The team has finished up the final day of surgeries. In our short time here, the CSI team performed 56 surgeries. This morning the surgeons made their final rounds and signed off to the local Urology and ENT Departments who will follow the children In the hospital for a few additional days, as is their typical protocol here.

A few CSI team members toured different areas of the hospital during the course of the week, including the NICU, pediatric ICU and the emergency department.

The CSI team has been honored to care for the families and children of the Thanh Hoa region this week. The children’s sweet smiles and the grateful eyes of the parents make the work a pleasure.

Adminstrators, surgeons, physicians and nurses from Thanh Hoa pediatric hospital invited the CSI team and our translators to a farewell gala to celebrate the week of collaborative work on behalf of the children. It was a festive night filled with friendship, laughter, toasting, speeches and, of course, Vietnamese karaoke!

Here’s a fine example of the karaoke, performed by Dr. David Vandersteen, urologist, left, and Leon Randall, biomedical support.

A special shout out goes to a very enthusiastic and dedicated team of translators who have been with us the entire week.

Today was spent visiting a floating river village and Trang An, a national heritage park. Three generations live on this floating home.

The team will disperse tomorrow. Some head home to the U.S. while others extend their stay to explore Vietnam and Thailand.