A small group of kind-hearted individuals took on a challenge of a lifetime to help those in need half a world away.
Nurse Practitioners Nicole Sokoloski and Erin Neufeld of Espanola, and Massey residents, nurse Sandra Camillo, her husband Sean, Anita and Jason Wallingford, and their children Jack and Ella went on a Vietnam trip back in early May.
Sokoloski said they travelled to the country to distribute wheelchairs to those in need through the organization, Hope Haven.
She says while there, in their role as health providers, they assessed and distributed 174 wheelchairs to people in need out of the seaside town of Phan Thiet.
She adds they topped up their trip by donating 30 soccer balls from the local soccer club to youth in the area, and then spent another week exploring the country with their families.
Sokoloski adds they also distributed PET wheelchairs, carts that use hands to create movement, which assists people have very limited mobility.
The whole trip was organized by Philip Nguyen he has been with Hope Haven for 22 years and has done over 25 distributions over the years.
