Closing Ceremony Highlights HOPE

Project HOPE volunteers concluded their participation in Pacific Angel 2010 during a ceremony recognizing the joint and combined humanitarian assistance efforts provided to the Tan Thoi and Truong Thanh communities in Vietnam from May 10-17, 2010.

Operation Pacific Angel 2010 included more than 50 U.S. uniformed service members working alongside the Vietnamese military, non-governmental organizations Project HOPE and East Meets West Foundation and local health care professionals to provide medical care and training as well as engineering expertise.

During the closing ceremony, members of the mission planted a tree and held a ribbon cutting at the village medical clinic where U.S. Air Force engineers completed construction renovations. Project HOPE was prominently mentioned during the ceremony by top U.S. and Vietnamese officials. Plaques cemented to the ceremonial tree bases at the Tan Thoi village elementary school and the Truong Thanh health clinic also mention Project HOPE’s contributions to Pacific Angel 2010 and the “spirit of our growing relationship.”

U.S. Ambassador Michael W. Michalak spoke of Pacific Angel’s contribution to 15 years of normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam. "The fact that our two countries are here in the Cuu Long Delta working together to learn from each other to make ourselves better medical professionals and engineers is an excellent example of how far we have come over the last 15 years," he said.

Project HOPE is now focused on its participation in Pacific Partnership 2010, scheduled to take place May through September 2010. Vietnamese (tiếng Việt), Cambodian (Khmer) or Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) speaking health care providers are encouraged to register as volunteers on the Project HOPE Web site. We are always looking for indigenous speaking volunteers. Interested volunteers please also contact Matt Peterson at mpeterson@projecthope.org or Fred Gerber fgerber@projecthope.org for additional information.