Poor people in a city called Cần Thơ in the Mekong Delta are very happy about a hospital that offers free treatment.

It can happen that people need to go to hospital for treatment but cannot afford to do so.

The Cần Thơ Charity Clinic has come to their rescue.

It has received help from kind people, some of whom have been Vietnamese people living outside of the country.

By Hà Nguyễn and Ngọc Trâm

A free-of-charge clinic in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ, has been much praised by local people, particularly the poor.

Established by Dr Trần Văn Tốt some 12 years ago in Hưng Lợi Ward in Ninh Kieu District, the clinic has examined, consulted with and given treatment to thousands of patients including those with serious ailments such as diabetes.

Huỳnh Thị Kiều, 76, said, “Thanks to the clinic doctors I escaped from blindness, a side-effect of diabetes.”

Dr Trần Thị Lan said, “Kiều was faced with cataracts. She should have been operated on, but she also faced serious diabetes, so we told Kiều’s daughter to look after her carefully and help her to take medicine to lower her glucose level until it was stable. Then she was able to have her eyes operated on safely at Hoàn Mỹ Hospital.”

Because of the operation, Kiều’s eyes have now returned to normal, said Lan.

Apart from giving treatment to locals in Cần Thơ, the clinic’s medical workers travel to the neighbouring provinces of Hậu Giang, Tiền Giang and Vĩnh Long to treat poor patients.

Nguyễn Văn Tưởng, 62, in Hậu Giang, said he was very happy to be treated free at the clinic where the staff members always smile at him, enthusiastically take care of him, and treat him very effectively.

“My chronic cough has been much reduced,” said Tưởng.

Another patient, Hoàng Thị Hồng, 70, visited the clinic from Vĩnh Long Province. She experienced a lot of back pain, but because of a lack of money, she could not receive treatment at a hospital. Then recently she heard about this clinic.

Hồng has been carefully treated by Dr Đặng Văn Hiếu who said Hồng did not suffer any major ailments, only the usual degradation of her backbone due to old age.

Dr Hiếu wrote her a prescription for some medicine and asked her to return to the clinic in two weeks.

Hồng was very happy because she could have her back pain treated free, and just as important, the behaviour of the medical workers at the clinic was very nice.

“I feel much better after receiving their treatment,’ she said.

Phạm Hồng Minh, 55, in Cần Thơ’s Thốt Nốt District, praises the clinic as a good example for others to follow. Patients do not have to wait in line and doctors do checkups very carefully with a smile on their faces.

The 200sq.m clinic has rooms to deal with cardiovascular cases, children, and a room for ear, nose, throat and skin cases, according to Dr Trần Văn Tốt, who is head of the clinic.

In his memoirs, Tốt wrote, “After retiring in 2000, I continued working in Tân An Ward. I joined a group of seven members to help the elderly receive free cataract operations at Cần Thơ General Hospital. During that time, I often thought about setting up a clinic for the poor.”

“In 2005, by chance and luck, I met two overseas Vietnamese who lived in Australia, Võ Văn Tám and Quan Văn Cẩm, at the house of a friend. Upon hearing my idea of setting up a free clinic for poor patients in Cần Thơ and the surrounding area, they agreed to donate VNĐ15 million per month for the clinic, and gave an advance of VNĐ100 million to start up the clinic’s activities.”

Tốt said, “In the first years we had to move our clinic from place to place due to a lack of land. In 2011, Ngọc Điệp, head of the management board of the Tổ Đình Chiếu Minh Cao Đài (Caodaism is a religion in Việt Nam), agreed to lend us 200sq.m of land and donated VNĐ50 million to us so we could build the clinic.”

“In addition, I have asked my friends and relatives to donate us more money to build the clinic. As a result, it was finished in February 2011, and has treated many hundreds of patients free of charge,” said Tốt.

The clinic has also received help from the Cần Thơ authorities and other donors; however, increasing numbers of patients each year have caused difficulties such as a shortage of medicines and equipment.

Dr Tốt has called on local and foreign donors to continue assisting the clinic, “for us to have the conditions to promote medical checkups for poor patients in Cần Thơ and other areas in the Mekong Delta”. VNS

GLOSSARY

A free-of-charge clinic in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ, has been much praised by local people, particularly the poor.

When people praise you, they say good things about you.

Established by Dr Trần Văn Tốt some 12 years ago in Hưng Lợi Ward in Ninh Kieu District, the clinic has examined, consulted with and given treatment to thousands of patients including those with serious ailments such as diabetes.

To be examined by a doctor means to be checked to see if there is anything wrong with you.

If a doctor consults someone, he or she gives them advice.

Ailments are illnesses.

Diabetes is a condition people have with the way their bodies work, causing them to be thirsty and need to go to the toilet a lot.

Huỳnh Thị Kiều, 76, said, “Thanks to the clinic doctors I escaped from blindness, a side-effect of diabetes.”

A side-effect of diabetes is another problem that happens alongside diabetes.

Dr Trần Thị Lan said, “Kiều was faced with cataracts.

People get cataracts on their eyes when they become a different colour and they start seeing everything in a blur.  

She should have been operated on, but she also faced serious diabetes, so we told Kiều’s daughter to look after her carefully and help her to take medicine to lower her glucose level until it was stable.

To be operated on means to undergo an operation.

Glucose levels in the body means the amount of a certain type of sugar in the body.

Stable means not changing dramatically.

 “My chronic cough has been much reduced,” said Tưởng.

Chronic means ongoing.

“Reduced” means “becoming less”.

Hồng has been carefully treated by Dr Đặng Văn Hiếu who said Hồng did not suffer any major ailments, only the usual degradation of her backbone due to old age.

“Degradation” means “becoming weaker and worse”.

“Due to” means “because of”.

Dr Hiếu wrote her a prescription for some medicine and asked her to return to the clinic in two weeks.

A prescription is a note that a doctor writes for you to allow a pharmacist to give you strong medicine.

The 200sq.m clinic has rooms to deal with cardiovascular cases, children, and a room for ear, nose, throat and skin cases, according to Dr Trần Văn Tốt, who is head of the clinic.

Cardiovascular means to do with the heart and the blood vessels.

In his memoirs, Tốt wrote, “After retiring in 2000, I continued working in Tân An Ward.

Someone’s memoirs are the memories of their life, written in a book or document.

Retiring means stopping work because of old age.

Upon hearing my idea of setting up a free clinic for poor patients in Cần Thơ and the surrounding area, they agreed to donate VNĐ15 million per month for the clinic, and gave an advance of VNĐ100 million to start up the clinic’s activities.”

Donate means give.

An advance is an amount of money given to someone before they earn it.

WORKSHEET

Find words that mean the following in the Word Search:

1. The month in 2011 when the clinic was completed.
2. A major river in south-east Asia, which enters the sea through a delta in Viet Nam.
3. The overseas country in which Võ Văn Tám and Quan Văn Cẩm lived.
4. The part of Hoàng Thị Hồng’s body where she experienced pain.
5. A problem people have with their eyes.

ANSWERS:

1. February; 2. Mekong; 3. Australia; 4. Back; 5. Cataracts.