As you may have heard, Typhoon Ketsana devastated the middle region of Vietnam this past week. The city of Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Kon Tum and the surrounding areas of this region has been severely flooded, houses have torn down, schools are damage, hospital overcrowding, etc… The middle region of Vietnam is known to be amongst the poorest in the country. Many Vietnamese citizens who live inthis region have lost virtually everything after Typhoon Ketsana, including children losing their parents.

We are calling out to everyone in the United States for help in this relief effort. We are asking for you to open your heart and let the less fortunate be a part of your lives by joining our collaborative philanthropic project to fund food, health care and education for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana. Media such as Little Saigon Radio, Hon Viet-TV, Viet-Tide and many others have joined our collaborative project. This is the first ever nation-wide collaborative project to fundraise for natural disaster victims in Vietnam by both young and old generations. With over 1 million Vietnamese-Americans in America, we are prone to making a difference.

We are calling out for support from every other organization/individual around the nation to join our cause by hosting your own fundraiser or simply just asking your network to donate. If everyone can ask ten people to donate $100 or twenty people to donate $50, you would have raised $1000 by yourself. If we can get 100 people to do that, we will raise $100,000. This is the same amount donated to Vietnam by the United States.

There are two ways to get the fundraised money to us:

1. Make a Paypal contribution to the right in our donation box.
2. Mail a check written to Little Saigon Radio Memo: “Tien cuu tro mien Trung” or “help Vietnam Typhoon Ketsana.” Little Saigon Radio will then write a check to Lend A Hand VYO Inc. Please pick one of the following three addresses.

Little Saigon Radio Orange County
KVNR 1480 AM – Orange County, California
15781 Brookhurst St. – Suite 101
Westminster, CA 92683
Phone: (714) 918-4444
Fax: (714) 918-4445 or 4446

Little Saigon Radio Houston
KJOJ 880 AM & KYND 1520 AM – Houston, Texas
7080 Southwest Fwy.
Houston, TX 77074
Phone: (713) 271-7888
Fax: (713) 271-9333

Little Saigon Radio San Jose
KSJX 1500 AM – San Jose, California
478 E. Santa Clara – Suite 205
San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: (408) 287-2250

Where: Greater Houston Medical Buildings

Contact Officer: Phu Tran

Lend a Hand, in collaboration with the Vietnamese American Medical Association-Greater Houston, would like to offer a great opportunity for those interested in a career in Medicine. We are going to begin a preceptorship program in which you are under the mentorship of a Vietnamese-American physician and will have the opportunity to shadow the physician and learn about their specialty first hand. Please take a look at the list of specialties that we are offering (attached) and read the requirements carefully to make sure that you understand what is expected of you.

Purpose:

The purpose of this preceptorship program is to allow participants to observe and learn about medicine firsthand under the mentorship of a physician from the Vietnamese American Medical Association of Greater Houston (VAMA-GH). This preceptorship program is primarily geared towards those who wish to have a career in the medical profession and will allow its participants a rare look into the daily activities of a medical specialty.

Objectives:

v To learn about the daily activities and responsibilities of clinical physicians

v To ask questions and gain knowledge about the preceptors’ specialties

v To develop a strong relationship with a medical professional

Requirements for participants:

v Meet with their preceptor according to a personalized weekly schedule that is agreeable to preceptor and participant

v Submit a weekly case report on the most interesting case that week; keep a daily journal

v Act professionally, be on time, alert, and enthusiastic as participants will be in a professional setting observing medical practices

v Dress in a professional and appropriate manner during preceptorship hours

v Submit a Preceptor biography at the end of the program

v Attend a mandatory orientation before the start of the program

Remember, the chance to shadow a physician and develop a good relationship with that physician is important to consider. Not only will you have the potential to have a great recommendation letter for college or medical school, but you also get a glimpse of what being a physician is all about. If you are interested to be apart of this program, please email Phu Tran and CC Kesia Nguyen with the heading “LAH/VAMA PHO.” List your name, email address, cell (preferable) or home phone number, AND your top 3 specialties that you would like to preceptor in. We will do our best to match you with your choice, but there are no guarantees. The deadline to apply is by Sunday, June 8th at 9pm. No exceptions.

Just this past weekend, LAH was able to register 320 people on Saturday at HK 4, 65 people at Cac Thanh Tu Dao and 422 people at HK4 on Sunday. That is over 800 people in just 2 days! The Vietnamese table was constantly busy and rarely did we get breaks, there were only four people from LAH manning the tables while the others passing out flyers and directing people over. There is still more that can be done to help Michelle! If you haven’t registered yourself onto the Bone Marrow Registry, do so this weekend! To all members who need volunteer hours, please come out to help LAH man the tables! See you this weekend!

Fortunately, you can help. Let’s use the power of the net to save her life…something that couldn’t be done years ago, but is now possible.

How can you help? By coming to this weekend Bone Marrow Drives hosted by Lend A Hand:

What: Bone Marrow Drive 1: HELP SAVE MICHELLE!
When: SATURDAY and SUNDAY, May 17 and 18, 2008
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m
Location #1: Hong Kong 4 City Mall (11201 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX)

What: Bone Marrow Drive 2: HELP SAVE MICHELLE!
When: Sunday, May 18, 2008
Time: 9:30 AM-11:30 AM
Location #2: Nha Tho Cac Thanh Tu Dao (10610 Kingspoint Rd, Houston, TX 77075)

Please come out and get registered.

Getting registered is quick and requires a simple cheek swab and paperwork (10 minutes of your time). If you are actually a match, the donation process is VERY similar to giving blood.

“Project Michelle” (www.projectmichelle.com) wants to increase the number of Asians registered in the bone marrow registry. Their goal is to enroll 15,000 Asians. Her match is most likely to come from a person of Asian descent, however, very few Asians are actually in the registry and this makes it very difficult for doctors to find them a match. This is why we need your help.

* * * * *

FAQs on Bone Marrow Transplant

How do I know if I’m a match?

If you are found to be a possible match, you will be contacted by the National Registry or your local center. You will be presented with the option of proceeding to the next level of testing.

How my marrow is collected?

The most common procedure is peripheral blood stem cell collection. You are given injections to support overproduction of marrow, which is then released into your circulating blood. The cells are collected by removing blood from a vein in your arm during a simple procedure. This is very similar to donating blood – isn’t it amazing that it’s that easy to save someone’s life?!