VRE board member Truc To was just two years old when his family left Vietnam in 1969. Now an accountant living in Atlanta, he has returned four times, most recently in August on his first volunteer mission with VRE.

“Would you like to volunteer on a medical mission to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam?”

This was the innocent-sounding question posed to me by Kathy Chu, charming VRE co-founder extraordinaire.

My immediate thought was: Mosquitoes. I hate those things. I live on a lake in Atlanta and they eat me alive. If I’m walking with a friend, the mozzies will ignore my friend and feast on me, and I know for a fact that the Mekong Delta is the world’s largest mozzie-breeding factory, plus most of Vietnam is a malaria danger zone.

Of course, my second thought was: “Well, I’ll be doing a lot of good for a lot of children who’ll benefit tremendously."

But the clincher was: "If Amy can do it, so can I." (VRE's Amy Braunschweiger grew up in Ohio.) And wouldn't you know it, Amy ended up not going...

But I chose to accept the mission -- and have returned to tell you what it's really like...and what important work VRE is doing.

Some basic facts: The medical mission was to Tan Phu Dong and Go Cong Dong districts in Tien Giang province in the Mekong Delta, about 20-35 miles from Ho Chi Minh City. VRE sent medical professionals to provide eye, ear, throat, teeth and basic health screening, plus dispense medicine and refer follow-ups for more complicated cases. While there, I also sneaked in a “walk through” for a new VRE-sponsored school, and gave a ceremonial opening speech at a separate VRE-sponsored school in Ben Tre province.

So what was it actually like?

Firstly, you cannot avoid the oppressive heat and humidity. My corneas were baking and the 100% DEET aerosol spray for mozzies (plus sunscreen) was not helping my eyes.

Secondly, Tieng Giang and Ben Tre are depressingly poor (but that’s why we went there). Think earth floors, bamboo walls and roofs, and no potable water. Children are infected with roundworms. At one school, about half the kids didn't didn’t have shoes.

Thirdly, as Chinh Chu (fellow board member) has said: “If wealth was measured by smiles, Vietnam would be the richest country in the world." Children are happy, polite and unspoiled. Frankly, they have not experienced anything else.

Fourthly, I really felt good about doing good. The children enjoyed the event, and received medical attention and medicine that most can’t afford. The kids also got school notebooks.

Fifthly, yes I was bitten, but now I have a secret mozzie weapon. If you eat Marmite or Vegemite, which tastes fairly disgusting, the vitamin E extract apparently changes the way you smell and the mozzies either don’t bite or feed less. I learned this through a Special Forces friend of mine. He also said crocodile fats smeared on your skin works as well, but I’m not about to kill a Hilton Head crocodile to supply me with anti-mozzie repellant. Not yet anyway.

When I got back to Ho Chi Minh City, I felt as thought I were returning to civilization. Those of you familiar with HCMC know that it's far from civilization, but at least HCMC has 4-5 star hotels and decent restaurants. That's definitely not the case with the Mekong Delta (but its part of the experience).

My final thought: There are some easy ways to drastically improve Vietnamese kids’ quality of life. But maybe Mekong Delta kids can teach us about raising appreciative, joyful children with a work ethic. We in the West take so much for granted...and we in the West can do so much more, financially speaking.

The medical mission, bites aside, gave me a real sense of giving back. I'm glad to be involved with a great group of people. Also many thanks to our sponsor, KPMG Vietnam, who provided invaluable money and also seven very hard-working volunteers.