nurses, lab personnel, etc.), residents and students at three hospitals in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. For more information, please contact Andrea Moody.
 
Details about these projects are available on the HVO Website. 
FellowshipsFellowships & Funding for Volunteers Available
These are funding opportunities available to HVO volunteers who are traveling to an HVO site.


The Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) is providing travel grants to offset costs for AAWC Members to travel to HVO Wound and Lymphedema project sites in 2016. Click here to learn more. Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
 

AAD-HVO Travel Grants

The American Academy of Dermatology is offering a grant to fund volunteerism travel through HVO. Approved HVO dermatology volunteers who are currently AAD members can apply through the AAD website.
 

Orthopaedics Traveling Fellowship

The Orthopaedics Traveling Fellowship  will fund senior orthopaedic residents to volunteer at an HVO orthopaedic project site for 2-4 weeks. Click here to learn more. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.


SEA-HVO Fellowship

Applications for the 2017 Society for Education in Anesthesia (SEA) - Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) Traveling Fellowship are being accepted as of November 1, 2016. All applications must be received by close of business on January 11, 2017Click here to learn more.

Dates of Interest


EventsUpcoming Events 

 
Las Vegas, NV - Have you thought about volunteering abroad to help improve the quality of wound care? This session will describe the AAWC's Global Volunteers program, its partnership with Health Volunteers Overseas, and their shared mission to educate clinicians in resource-poor settings. Attendees will learn from recent volunteers about where we go, what we do while there, and how to apply to volunteer and for travel scholarships.
 
Denver, CO - You can stop by booth # 2262 in the exhibit hall to learn more about our oral health programs.
 
San Francisco, CA - We will be occupying booth #2427 in the exhibit hall. Stop by to say "hello," and learn more about our mission to transform lives through education.
 
San Diego, CA - Come and see us at booth #3020 at this final meeting of the year. We look forward to answering any questions you may have about our hematology project sites around the globe.


ScholarshipsScholarships Available
Funding opportunities are available to local residents, faculty, and clinicians at HVO project sites who are seeking funding for a training opportunity like a regional conference or online short course. Visit the HVO website to learn more about the Wyss Scholarship for Future Leaders in Global Health and the Warfield Scholarship for Anesthesia Professionals.
Support HVO's Scholarship for Future Leaders in Global Health by contributing to the HVO Leadership Fund - a Growfund Featured Giving Opportunity.

 
Growfund is Global Impact's new donor-advised fund tool. Growfund is a no-minimum charitable giving tool that operates like a 401(k) or a personal foundation, with funds able to be invested and grow over time. 
HVO 30- Celebrate. Collaborate. Grow.


HVO is dedicated to improving the availability and quality of health care through the education, training and professional development of the health workforce in resource-scarce countries. Your support makes it possible.




Health Volunteers Overseas | www.hvousa.org | 202-296-0928

1900 L St, NW, Suite 310 | Washington, DC 20036
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Health Volunteers Overseas | 1900 L St, NW | Suite 310 | Washington | DC | 20036