A group of Elizabethtown College students, faculty, and volunteers traveled to Vietnam in May with staff from the local Elizabethtown non-profit Brittany’s Hope (Helping Orphans Prosper Everywhere). Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Physician Assistant Studies majors were represented this year. The travelers, which included 17 students, two Etown faculty members, and 11 Brittany’s Hope volunteers, were in Vietnam from May 10 through 25.
“The service trip to Vietnam allowed me to experience the most beautiful country and meet so many incredible people,” Occupational Therapy major Ellie Fasick ’26 said. “We communicated through language barriers and made genuine connections at the various sites we went to. Throughout the trip, I gained new cultural and social perspectives that I know will benefit my future practice as an occupational therapist.”
Etown students assist in a community house buld project in Vietnam
During their service activities, the group visited multiple orphanages to work with children and aid staff. At the Thi Nghe Orphanage, the group helped to conduct activities for children with limited mobility, assist in feeding young children, and help caregivers at the facility.
The group drew on their experience in Etown’s classrooms, training with occupational therapy and physical therapy staff at the Ha Tinh Orphan Village and helping to teach English. While at the Ha Tinh Orphan Village, they delivered mattresses, dryers and washing machines, air conditioners, and gifts to the children.
During their trip, they assisted construction workers in a community house build at the House of Love Children’s home in Ho Chi Min City.
The Son Hiep and Son Trung communes partnered with the group to deliver 70 food relief packages, fruit trees, a water pipe and pump, electric wire, and biofertilizer. They also helped plant fruit trees in minority ethnic group communities.
The group distributed 170 food relief packages and 35 bicycles to households in the Cam Phuoc Dong and Cam Phuoc Tay communities during the trip.
“This trip provided me with the opportunity to experience a new culture, learn about Vietnam’s social problems and strengths, and serve underrepresented groups across the country,” Social Work major Emma Sager ’25 said. “This experience gave me a better understanding of different populations, which will be helpful to both me as a future social worker and to my future clients.”
Students also got to visit different spots in Vietnam, including a tour of Ho Chi Minh City home to the Reunification Palace, War Museum, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. They also explored the Cu Chi Tunnels and Sung Sot Cave, the largest cave inside Halong Bay. Before leaving, they took a tour of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology at Hanoi.
The trip takes place every two years and is led by Elizabethtown College Professor of Occupational Therapy, Daniel Panchik and Elizabethtown College Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, Terri Dennehy who partner with Ms. Mai-Lynn Sahd, Executive Director of Brittany’s Hope.
“The trip is an excellent opportunity for immersion in rich cultural experiences at personal and professional levels, for learning about global health and care approaches, and for meeting new friends along the way,” Dennehy said. “We look forward to our return each time and could not do this without our incredible partnership with Brittany’s Hope.”
The trip offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate the core values of both Etown and Brittany’s Hope through hands-on service work.
“We had an amazing journey through Vietnam in partnership with Brittany’s Hope whose mission is to help abandoned children everywhere,” Panchik said. “The beautiful people of Vietnam welcomed us with open arms and shared many aspects of their culture.”
The Brittany O’Connell International Service Trip Award provides service to children in an international setting and promotes the College’s motto to Educate for Service. This fund was created by alumna Candace Abel ’02 P’08 P’09.
About Brittany’s Hope
Brittany’s Hope is a nonprofit organization committed to recognizing the fundamental rights of all children. The organization empowers families and communities to make real and lasting change in the lives of orphaned and at-risk children through international special needs adoption grants and humanitarian initiatives.
