Project HOPE Medical Volunteers Join U.S. Navy for

MILLWOOD, Va., May 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medical volunteers from Project HOPE , an international health education and humanitarian aid organization, have joined Pacific Partnership 2014 , a two-month humanitarian mission and training exercise led by the United States Navy to locations in Southeast Asia.

The thirteen Project HOPE volunteers participating in Pacific Partnership 2014 will train and mentor local health professionals, provide subject matter expertise and contribute to public health programs over the course of four two-week rotations in underserved communities in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.

"Our volunteers are committed to providing solutions to health challenges in underserved communities throughout the world, and our ongoing partnership with the Navy provides a fantastic platform for them to pursue this important work," said Matt Peterson, Project HOPE's Senior Manager of Volunteer Operations.

The Project HOPE volunteers will provide a mix of educational exchanges and experiential side-by-side mentoring to local health care professionals in their individual areas of expertise at four locations: Kupong and Rote, Indonesia; Da Nang, Vietnam; Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Tacloban, the Philippines.  The participating volunteers include an infectious disease specialist, a dermatologist, an orthopedic surgeon, an anesthesiologist, a psychiatrist and several nurses. 

"Last year my time volunteering with Project HOPE on Pacific Partnership 2013 was an amazing and life-changing experience," said Rose Wilson, a pediatric nurse from Melbourne, Australia and winner of Project HOPE's bronze Volunteer of the Year award in 2013.  "I am thrilled to have another opportunity to help."

Pacific Partnership 2014 will be Project HOPE's 33rd humanitarian mission in partnership with the United States Department of Defense (DOD) and tenth consecutive year supporting a Pacific Partnership mission since 2005.  Project HOPE volunteers have treated more than 800,000 patients and provided training to more than 230,000 health care professionals while contributing to DOD missions.       

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health crises, with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world's first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now conducts land-based medical training and health education programs in 35 countries across five continents.

www.projecthope.org

Geraldine Carroll Tel. +1-540-257-3746