Waking
up to rain is not what I would typically call fun. On most mornings in Vietnam we
wake up to blistering heat and humidity breathing down the backs of our necks.
This morning was different. Today, Tuesday, we all went to the children's “SOS
Village International” located on the outskirts of Vinh City. The SOS Village
is an
independent, non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps orphaned and/or
abandoned children. Founder, Hermann Gmeiner started the organization in 1949. Most of us had never
visited a children's orphanage and did not know what to expect. I, for one, was nervous. Standing at the
front of Vinh University we all got in separate taxis and within 5 minutes the
rain was pouring down harder and harder. After a nail-biting taxi ride,
we arrived at the Village where we were greeted by
about 250 excited children all ages, boys and girls, from about age five to pre-teens. The children stood and greeted us with a
couple of popular songs – including Twinkle, Twinkle, and “The Crazy Witch” which was
sung to the music from “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain”. This brought us to tears. Now it was our turn. One-by-one, we stood and shared a bit about
ourselves and, at the suggestion of Emma, we broke out and sang and danced
the “Hokie Pokie,” making complete fools of ourselves, but which also turned out to be a highlight of my trip.
A
few minutes later we shared gifts of candy, books, crayons and toys with the children. Dr. Biafora caught our attention when at one point when he said to the entire assembly "...ultimately, the best gift in
life is friendship." Nothing is
more priceless to see the inner happiness of a child, and Vietnamese children are no different than
American children. This became apparent when we tossed candy into the
audience and the entire room erupted into a chaotic, high voltage frenzy of joyous competition for M&Ms!
We
all regrouped and took a stroll around the SOS Village to get a glimpse at the
family houses the children resided. I
had noticed all of the plants and beautiful landscape neatly placed on the
premises. As we passed by the different houses it seemed at first that the houses were going to be in pretty bad shape. With a bit of unnecessary negative anticipation a few of us reached one of the village "family" houses. This house
was absolutely practical, simple and very clean. Each house within this village has a care
taker known fondly as "mother". The mother of this house of 10 children complemented
me on my height and offered me tea. I overheard
her say that her "children” survive on only 70 cents per day! I was stunned. How anyone could do that; is it even
possible? With everyone being so happy and children laughing and smiling I had a difficulty time comprehending how it was they were so happy. Perhaps it was the sense of community in
which everyone sticks together and where there is a great deal of love. The house
I was in had no front door, and very sparse accommodations. After spending time meeting
children and "mother", Robisnson and I walked the full length of the Village to a
small conference room and sat in reflective silence for a few moments. Dr. Biafora helped us digest and process what had just happened. My heart has never been this touched, and
this was a great opportunity to give back as a community, as a group and as a
team. After conversations, tears and stories we all left and took a taxi home.
The rain had stopped, and the sun started to come out. This was a day I will never forget.
On
Wednesday we took a bus to the village where Ho Chi Minh was born and lived for
the first five years of his life. One would think by now I
should have known to bring an umbrella.
Yep, it rained... again. We arrived
at that The Ho Chi Minh Homeland and there we saw one of the huts where
“Uncle Ho” (as they endearingly call him here) grew up. I found it interesting how someone who become
such a powerful and charismatic leader, came from such simple conditions…a two room thatched
roof house made of bamboo fronds and clay floor! But, what appeared to be flimsy at first was actually quite stable and had survived over 100 years. We learned
that in fact, Ho Chi Minh’s family hut was considered to be of relatively high
quality that the wealthier class could typically afford.
After this stop we all re-boarded the bus for a visit to Hoang Thi Loan’s tomb – the resting place of Ho Chi Minh’s mother. From the entrance the walked was exactly 333 steps! From the top we could see a beautiful
panorama of the countryside. This tomb was magnificent, white stone, marble and
beautiful plants landscaped beautifully around. Hoang Thi Loan died after giving birth to Ho’s
younger brother, who only lived for a few weeks before dying. This tomb is relatively recent in Vietnam and
it is already becoming a major pilgrimage, especially for the women of Vietnam who look up to Hoang Thi Loan as the ideal representation of womanhood.
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