Tam Biet Vietnam

http://www.vietnamvolunteernetwork.com/

Thursday Jan 27, 2011

I can't believe it's already Thursday, our last day! This is the first morning that I didn't get up before my alarm clock chime.  

A taxi came to get us as usual at 745am. We've been pretty lucky with our taxi drivers. Only one had gotten us a little lost. This morning though our taxi driver was very lost.  We couldn't communicate with him so we thought we better call Nang from the guesthouse when the meter was going beyond our normal fare. Nang told him that we will only pay him what we normally pay to get there.  We finally got there after an hour and 10 minutes. And the meter was almost double, at 219,000 dong. We usually pay around 130,000 dong which is about $6. Nang even called back a few minutes later to make sure we were okay.  When i told her that we were paying she said "you only pay 130,000 dong you don't pay more!" "Yes, Nang we only pay 130,000 dong"...but actually he was slipped a few dongs more. Liza felt bad for him because he really was lost but not intentionally taking us on a long route like some taxis might.  Nang waited on the phone while we paid to make sure we didn't have a problem with the driver. She's the best!  

Huy is so proud of his artwork.

Beth with a little one during outdoor playtime.



This lucky baby in the newborn ward is being adopted.
See the photo of new mommy and daddy in the crib :)





11 year old Van



Oh so hard to go in for our last day : (. Diana, VVN's Art Director was there to meet us. She was going to teach her once a week art class. It was a treat to meet her because I had heard about her through  Kim, VVN's CEO and Founder. Diana is Vietnamese from Melbourne Australia. She's fluent in the Vietnamese language. Interesting tidbit of Diana is that she was born in Australia and  has moved to Vietnam indefinitely to get back to her roots and teach English.  So brave. I was so happy to have her to translate because our only form of communication during the week has been sign and body language. On my first day at Go Vap I met a special little boy that stole my heart. He lives in the special needs ward and seemed to me, about 7 or 8  years old.  I met him during his physical therapy session. They share the VVN room with our English class. He was practicing walking with these cloth shoes with flat soles, I think he wears them to help him with his balance. He was stumbling around the room, doing his laps, so I thought I would walk with him. He was so shy that whenever I approached him he would pretend he had an itch on his leg so that he wouldn't have to look at me. I even tried holding his hands. Finally he gave in and let me. Oh my gosh after that I was his new best friend! After his PT that day he walked me to the boys dorm to show me his bed and teddy bear. From then on, every time we saw each other we held hands and at 1015 I would walk him downstairs to lunch. I called him "my little Forrest" because he reminds me of a mini asian Forrest Gump. Thanks to Diana I finally got to know that his name is Van and he's eleven years old. I also found out that he just moved in three weeks ago. He came from another facility. Art class was special because Diana let the kids make pictures with the cut-outs and stickers that we brought. At 1015 Van took me the long way, via his dorm to his lunch area where we said our good byes...sniff sniff. 

Here I am with my special boy Van.  He made this for me to take home. xoxo.

Lovely Diana, VVN's Art Director

The girls and I stayed a couple more hours. Liza and Annette stopped over for a little while at the newborn ward. 

Beth and I went back to the terminal ward even though most of the kids were napping.  I felt that I really wanted to capture my time there so i spent most of it taking pictures and videos. I want to think that to have life, to live and breathe is precious but spending time in that ward makes me wonder what living really means to these kids. Don't get me wrong because the nurses and helpers are spectacular. To be an orphan and to be in the medical condition they are in, I would actually consider them the lucky ones. They are in an environment with care and love. I've seen the nurses speak to them, kiss and stroke them. It still makes me wonder about that question. Some have been there for over 10 years. 

It was sad to leave Go Vap.  I will always cherish this opportunity I had. I hope that someday I will go back again. I'm also glad that my friends were so willing to come with me and give up their own vacation time. Its good to have others to share these precious memories with. Thank you so much Beth, Liza & Annette!!!!!

In the afternoon we went to check out the flower mart. Vendors of all varieties of flowers and plants brought their things to the local park to sell. It is part of their Tet celebration. 

Our last dinner was mellow. We went across the street to a local restaurant. We shared a couple of appetizers. Liza was happy she got her fried fish entree one last time. Annette had curry, Beth had fried rice and I had chinese cabbage with mushroom. I think I over did it on the rich flavorful seafood. I'm craving some plain steamed veggies and white rice. We laughed a lot about Beth and her "come over and look." It's our inside joke. 

My attempt at swaddling a fussy baby.  Hien is being supportive by laying next to the baby.

It's snack time...who wants strawberry wafers? Open up....

Overall I couldn't have asked for a better time. We had a couple of adventures but we are all leaving Saigon in one piece. Ooh I'm going to miss those kids so much!

It's off to bed. I'm getting up at 300am for our 600am flight to Hong Kong then San Francisco. 

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Nurse Thanh showers this little guy with kisses all day long. Too many kisses..look at his expression!

A United plane in Hong Kong.