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.
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.
What a great blog-
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful gift. Our son is from GoVap and we brought him home in December. Thank you for donating your time and goods to this orphanage : )
ReplyDeleteCan you give me the address of Go Vap in Thu Duc, please? Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteSr. Susan Carol McDonald
susanmcdo@aol.com