Lifting up the Minorities

Location of service:

Lam Dong Province

Background: 

Sister Minh and the other Sisters of the medicant order Dominic have provided help and care to the ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas of Lam Dong province for many years. The ethnic minorities have settled into small villages. They are extremely poor and lack the basic necessities that will enable them to have a healthy life. The children cannot go to school and the residents usually live off the crops that they grow. There is no clinic or hospital within their villages. There is only one clinic outside of their village and if they are very ill, they have to depend on the people of the mendicant order to transport them to the hospital in the city and also pay for their expenses. The residents in these villages encounter a wide range of illness from infectious diseases to chronic diseases, such as joint and muscle pain. A particular concern in these villages is malnourishment because of the lack of food. Due to the deficit in resources and health education, they also do not know how to prevent diseases from occurring.