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Aloha Medical Mission to Lao PDR
Sakuna Thongchanh

LMT, Positive Touch Healthcare


Abstract:

This will be a slide presentation telling the story of the Aloha Medical Mission. The members of this panel participated as volunteers in the remote villages of Luang Prabang Province, under the auspices of the Aloha Medical Mission, under the leadership of Dr. Phoumy Bounkeua. Medical volunteers provided medical and surgical care to the underserved people of the Luang Prabang. The group hopes to stimulate interests in recruiting volunteers or donations to the mission, especially from the Lao American community. This is another golden opportunity to share participation in building a philantrophic project that benefits the underserved people of Lao PDR.

Background of Aloha Medical Mission (AMM)


Members of the Philippine Medical Association of Hawaii, wishing to share their success with their home country through volunteer medical missions there, founded the Aloha Medical Mission in 1983.  Going well beyond its original focus, AMM has since sent 64 medical missions to underserved communities in Mainland China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vanuatu, Laos, Cambodia and the Big Island of Hawaii as well as to the Philippines. Some 3,000 volunteer professionals, paying all their own travel and lodging expenses while taking along their own equipment and medical supplies, have treated nearly 200,000 persons to date (June 2004). In addition, they have performed some 8,000 surgical operations without charge. Finally, AMM operates three free clinics—one in Honolulu and two in Bangladesh, which ranks among the poorest countries on earth. AMM assists a third clinic in Bangladesh and supports a free clinic in the Philippines. The economic value of professional services rendered thus far runs into the tens of millions of dollars. At the same time, mission members have spread a sense of aloha (good will) and hope among populations with real cause for despair. More details can be found at www.alohamm.org.