Back in the land of plenty

Got back last Sunday after celebrating 5 years of the Coolum Vietnam Support group working amongst the people.  They kindly hosted me and allowed me to share in some of the projects they support through ordinary people like you and I

My impressions:

Well a little overwhelmed still and processing, but things like being able to  send a kid to school for $A15 a month which will get them educated and out of the poverty cycle.

To be able to give of our excess that will be treasured in their community, taking up second hand laptops that work just fine. Knowing that laptop goes from our old stuff to being a treasured possession in their Village houses.

Meeting a guy in a wheelchair who has gone back to Vietnam from Australia to start a school to educate disabled young people in IT and English.    www.companyofgrace.com

Holding kids that would not have a chance if kind people had not reached out with God's love and taken on the responsibility of raising them. Seeing them laugh and giggle after being abandoned by their own mum's.

Singing songs and sharing music, such a universal language and barrier breaker.

Walking through a floor of deformed children, having seen things with my own eyes that I never have.

Being in the tiny lobby of my hotel when a desperate lady comes in crying and falling to her knees because her daughter is sick, and she needs help. :-(

So, if all takes time to process, and I am just letting the dust settle.

There is a song that I used to know called "Who will save the children"  and one of the lines says
                       "they bleed like we bleed and they feel like we feel"
You never really truly realise this until you go and feel the feelings and see the sights.

One thing I know, I will go back again and I will do what I can to be of use to these kids. I will try to raise concern and interest, but I know the needs of the world are so great. I think we just need to find our little corner where we can help and just do it.

If you have been reading this, thank you so much, and if you would like to help, whatever I raise will go directly to the kids.

I am going to finish my website  www.vietnam-kids.org where I will continue to link and bring up the projects you can help support.

www.vietnam-kids.org

She is 7 years old

Whatever you did for the least of My brothers and sisters, you did for Me (Jesus)

Today we saw true love in action.  A couple who have given up their comfortable lifestyle to save the lives of Vietnamese kids, but not only that, to raise them as their own when necessary. In the few years they have been there, they have probably worked with over 200 young teenage mums. Can you imagine being able to say that you have probably saved 200 lives??

I can not give many details as the work needs to remain under the radar, but today I visited two of the twelve centers they have established with help from local churches. (not financial .. the church are too poor)

Giving the Center a guitar for the kids

I could only fit about 4 on my lap at once :-)

Singing to us  ... soooooo beautiful

I went into their house and literally had 4 or 5 little darlings all over me, laughing and bouncing around ... such joy!  This couple who are quite a bit older than me at this time have seven pre school children in their immediate care, ranging from about one year to 5 years,  and the one shelter I went to had over 20 kids of school age. They are really orphanages in many ways, cared for, fed, educated, loved.

What can I say? They are showing God's love at grass roots level, literally saving young lives and taking on the responsibility for their care.

We then visited the next shelter which had babies and young pregnant mums, again, in many cases abandoned by their families because they would not abort.  Angry, Sad, Confused, Trying to understand how families can do this to their own. But we don't have  to work it all out, we just have to love regardless.

Here were some pictures that I am allowed to put up.

Hope School for the Hearing Impaired

Yesterday morning we visited the Hope School for children with impaired hearing. This is a privately run school with no government help.  In Vietnam, if you have a disability you would almost certainly not get an education.

Our friends Matt and Uli have arranged for quite of few of these children to be sponsored, otherwise they would not be there

Such lovely caring staff and happy children, it was lovely to visit them and know that we can be directly involved one on one with these kids to see them have the life we take for granted in NZ.

The extremes

In the past couple of days I feel that I have passed through many worlds, from the rush and bustle of the city of Saigon where I am staying to the stillness of the villages.

On Saturday we visited the House of Grace which is a house set up for disabled young people, to help give them a chance in life.  Vietnam is a country full of disabilities, a lot being due to the war in the 70's where the USA sprayed the jungles with agent orange.

Even 40 years later the effects of this poison are still being seen in deformaties. We will be visiting a project later today which is set up for children with disabilities

The House of Grace was started by a Peter Hoa who was a rescued Vietnamese Orphan brought up in Australia. As a baby he contracted Polo in Vietnam and lost the use of his legs. As a mixed up teenager he turned to a life of heavy drugs and dealing in Australia.  An encounter with God turned his life around and he felt called to go back to Vietnam and help those kids and young people who had disabilities. He started the House of Grace, as Grace is exactly what he felt had been given to him, and the project exists to love and train young people to be able to contribute to society by teaching English Skill and IT skills.

This is Peter in the wheel chair and some of the young people who are finding a community and training through the project. They are always looking for volunteers.

Four guitars I am giving away to the kids

Our friends Matt and Uli have sponsored things such as laptop computors. This year I brought along one of the guitars I bought and gave it to them.

This is the house of one of the sponsored girls

On Sunday I had the honor of visiting the  mission that helps families in the rural areas.
After meeting the children, my initial reaction was how well presented and happy they were.  I gave them a guitar and taught them a simple song .. in english of course.

The only way to the mission was across the river by this boat

The sponsored girl and her mum and dad

We were then taken to visit two families and I was shocked to see how they live.  One house built over the  river with wooden planks that had holes in the walls covered by newspaper, and the other with a floor of cracked mud.

If if was not for the mission, then these children would stay uneducated and destined to live from day to day as the families do.

Another house .. this is the lounge

Like World Vision, and other organisations, the couple I went with have a trust and sponsor 20 children to go to school. It is only $15 per month with ALL of the money going there.


I told him I would like to start helping by seeing if we can sponsor 5 children over the next year and trying to find people who would take on one of these.

Typical Village house.

Trip to Vietnam August 2012

In August 2012 I will be travelling to Vietnam to visit several projects around Ho Chi Minh City including a home for disabled children.

I will be posting pictures and thoughts as they come to fruition. Please keep checking back for the latest.

Cheers

Wayne