Elizabethtown College Serves Orphan Children in Vietnam through Brittany’s Hope Foundation

Dr. Peggy McFarland, professor of Social Work, and Mai Lynn Abel, Class of ’09, from Brittany’s Hope Foundation, led a service learning trip to Vietnam May 18 to June 3, 2009. Brittany’s Hope Foundation is located in Elizabethtown and facilitates international adoptions of special needs children and provides humanitarian services to children in Vietnam and other countries.

Twelve students from Elizabethtown College, four students from Delaware Technical College, and six adults participated in this volunteer opportunity. The purpose of the trip was to learn about the culture and history of Vietnam and to serve children who live in the orphanages. The group spent time at six different orphanages, street centers, and vocation centers in Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh, DaNang, and Hoi An.


Students provided childcare, planned parties and games, built cribs, painted playground equipment, and planted trees. The group worked with the handicapped Vietnamese young adults at the Red Cross Vocation Center in DaNang to start a garden to replace a garbage pit. The group was known at the center as “the first farmers from America.” The Occupational Therapy students worked with staff in the orphanages to demonstrate re-positioning techniques. The OT department donated equipment to several facilities for their continued use. Through the generous donations from members of the Elizabethtown College and community, the group was able to raise over $8000 for 25 cribs, equipment, and work supplies.

While in Vietnam the group had the opportunity to see the Cu Chi tunnels, used during the Vietnam War, and visit the American War museum where students were given the opportunity to learn about the history of the event.

                                           
Dr. McFarland believes that this type of experience helps to increase global understanding and “plants the seed’ for future humanitarian or career opportunities for the students. In their reflection papers written upon their return, many students describe this trip as a life changing event.

OT student Kristen Hall writes in her paper “…spending 18 days in Vietnam has changed my life for the better and has opened my eyes to a whole new world. These children had nothing, and were still able to see the positive aspects of life. I now re-think the small complaints in life and think back to the children so content with life. Vietnam was a magnificent, life changing trip and it has given me a fresh, stronger desire to serve others.”