These are stories directly from our volunteers and members.
In 1992, HVO was awarded a grant by USAID for a national rehabilitation training project in Vietnam. This was well before relations between the U.S. and Vietnam were normalized by President Clinton in 1995, and the U.S. trade embargo, imposed…
In Honduras, gastric cancer is often caught late. Without widespread screening, patients frequently don’t seek care until symptoms are advanced. By the time they reach the operating room, the surgical challenge is no longer simple – it requires removing not…
In 2008, children diagnosed with cancer in Cambodia had few options. Hospitals such as Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) lacked the specialized training and resources needed to provide cancer treatment, and many patients were turned away. Recognizing an opportunity to…
Dr. Cary Bjork was an extraordinary volunteer and leader in the HVO community for decades. From 1997 until his passing, he dedicated himself to the internal medicine project in Kampala, Uganda, serving as project director from 1998 to 2016. Beyond…
Dr. Kanu Okike, a 2026 recipient of the HVO Golden Apple Award, has been volunteering with the Ghana orthopaedics project at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) since 2016. In that time, he has seen great strides made. “When I started…
Dr. Rómulo Silva, an orthopedic surgeon in Portugal, was one of the first volunteers to serve at HVO’s new partner site at Hospital de Clinicas in Asunción, Paraguay. Dr. Silva has always had an interest in volunteerism, travel, and learning.…
Vanessa Teed, MSN, RN, CEN, CGNC Global Nurse Educator | PhD in Nursing Student | ICN-Certified Global Nurse Consultant Since 2023, my work and doctoral studies have been guided by a consistent view of global nursing education. For me, it…
HVO does not see many volunteers travel as a couple, so we are excited to highlight Justin Johal, MD and Ashlyn Fitzgerald, DNP, ARNP, MSN, RN, an anesthesiologist and pediatric nurse practitioner on a four-month volunteer assignment. After a one-month…
Dr. Louis Rafetto has been volunteering with the HVO oral health program since 1992. In that time, he has completed assignments in India, Peru, Colombia, Cambodia, Tanzania, and Nicaragua. “I’ve always been interested in volunteering,” said Dr. Rafetto. “I was…
Chantha Hou, head of the hematology and flow cytometry laboratory at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia has been working with HVO volunteer Dr. Luke Carter-Brzezinski since early 2024. Dr. Carter-Brzezinski is a UK-based hematologist who spent three months with…
Dr. Daisy Alapat became the director of HVO’s hematology project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in early 2025. She had already volunteered for several years with the project in Peru, which she found profoundly rewarding. “I am currently a professor…
By Leslee Jaeger, MD In 2018, I decided to take a three-month sabbatical to do volunteer work in rural parts of Minnesota and to volunteer with HVO. I had already been working in Haiti since 2006, so I wanted to…