Nurse has passion for service
As a nursing student at Trent University, Allen Vo signed up for a unique clinical placement that has since become his passion.
The 27-year-old Niagara Falls native spent 12 days in Honduras in 2013 as part of the Peterborough university’s health promotion and nursing educational brigade.
He travelled to a remote village in the Central American nation and worked with residents to install clean water filters.
“It was definitely an eye-opening experience,” Vo said. “It opens your eyes to what you take for granted. You can’t escape poverty while you’re down there.”
According to the World Bank Group, a non-profit agency that works to reduce poverty in developing countries, more than 66 per cent of Honduras’ population live in poverty with approximately one out of five living on less than US$1.90 per day.
Flash forward a few years and Vo is now a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at the Greater Niagara General Hospital.
“Allen is a patient-focussed nurse,” said Jennifer Law, clinical manager at the GNGH. “He’s always looking for opportunities for improvement and he’s definitely a valued member of the team.”
While his university days are behind him, the brigade experience had a lasting impact on the A.N. Myer grad.
When a former professor and co-ordinator of the Honduras program asked if Vo would be interested in volunteering this year, he jumped at the chance.
And, when colleagues at the GNGH heard he was heading south for a mission trip, they were eager lend a hand.
“I had a full list of things I wanted to bring with me and the support I received from the GNGH was immense,” Vo said. “It was overwhelming how much people wanted to help.”
In late October, Vo joined 18 second-year nursing students on a 12-day trip to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
The team focussed on public health initiatives which included clean water, women’s health and working with children with disabilities.
“The sphere of nursing in Honduras is a growing field,” Vo said. “They do a lot but there’s not much support. You run into nurses doing procedures that normally only doctors perform.”
He credits his parents, Tam and Rose Do, with helping to instill in him a strong sense of volunteerism.
“Recently, my parents went back to Vietnam for vacation and Vietnam was hit by its sixth typhoon of the year,” Vo said. “Instead of enjoying their vacation, they did relief work, handing out clean water and food to families affected by the typhoon.”
The registered nurse is now preparing for a third trip to Honduras. He will accompany another group of university students in February. Anyone interested in supporting Vo on the humanitarian trip can contact him at allen. vo@niagarahealth.on.ca.