Caring for the convent DPR/TV/741

The growing importance of civil affairs in Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam, is reflected by the part played by all units of the Australian Task Force based at Nui Dat. Every day a least one Task Force unit is represented in one of the many villages and hamlets of the Province. Most of the aid given to the villagers is medical or dental treatment. At Baria, a village eight miles south of the Task Force base, members of the Special Air Service Squadron visit the Roman Catholic convent each week to provide medical attention to any of the 900 students requiring it. Unlike many of the populated areas in Phuoc Tuy Province, the students and 22 orphans at the convent have very few health problems and those that do are of a minor nature. Insect bites on arms and legs which are scratched by the children and later become infected is the most common complaint, but numerous scratches and cuts are prevalent. While these complaints are attended to by two medical corporals, another member of the Special Air Service Squadron tries to make life for the orphans at the convent a little more pleasant by providing them soft drinks and sweets. Although only the superficial complaints of the children are apparent, the fact that many of them are suffering from malnutrion is not. As a result all the children who have scratches and cuts attended to are also given a vitamin pill before returning to the classroom.