Quang Ngai is in the middle of Vietnam, far from higher priority projects in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. When I got there, I found that they had a sufficient number of dentists, but their equipment was very old (1920s), broken or worn out. I saw many toothless young and older people. After all, when the dentist does not have decent tools, if one has a toothache or large cavity, the only reasonable solution is extraction. Dental care in Vietnam has taken a back seat to the more urgent needs of war wounds, cancer, burns and infectious disease which are so prevalent in the third world. I was also afraid the Vietnamese would not know how to set up and use McVaney's equipment because it was so technically advanced.
When I visited Dr. McVaney as a patient again in May, he encouraged me to look at the equipment which had been stored at Doctors Dental Supply. There I was met by Steve Metzger, the service manager. While I was on a ladder, looking at the chairs which were up on a rafter, he told me of his interest in medical missions. I knew that we had hit the jackpot! I said, "Steve, if we could get you over to Vietnam, would you set up this equipment and show them how to use it? Steve said that he would love to do that and that he could also find more equipment.
Dr. John Thomas of Omaha donated several pieces of equipment such as service stands, lights, etc. Then I called Dr. Harold Hanson, a surgeon, who had been a missionary for several years in Thailand, and now is a tireless worker devoted to collecting medical equipment for the missions of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and MBF. He said they would be sending a 40-foot container to Quang Ngai, Vietnam in October or November of this year and would be delighted to include the dental equipment.
A fax to Dr. Phan Tu A, Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Health Service, inquired about the concept of the dental project and he immediately replied with enthusiasm. Since my church donated funds to MBF for the shipment of a 40-foot container to Quang Ngai in conjunction with my visit last year, I felt sure we could cover Steve's transportation to and from Vietnam. While in Vietnam, he would then be Dr. A's guest. Besides doing dental equipment work, Steve has been an airplane mechanic and he has a good appreciation of how things work, so he could set up the dental equipment and repair other medical equipment as well.
I asked the Missions Committee at our church if West Hills would help finance the transportation of the equipment to Fresno and help with Steve's plane fare. The request was approved and a committee member, was assigned to help me with the project, giving the church another way of being involved. Pallets and boxes from Doctors Dental Supply would need to be strengthened for our donated equipment, so I asked Chuck Burgess and Homer Van Boskirk, fellow church members and both good carpenters, if they would help with construction of the crates to go inside the MBF container. Our church team was ready!
A few weeks later, Steve brought out chairs, service stations, lights and X-ray machines which we stacked on the pallets, strapped or bolted them down so that they would remain stationery even if turned upside down. The project was now taking shape and it was time to call upon the carpenters. Chuck Burgess surveyed the situation and told me how many 2 X 4's, nails, etc. he needed and that he and Homer would construct a solid interior structure upon which the thick cardboard shell would placed over to form the crates. Chuck and Homer completed the job in about four hours and I thought the crates were not only solid but beautiful! I called a landscaper friend and he sent his forklift over with a driver to lift the 4,500 pounds onto the truck, so the entire project had cost about $100 (for the lumber and nails) and lots of donated elbow grease!
Steve departs just after Christmas with three additional trunks of small supplies, including some educational supplies for the community college that the Banksons visited a year ago. My life has been changed by my two trips over there. I know Steve's will be changed. And the people of Quang Ngai Province will have solid benefits for twenty to thirty years from the many Christians whose actions speak louder than words -- in a country where evangelism is prohibited. To me, that's Christ at work in the world!
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David Minard, M.D., retired from his orthopedic practice in 1992 in order to do more short-term medical mission work and big time gardening in the summer. He is a member of West Hills Presbyterian Church in Omaha NE.