Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Viet Nam - March 31, 2009

Tuesday, Day 3:

We left Saigon on a 6am flight and left behind the 90s heat. Two hours later, we arrived in Hai Phong with almost 30 degree cooler weather. We arrived at the Hoa Phuong Orphanage when most of the kids were still at school. After a brief visit with the management staff and getting caught up on the latest happenings in the orphanage, we went from house to house and visited with the ‘house mother’ and the orphans (at home since they are too young to be in school). We met several new babies, and learned one of the baby in the ‘sick house’ just died from a seizure. There are eight homes on the ground of the Hoa Phuong Orphanage. Five of the homes have up to ten orphans, one is for teenage boys, and one new home is a temporary boarding place for street children. The eighth home is for seven orphans who need round the clock care due to their physical or mental conditions.

Before we reached the first home, a group of three students carried an unconscious fourth student across the yard. One of the orphans had a black out in her classroom and she was sent home. When we reached the home, she was still unconscious and surrounded by the house mother and other students and orphans. We learned that the 17 years old Mien has had several blackout bouts within the last several months. We will arrange for her to have a blood test to determine the cause and necessary treatment.

As we finished our rounds, some of the kids arrived back from school and the noise level started to rise when they spotted us. We pulled out the toys we brought with and soon we were surrounded by most of the seventy plus orphans. Some of the orphans were lucky enough to receive letters and gifts from their sponsors (of the Teach Me To Fish program) in the U.S.

For Son Michael, this visit marked ten years since he visited the orphanage for the first time and fell in love with the children. For ten years, he has kept his promises to these orphans-- going out of his way to visit them every time he comes to Viet Nam. This is where the Teach Me To Fish (TM2F) program was launched; taking grown orphans under the wings of Kids Without Borders and helping them to integrate into life outside of the orphanage.

The sun started to set, and the mosquitoes became more noticeable. We wrapped up our visit and headed to a modern shopping center with five of the TM2F kids, two of them bringing along their own children! We treated everyone to a sumptuous ‘hot pot’ dinner, and it was an opportunity for us to get caught up on their current situations: home, family, work, dreams and wishes. Two of the five orphans broke the ‘orphan cycle’, both have their own family and child. However, Hoa Phuong Orphanage is always home for these kids, and the ‘house mothers’ and children there will always be their family. They all gather back at the orphanage on weekends, holidays, and especially on the annual anniversary celebration of the orphanage in April.

As we bid farewell to the kids, they all started to count down the days till our next visit and their next feast. We headed back to our comfortable, air-conditioned hotel and they returned to their modest homes. Hope they all had sweet dreams!
Tomorrow: Hanoi City.

Two sisters holding letters and gifts sent by their sponsors in the U.S.

"The School Bus": orphans coming home from their kindergarten class.

Many Rotary Clubs (in the U.S) and Rotarians are supporters of the Teach Me To Fish (TM2F) Program. THANK YOU ROTARY, for Making Dreams Real for these orphans.

Some of the Teach Me To Fish Class of 2005, now contributing members in their community (some with their own children in this photo).

Monday, March 30, 2009

Viet Nam - March 30, 2009

Monday, Day 2:
Our group grew by several people on our first day. We picked up Holly and the Watts family on our way to Go Vap Orphanage. Holly is from Seattle and currently lives in Viet Nam and working as a teacher. She is looking for opportunities to volunteer on behalf of KWB. The Watts family is from Redmond (Washington).

The Watts family arrived in Saigon earlier in the week with three large boxes; all marked 'Special Delivery' for Go Vap Orphanage. Daniel is eight years old and a second grade student at Ben Rush Elementary School in Redmond (Washington State). In preparation for their Viet Nam visit, Daniel with the support of his parents, Andrew and Thuy, put together a school project collecting donated goods for the orphanage. One of Daniel's classmates, Ben, even dedicated his own birthday to support the orphans by having a party where invited friends came only with gifts for the orphanage.

We also met with Dr. Melinda Bunt at Go Vap. Melinda visits the orphanage regularly and provides medical support for some of the sick babies. We all met with the orphanage director and discussed Dr. Bunt's ongoing assistance working with the medical staff at Go Vap.

Later on in the afternoon, we visited the Thu Duc Orphanage and delivered supplies we brought for young babies. When we arrived, we learned that the babies were under quarantine due to a measles outbreak. For the last several months, there have been numerous outbreaks of measles throughout Viet Nam and it is still not yet under control. After our meeting with the orphanage director, we walked around to distribute gifts to the children. Soon our walk was interrupted by a downpour. The quick rain helped cool the 96 degree temperature.
Tomorrow: Hai Phong City.
From left to right: Holly, Mrs. Thao (Director of the Go Vap Orphanage), and the Watts family (Mom Thuy, their Vietnamese niece, Daniel, and Dad Andrew).
A special 'hello' to Ben (in orange shirt in a recent family photo). He is one of Daniel's classmates. Ben organized his own birthday party to collect gifts for the orphans. Wish you were here, Ben!

Special delivery from Ben Rush Elementary School in Redmond, Washington State.


Andrew and Daniel comforted a very young orphan in the sick ward.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Reporting from Viet Nam - March 29, 2009

Day 1:
Back in Viet Nam again. This time, only three of us instead of twenty-one people a year ago (still, we carried with us six suitcases filled with supplies for our projects) and the usual packed agenda.

We arrived in Saigon on Sunday morning, in the sweltering heat - 91 degree but feels like 98 with the humidity. After getting to our hotel and cleaning up, we headed out to Go Vap Orphanage. One of our colleagues from California, Cathy Lam with the Our1World (http://www.our1world.org/) nonprofit organization joined our group. We gave Cathy a tour of the orphanage and said hello to the staff and the children, met some new orphans and learned the sad news about some of the sick kids who left us. We then spent the rest of our time with the English class. When we arrived, there was no chance for our volunteer teachers to keep the class going - the students knew study time was over and fun time began. In between all of the excited conversation, the kids ate treats and colored the new art books Cathy brought for them.

As expected, the streets of Saigon were packed on Sunday night. Everyone was out to escape the heat. We had dinner with the STEP travelers. School To End Poverty (STEP) is based in New York (http://www.springvalleyrotaryny.org/S_T_E_P.html) and has partnered with KWB in many past projects. The group celebrated the end of their successful mission to Viet Nam. Many in the group traveled with KWB in past trips, and are sponsoring orphans in our Teach Me To Fish Program (TM2F). During their mission, STEP dedicated a new school in Bac Lieu funded by the organization. KWB supported their mission with arrangements for visits to the Peace Village (rehabilitation center for disabled children victimized by Agent Orange) in Hanoi, the Hoa Phuong Orphanage in Hai Phong, and some of the current TM2F orphans.
We bid farewell to our New York friends and retired to our hotel to deal with the jetlag (14 hours time difference from home in Seattle) and ready for a busy day tomorrow.

'Hello again'. Nhat had his needed surgery in November
and he is another Go Vap hydrocephalus survivor.

Cathy Lam with some new friends.


Studying is so much fun.


Begin on back row second from right: Judy Pham (KWB), Leanne Tran (Melbourne, Australia), and Mrs. Truc. Leanne and Truc are KWB volunteer teachers.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Images of the Tenth HumaniTour Viet Nam - Spring 2008

View Slide Show: http://www.kirotv.com/slideshow/news/15847220/detail.html

The Tenth HumaniTour Viet Nam - Spring 2008

Reporting by Penny LeGate, News Reporter KIRO Television (CBS-Seattle)
March 2008

http://www.kirotv.com/station/15751389/detail.html

Images of the Ninth HumaniTour Viet Nam - 2007

View Slide Show: http://www.kirotv.com/slideshow/news/11176286/detail.html

The Ninth HumaniTour Viet Nam - Fall 2007

Video from the HumaniTour Viet Nam Fall 2007, prepared by the Rotary Club of the University District (Seattle):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64-aYhjVts

The Eight HumaniTour Viet Nam - Spring 2007

Read stories by Penny LeGate: http://www.kirotv.com/news/11176106/detail.html


View Slide Show: http://www.kirotv.com/slideshow/news/11176286/detail.html

The Seventh HumaniTour Viet Nam - 2006

Video prepared by the Rotary Club of Spring Valley (New York).

Watch video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5maw77d9a50

The Sixth HumaniTour Viet Nam - 2005

TBA

The Fifth HumaniTour Viet Nam - 2004

Video presentation from the HumaniTour Viet Nam 2004, prepared by the Rotary CLub of the University District Seattle (Washington):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oFSCveahj0

The Fourth HumaniTour Viet Nam - Fall 2003

The Third HumaniTour Viet Nam - Spring 2003

TBA

The Second HumaniTour Viet Nam - 2002

TBA

The First HumaniTour Viet Nam - 2001

TBA