Paging Dr. Jennifer

January 30th, 2002 at 12:00am

Back in the tropics of Hanoi…well not really, but it seems quite tropical after being in the artice cold of the north. The bus ride down the mountains from Sapa was a bit hairy yesterday – after a few landslides the day before the road had been closed overnight but luckily we squeezed through. I was fortunate on the train again to get 3 girls in my sleeping cabin – not much sleep was had though because it was a loud train and did not make for a restful night. Arrived back here at 4:30am (ugghh) and went straight to the 24-hour internet cafe where I caught up on emails waiting for the sun to rise. After breakfast I will hopefully have a hotel room where I can shower and go back to bed!

So I could have spent yesterday doing tourist stuff in Sapa – visiting the waterfall, walking around town, drinking coffee to stay warm, etc…Istead I wound up working all day with Alan being his assistant of sorts while he tended to various Hmong patients coming in for treatment. After hearing more of his stories the night before about all the work he’s done for the Hmong people with his own money and how he’s desperately low on funds, I went back to my room to figure out exactly how much money I needed to get back to Hanoi and then I decided to give Alan what I had left which amounted to $50 USD. (It might not sound like a lot but that’s a week worth of travelling in Asia or the equivalent of a cataract surgery for one eye).

I stopped by his room to give him the money and he was busy tending to a burn patient – a Hmong man who had been packing a gun early that morning and it exploded in his face. Before I knew it Alan was asking me to give him bandages and cut tape and the day just went on from there. I helped him with a baby who had been badly burned on the neck and face (Alan’s been treating him for over a month), a boy with a bad cut on his knee, a woman with pink eye, and a few more as well. Then later I helped Alan send out some emails to family and friends because he doesn’t type so always has problems with email. He is an amazing man. I am lucky to have even met him and share his experience with him. Mind you, Alan is retired and has a home on the Gold Coast of Australia and could be living a very easy and comfortable life in the warm weather year-round. But for the last 6 years he has chosen to spend half of his time in the cold, wet mountains of Sapa helping the Hmong people using his own savings todo so. (I continue to say’Hmong’ people because the Hmong are not considered Vietnamese – they are a tribal people and are not recognised by the government as people at all. They might as well be animals for all the Vietnamese care. They get no assistance or medical treatment at all which is why there is such a need to help them. Anyway just so you understand, dig?)

I am quite sure that I came exactly at the right time to help him too because he was telling me that he had become pretty depressed lately because none of the tourists were helping him (in the past no one came to Sapa and when they did they all knew each other and many spent weeks staying to help Alan.) He had even had 2 incidents of tourists (Australians if you must know) getting injured and coming to him for treatment, using his supplies meant for the Hmong people, and then not so much as even OFFERING a donation. So he was just feeling pretty low about the whole operation, then he met me and I gave him money AND I helped him with his patients AND I took him out to lunch AND I spent an hour with him at the computer typing his emails. He was thrilled! I spent some time telling him a little about the Appalachian Trail and the trail magic and how so many people helped me during my thru-hike. I explained that it was my turn to help someone else and be his trail angel and bring some trail magic to him! Not only did I make him feel much better but I think I also have him wanting to hike the Appalachian Trail!! I hope to visit him when I get down to Australia eventually. If only there were more people like Alan in this world imagine what a different place it would be.

Ok, time to get some rest…

Alan helping one of his patients – a burn victim

Alan saved this boy from an infection in his knee

Alan and I talking about his work over a few beers…

Entry Filed under: Sapa,Vietnam