Health Volunteers Overseas

08/28/2026

Our 40 for 40 campaign in honor of HVO’s 40th anniversary closes soon. If you've been meaning to give, now's the moment.

A gift of $40 will help us train the next generation of health providers in communities that need it most.

Give before September 1st. Every $40 counts. We’re in this together.

Make a gift here 👉 https://asrqafmh.donorsupport.co/page/hvo-40-for-40

08/26/2026

“My trip to Tanzania reinvigorated my drive for why I love orthopaedic surgery and training the next generation of surgeons. I felt I was able to teach the residents so much, but in return they taught me how to problem solve, remain calm when cases become challenging, and to work a slower more deliberate pace. So often in the U.S. we are focused on 'what’s next,' the next case, the next lecture, the next meeting, etc.; but here in Tanzania, I learned to be fully present in the moment.” -- Anonymous, orthopaedics, Tanzania 2026

08/22/2026

Earlier this year, Dr. Margaret Fitch and Jodi Hyman spent a week teaching oncology nursing at Da Nang Oncology Hospital in Vietnam. Months later, their training is still changing how care happens there. On their recommendation, the hospital is now placing "Cytotoxic" caution stickers on every chemotherapy bag and transport container — a simple change with real impact.

"By identifying which drugs are cytotoxic, nurses can reduce their risk of occupational exposure to hazardous drugs and provide tailored education to patients and family members who may come in contact with bodily waste and body fluids, helping to minimize their risk of exposure." — Jodi Hyman

This is the multiplier effect in action: one week of teaching, and a safer hospital for nurses, patients, and families for years to come.

Oncology Nursing Society

Read more about their work in Vietnam on the HVO blog: https://hvousa.org/blog/bridging-gaps-oncology-vietnam/

08/20/2026

Our 2025 Annual Report is here! Another year of training local health professionals to build health systems that last. Read it here: https://hvousa.org/report/annual-report-2025/

08/19/2026

We have just under two weeks left in our 40 for 40 campaign!

Our community has already stepped up to celebrate HVO's 40th anniversary with gifts of $40 or more. Every contribution brings us closer to our goal: $100,000 to strengthen health systems around the world. If you haven't given yet, there's still time to be part of this milestone year. It's a small gift with a global reach — funding the training and mentorship that help local providers carry this work forward long after our volunteers return home.

Join the movement. Celebrate with $40 for 40 years!

👉 https://asrqafmh.donorsupport.co/page/hvo-40-for-40

08/17/2026

0% → 66%. That's the change in childhood cancer survival rate in Cambodia since HVO began training local providers there. When one provider gains new expertise, an entire community benefits.

This is what the multiplier effect looks like in practice: HVO volunteers working side by side with Cambodian clinicians, building the skills and systems needed for kids to survive a cancer diagnosis.

Read the full story of this partnership with Angkor Hospital for Children on our blog: https://hvousa.org/blog/transforming-pediatric-cancer-care-cambodia/

08/15/2026

🎉 Big congratulations to HVO volunteer Dr. Janet Dewan, recipient of the 2026 Agatha Hodgins Award for Outstanding Accomplishment from AANA / American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology!

Dr. Dewan has spent years volunteering to strengthen anesthesia education in Rwanda, training providers who go on to train others — multiplying her impact for years to come. Read her story on our blog: https://hvousa.org/blog/anesthesia-education-rwanda/

Catch HVO staff at the AANA Congress in Boston this month — stop by booth #1246 to say hello and learn about volunteer opportunities in global health education.

Janet Dewan, PhD, CRNA has been volunteering in Rwanda since 2010 and with HVO’s anesthesia project with the University of Rwanda since 2023. Her decades

08/13/2026

For 40 years, HVO has believed in the power of teaching, not just treating.

Since 1986, that belief has taken us to 57 countries, alongside 325 partners, powered by 7,403 volunteers who've completed 11,728 training assignments and 310 projects — all working side by side with local health workers to build skills that last well beyond any single visit.

That's the multiplier effect in action: train one provider, and they go on to train dozens more. Here's to 40 years of healing without borders — and to the decades of impact still ahead. 🌍

08/11/2026

Celebrate HVO’s 40th birthday with a gift of $40! If 2,500 supporters gave just $40, we would have $100,000 to strengthen health systems around the world.

Visit https://ow.ly/oMCC50Zx5kg to make a gift today.

08/07/2026

Nancy Kelly, MHS, served as HVO’s first executive director from 1986 to 2022. She shared a memory of HVO’s first day:

“When I look back at my first official day at HVO - August 1, 1986 - I am amazed. I didn't have a job description, or even a job title yet. ‘Executive Director’ seemed lofty, given that my office was an 8x8 room we had sublet, furnished with a borrowed desk, chair, and filing cabinet…After setting up our first computer, I sat down and asked myself, ‘Now what?’ I had a mission statement, a three-member board, an annual working budget of $40,000, and several orthopaedic projects. It seemed smart to begin by raising some money, so I wrote my first fundraising letter and sent it to more than 60 orthopaedic surgeons. I was richly rewarded — almost everyone donated…And so it began, with a simple but powerful idea, the one so often captured in that old Chinese adage about teaching a man to fish. HVO began to gain traction as prospective volunteers realized they could be part of something bigger — that they could contribute to the construction of a stronger, more effective, more resilient health care system that would outlast any one individual.”