Jim O'Shannessy
My introduction to PVI in 2007 was through my wife. Ronnie was nursing at Maleny Hospital when a colleague mentioned she had just returned from Vietnam as a member of the Nursing Team. Ronnie was interested straight away.
Once finding out the Building Team was involved I jumped on the bandwagon and both of us were off the next March.
Being a bit of a handyman and twenty years of doing what I’m told in the Navy I was up for joining the team.
Didn’t take long to work out that I was in with a great bunch of blokes and girls .
Volunteers have generally a very positive mind set and over the next 20 years I am proud to have participated in 16 Projects.
If you hang around long enough you eventually gain the confidence to step up to managerial roles and was President for 5 years and Treasurer for the last 8 years.
Highlights include all the projects where I was able to take on the role of procuring all the daily building needs. Either by motorbike or push bike , dealing with local hardware and electrical suppliers was a real buzz.
Must also mention that working under the guidance of Tony Van Boxmeer was a special experience. A special human who is no longer with us.
Fund Raising is always a burden for most small self funded organisations but our group make the most of it. The social interaction with the athletes of the major sporting events and even the public at Eumundi Market Parking can even leave you with a positive experience.
Here’s to another 20 years with more opportunities to make lifetime friends.
Once finding out the Building Team was involved I jumped on the bandwagon and both of us were off the next March.
Being a bit of a handyman and twenty years of doing what I’m told in the Navy I was up for joining the team.
Didn’t take long to work out that I was in with a great bunch of blokes and girls .
Volunteers have generally a very positive mind set and over the next 20 years I am proud to have participated in 16 Projects.
If you hang around long enough you eventually gain the confidence to step up to managerial roles and was President for 5 years and Treasurer for the last 8 years.
Highlights include all the projects where I was able to take on the role of procuring all the daily building needs. Either by motorbike or push bike , dealing with local hardware and electrical suppliers was a real buzz.
Must also mention that working under the guidance of Tony Van Boxmeer was a special experience. A special human who is no longer with us.
Fund Raising is always a burden for most small self funded organisations but our group make the most of it. The social interaction with the athletes of the major sporting events and even the public at Eumundi Market Parking can even leave you with a positive experience.
Here’s to another 20 years with more opportunities to make lifetime friends.
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Penny Rivlin
I have done a fair bit of travelling, but I felt travel needed a purpose, so I started doing volunteer trips-like helping with wildlife care in Namibia and Borneo.
It was sheer chance that I came upon a notice on a door of Nambour hospital Operating Theatres. Janet Perry-Watson was asking for nurses to join their Medical team with Dr Gail Waterhouse in a paediatric conference in HaNoi. I went along to a meeting but felt it was beyond my scope, not being paediatric or theatre trained! I joined in PVI’s get together on Noosa River and became a ‘builder’s assistant’ for the 2010 trip instead.
The project was to renovate a primary school -painting walls and doors and toilets. It was cold and wet and several of us were laid up for a couple of days with various viruses. However, it was a great friendly team and a lot of fun. The local men helped, the ladies brought lunch along, and kids came by to practice their English. The Hotel was a good one. We traipsed in wearing work clothes and taking work boots off as we passed the best dressed men and women in business clothes. Its ‘bonus’ was being right next door to a beer factory (sirens going off at change of shift in the early hours!) so we didn’t have far to go for an afternoon cool one. Lots of good eating spots, including street eats. At the end a visit North by train to explore Sapa was taken by many of the team.
Two more visits to Vietnam followed, one in Hue bicycling to the spot with all the locals. Side trips afterwards to Hoi An and to DMZ. Another jaunt after a project was with Ian’s cousin Barbara to Ankhor Wat , and then I diverted to a Cambodian project.
First to a school near Sihanoukville painting toilets, restoring a septic tank ( I think I was the dunny queen). A solar-powered water tank was also installed. A detour to a nearby island and exploring coastal Kampot at the end was fun.
Further trips have been to Battambang with KNGO ; helping in the school, library and painting, and with 2 building projects nearby for poorer locals; in 2020 - escaping just before Covid set in, and one in 2024, where I reached the dizzy heights of becoming assistant apprentice in bricklaying ( for another toilet) with Jan and John Miller.
Each one has been hard work, but the teams have been very social, and the joy has been meeting the locals, eating different food, and exploring the nearby countryside on the middle weekend or an add-on at the end.
Those of us in PVI and KNGO who live in the Sunshine Coast can meet for coffee and picnics. Meetings are most months at Alex Headlands Surf Club, and folk stay on for a meal and a chat. We also fundraise by carparking at Eumundi Market, and assist with registering athletes for marathon/ triathlon and trail run events -another way to keep in touch, top up the kitty and have a bit of fun as well.
It was sheer chance that I came upon a notice on a door of Nambour hospital Operating Theatres. Janet Perry-Watson was asking for nurses to join their Medical team with Dr Gail Waterhouse in a paediatric conference in HaNoi. I went along to a meeting but felt it was beyond my scope, not being paediatric or theatre trained! I joined in PVI’s get together on Noosa River and became a ‘builder’s assistant’ for the 2010 trip instead.
The project was to renovate a primary school -painting walls and doors and toilets. It was cold and wet and several of us were laid up for a couple of days with various viruses. However, it was a great friendly team and a lot of fun. The local men helped, the ladies brought lunch along, and kids came by to practice their English. The Hotel was a good one. We traipsed in wearing work clothes and taking work boots off as we passed the best dressed men and women in business clothes. Its ‘bonus’ was being right next door to a beer factory (sirens going off at change of shift in the early hours!) so we didn’t have far to go for an afternoon cool one. Lots of good eating spots, including street eats. At the end a visit North by train to explore Sapa was taken by many of the team.
Two more visits to Vietnam followed, one in Hue bicycling to the spot with all the locals. Side trips afterwards to Hoi An and to DMZ. Another jaunt after a project was with Ian’s cousin Barbara to Ankhor Wat , and then I diverted to a Cambodian project.
First to a school near Sihanoukville painting toilets, restoring a septic tank ( I think I was the dunny queen). A solar-powered water tank was also installed. A detour to a nearby island and exploring coastal Kampot at the end was fun.
Further trips have been to Battambang with KNGO ; helping in the school, library and painting, and with 2 building projects nearby for poorer locals; in 2020 - escaping just before Covid set in, and one in 2024, where I reached the dizzy heights of becoming assistant apprentice in bricklaying ( for another toilet) with Jan and John Miller.
Each one has been hard work, but the teams have been very social, and the joy has been meeting the locals, eating different food, and exploring the nearby countryside on the middle weekend or an add-on at the end.
Those of us in PVI and KNGO who live in the Sunshine Coast can meet for coffee and picnics. Meetings are most months at Alex Headlands Surf Club, and folk stay on for a meal and a chat. We also fundraise by carparking at Eumundi Market, and assist with registering athletes for marathon/ triathlon and trail run events -another way to keep in touch, top up the kitty and have a bit of fun as well.
Janet Perry Watson
When did you joined PVI? 2001, I was on the March Medical Team to Binh Dan Hospital in HCMC doing nursing education. Then a few years later at the Hospital for Trauma and Orthopaedics. Then I presented several lectures at the National Paediatric Hospital in Hanoi.
Number of trips with PVI: around 22 to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Why did you joined PVI? Originally, I joined to do nursing education but later I joined the building team when the medical team wound down. My specialty is painting both murals and walls.
What is your best memory from a trip? I think when we collectively “adopted” baby Lucy at the Thai Binh Orphanage. She had been left there when she was only a few days old when we were there renovating the orphanage.
What keeps you coming back each year? The people are so appreciative of what we do and it is very rewarding to see the impact that the work we do has on the communities. I have made many life-long friends over the years with other PVI team members and with locals that we have met in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Number of trips with PVI: around 22 to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Why did you joined PVI? Originally, I joined to do nursing education but later I joined the building team when the medical team wound down. My specialty is painting both murals and walls.
What is your best memory from a trip? I think when we collectively “adopted” baby Lucy at the Thai Binh Orphanage. She had been left there when she was only a few days old when we were there renovating the orphanage.
What keeps you coming back each year? The people are so appreciative of what we do and it is very rewarding to see the impact that the work we do has on the communities. I have made many life-long friends over the years with other PVI team members and with locals that we have met in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
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Brendan Mc Kenna
I joined PVI in 2007 after meeting fellow member, Tony van Boxmeer, on a building site in Pomona. Tony had recently returned from Vietnam and spoke so enthusiastically about the work PVI was undertaking, encouraging me to attend the next meeting. That meeting marked the beginning of my involvement with PVI, and later that year I was appointed Vice President under Glen Arundel.
Since joining PVI, I have participated in projects in Vietnam every year until the COVID-19 pandemic brought activities to a halt. I became President in 2019 for 5 years, during which time I was known for setting records for conducting the shortest and most efficient meetings.
What is your best memory: Finishing and handing over the Thanh Binh Kindergarten for the Bo Trach Community. This was our biggest project.
It's took over two years to complete!!
Since joining PVI, I have participated in projects in Vietnam every year until the COVID-19 pandemic brought activities to a halt. I became President in 2019 for 5 years, during which time I was known for setting records for conducting the shortest and most efficient meetings.
What is your best memory: Finishing and handing over the Thanh Binh Kindergarten for the Bo Trach Community. This was our biggest project.
It's took over two years to complete!!
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