Medical, Education, Development Resources, International eXchange

In 1994, one of the co-founders of MEDRIX traveled with a medical team from the United States to work with Hue Central Hospital in Hue, Vietnam. Later that year, a professional exchange was provided for the administrator of Hue Central Hospital to study Hospital Administration in Seattle, Washington, USA. This partnership was extended when this co-founder did formal research in Hue, Vietnam on parents’ understanding of caring for and treating children who have diarrhoea, along with their understanding of the signs and symptoms warranting professional medical intervention.During the research it quickly became evident that most children suffer from diarrhea due to lack of safe water. Contaminated water sources and water borne diseases are at the root of many diseases worldwide. This is why the other co-founder of MEDRIX took on the challenge to find a method of providing drinkable water. He, along with many MEDRIX volunteers, began collaborating with United States and Southeast Asian provincial leaders to develop an affordable, maintainable, and sustainable water treatment system. By 1997, teams of volunteer doctors, nurses, Para-medical persons, teachers, scientists, university students and others from the United States began traveling with the founders of MEDRIX volunteering their time and skills at Hue Central Hospital in Central Vietnam. In 2000, MEDRIX was formally established as a non-profit organization in the USA and in 2002, MEDRIX registered as an INGO in Vietnam. Presently, volunteer physicians, nurses, health educators, water specialists, native English speakers, and others are joining MEDRIX to make a difference in Southeast Asia.