The volunteer team eats dinner together every night. At our final dinner tonight, Catalyst auctioned off the winning drawings from its 2008 My Vietnam art contest. These drawings were made by children from the three areas (Kien Giang, Dong Thap, and Saigon) that we worked in over the past week, by children that we saw in the clinics and played with at camp.
There were 30 winning drawings in all, from 3 different age groups. The money raised through the auction will be used by Catalyst to start a scholarship program for boys. Such an exciting expansion of their programs!
It was amazing to see the volunteers -- who have already given so much of their time and energy -- now bursting with enthusiasm as they bid against one another to give of their money as well.
Of the 30 winning drawings, there was only one from Kien Giang. For some reason, the people of Kien Giang were particularily special to me. I don't know if it is because Kien Giang is close to Soc Trang, where Ryan and Alyssa were born; because I saw its children living in a garbage dump; or because it's where Catalyst has built a school in order to build a life for these children. It's probably a combination of all of these factors and so much more.
Our "auctioneer" announced, "This is our only picture from Kien Giang. It was drawn by a 7 year old girl. She still lives in the garbage dump. She didn't know what it meant to draw a picture until we put a crayon in her hands. This was her first drawing."
Ihad to have it......and I got it. What a perfect ending to a remarkable trip.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Monday
Having left the hotel that we stayed at for camp,we're now at a resort in Long Hai province. It's very pretty. This will be a relaxing day, as our work is done. (The down time is difficult for me though, so I'm hoping the day moves quickly.) I'm going to go find a pool to sit by.
We head to Saigon by bus very early tomorrow......5 a.m., I think. It's a 4-hour drive, so we'll be there by mid-morning. That's great, because I've got a lot of shopping to do. I've got a flight out of Saigon at 11:30 or so Tuesday night, so I'll be on my way home shortly.
I hope to have the chance to post one more note from Saigon. If not, however, please be sure to check back once I'm home, because I'm anxious to share photos with everyone. I'll put them up here ASAP. (Also, you'll find a link to Catalyst's photos to the right on this page.)
We head to Saigon by bus very early tomorrow......5 a.m., I think. It's a 4-hour drive, so we'll be there by mid-morning. That's great, because I've got a lot of shopping to do. I've got a flight out of Saigon at 11:30 or so Tuesday night, so I'll be on my way home shortly.
I hope to have the chance to post one more note from Saigon. If not, however, please be sure to check back once I'm home, because I'm anxious to share photos with everyone. I'll put them up here ASAP. (Also, you'll find a link to Catalyst's photos to the right on this page.)
Sunday's Report
Sunday was camp day. We spent the morning and early afternoon hours on a beach along the South China Sea, playing games and making crafts with the kids. Then we all went swimming in the sea. (And we were introduced to sea lice, which I'm told were killed when we later jumped into a (hopefully) chlorinated pool. Keeping my fingers crossed.)
It was difficult to keep track of all the children, but somehow we apparently finished the day with as many as we started with. (Whew!) I wish those kids could play like that ever day, instead of going home to struggle for food and an utter lack of clean water. For a day though, it was wonderful.
I'm told that the kids were up all night practicing flushing the toilets in their rooms.....and that they each took several showers throughout the day on Sunday! They seemed so "normal" that it's difficult to imagine all that they deal with on a typical day.
After dinner with the kids, we had a talent show. (Focus on "show", not on "talent"!) I was sitting with a group of girls from Dong Thap province, including a young woman who spoke just enough English to tell me that she's 17 years old. At one point during a skit, I heard a simple "Happy" come from behind me. I turned around and saw the girl with a huge smile on her face. If she was happy, well then that was good enough for me.
The medical team, including me, got up to do a quick silly skit that we put together during dinner an hour earlier. We were, of course, totally embarassed as we sang an adapted version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" while doing a kick-line. I learned later that the Vietnamese emcee asked the kids if they recognized us and the response from the crowd -- which included all kids we had seen throughout the week in the various provincial clinics -- was "Yes, they are the ones who love us." What an amazing feeling......I couldn't ask for more from this trip.
It was difficult to keep track of all the children, but somehow we apparently finished the day with as many as we started with. (Whew!) I wish those kids could play like that ever day, instead of going home to struggle for food and an utter lack of clean water. For a day though, it was wonderful.
I'm told that the kids were up all night practicing flushing the toilets in their rooms.....and that they each took several showers throughout the day on Sunday! They seemed so "normal" that it's difficult to imagine all that they deal with on a typical day.
After dinner with the kids, we had a talent show. (Focus on "show", not on "talent"!) I was sitting with a group of girls from Dong Thap province, including a young woman who spoke just enough English to tell me that she's 17 years old. At one point during a skit, I heard a simple "Happy" come from behind me. I turned around and saw the girl with a huge smile on her face. If she was happy, well then that was good enough for me.
The medical team, including me, got up to do a quick silly skit that we put together during dinner an hour earlier. We were, of course, totally embarassed as we sang an adapted version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" while doing a kick-line. I learned later that the Vietnamese emcee asked the kids if they recognized us and the response from the crowd -- which included all kids we had seen throughout the week in the various provincial clinics -- was "Yes, they are the ones who love us." What an amazing feeling......I couldn't ask for more from this trip.
More Saturday
After packing up the clinic in Saigon, we loaded up the buses and headed straight to Long Hai province. That's where we were conducting the camp for Catalyst's scholarship and Kien Giang school kids.
The kids started to arrive after dinner Saturday night. There were 330 camp kids -- including 20 'ish boys. (Catalyst will start allowing boys to attend itsKien Giang school in the next week or so, specifically the brothers of the girls who attend. These boys joined us at camp.)
They were absolutely wide-eyed. The vast majority of these kids had never been on a bus, never been in a shower, never seen a "flush toilet", and never had enough food to fill them up. Volunteers had cleaned them and dressed them all in new clothes....they looked to fresh and healthy! It was wonderful to see. We actually recognized some children that wehad seen in the clinics earlier in the week.
The camp children stayed in a hotel separate from ours. (Foreigners are not allowed in the hotel that they stayed at.) I hope they had a fantastic night!
The kids started to arrive after dinner Saturday night. There were 330 camp kids -- including 20 'ish boys. (Catalyst will start allowing boys to attend itsKien Giang school in the next week or so, specifically the brothers of the girls who attend. These boys joined us at camp.)
They were absolutely wide-eyed. The vast majority of these kids had never been on a bus, never been in a shower, never seen a "flush toilet", and never had enough food to fill them up. Volunteers had cleaned them and dressed them all in new clothes....they looked to fresh and healthy! It was wonderful to see. We actually recognized some children that wehad seen in the clinics earlier in the week.
The camp children stayed in a hotel separate from ours. (Foreigners are not allowed in the hotel that they stayed at.) I hope they had a fantastic night!
Saturday's Report
I'm posting from an open-air internet "cafe" at our last official overnight stop in Vietnam. I've lost track.....I think this is our 7th hotel. (The computer is fickle.....it doesn't insert spaces and won't let me actually view my blog, so I'm not sure how readable this will be.)
Anyway, having had no internet connection at our last stop, I've got some catching up to do!
We had our last clinic day on Saturday. We worked only half of the day, seeing approximately 85 girls, including those from the Little Rose Warm Shelter. This are amazing children and young women. My understanding is that the Shelter (which includes counseling and a school) is run by a public welfare agency in Saigon. Catalyst has worked to get several of "its" own girls into the program. Right now, there are approximately 45 Catalyst girls at the Shelter, and those are the girls we saw Saturday morning.
The Little Rose girls are all victims of human trafficking who have been recovered and/or victims of sexual abuse in their own home towns. Although I heard stories of human trafficking throughout our trip, seeing these girls face to face brought much of it home. Victims of human trafficking are as young as four years old. In Kien Giang, the young girls are brought out to a shack at the entrance of the garbage dump while their parents are at work in the dump. (Adults work during the day, when the sun is hottest. Children work at night.) The girls are raped -- those who scream are sent back to the dump (too assertive) and those who don't are taken. It's a horrible story, but I think it's one that needs to be told. Catalyst and its partnering organizations are teaching these girls how to scream -- both literally and figuratively -- and how to break the cycle of poverty in their lives.
Seeing these girls smiling with their peers at the clinic was amazing. Some of the older girls seem so confident and self-aware, which demonstrates the positive effect that the Little Rose shelter, school, and counseling are having on their lives. (The girls are generally at the shelter for one year. Then they are followed with counseling for another three months. The goal of the program is to either reunite the children with their families or relocate them. Older girls often "graduate" and then move in together, providing themselves with a support system.)
We also saw several of Catalyst's scholarship girls. In Vietnam, public school is "free" -- but not really. School may be free, but kids can only go if they can afford uniforms, books, and the fee for teachers. Catalyst searches out motivated children from their neediest areas and provides scholarships with donated funds. These girls look wonderful and I encourage anyone out there who is interested to get onto Catalyst's website and contribute to the scholarship program.
Better post this in case I lose my connection!
Anyway, having had no internet connection at our last stop, I've got some catching up to do!
We had our last clinic day on Saturday. We worked only half of the day, seeing approximately 85 girls, including those from the Little Rose Warm Shelter. This are amazing children and young women. My understanding is that the Shelter (which includes counseling and a school) is run by a public welfare agency in Saigon. Catalyst has worked to get several of "its" own girls into the program. Right now, there are approximately 45 Catalyst girls at the Shelter, and those are the girls we saw Saturday morning.
The Little Rose girls are all victims of human trafficking who have been recovered and/or victims of sexual abuse in their own home towns. Although I heard stories of human trafficking throughout our trip, seeing these girls face to face brought much of it home. Victims of human trafficking are as young as four years old. In Kien Giang, the young girls are brought out to a shack at the entrance of the garbage dump while their parents are at work in the dump. (Adults work during the day, when the sun is hottest. Children work at night.) The girls are raped -- those who scream are sent back to the dump (too assertive) and those who don't are taken. It's a horrible story, but I think it's one that needs to be told. Catalyst and its partnering organizations are teaching these girls how to scream -- both literally and figuratively -- and how to break the cycle of poverty in their lives.
Seeing these girls smiling with their peers at the clinic was amazing. Some of the older girls seem so confident and self-aware, which demonstrates the positive effect that the Little Rose shelter, school, and counseling are having on their lives. (The girls are generally at the shelter for one year. Then they are followed with counseling for another three months. The goal of the program is to either reunite the children with their families or relocate them. Older girls often "graduate" and then move in together, providing themselves with a support system.)
We also saw several of Catalyst's scholarship girls. In Vietnam, public school is "free" -- but not really. School may be free, but kids can only go if they can afford uniforms, books, and the fee for teachers. Catalyst searches out motivated children from their neediest areas and provides scholarships with donated funds. These girls look wonderful and I encourage anyone out there who is interested to get onto Catalyst's website and contribute to the scholarship program.
Better post this in case I lose my connection!
More on Biking
Huh... Well, I was pleased to learn yesterday that our biking escapade was about more than blistered hands and sore backsides. Specifically, the ride provided a benefit to Catalyst and our work here in Vietnam. A company in Minnesota that donated funds to pay for 60 of the bikes that we've given to the children here in Vietnam, contingent on the bike team doing the 100 mile ride. There was a second organization in Maine that then matched that donation, again, based on the ride. Fantastic!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Friday's Report
Wow.....what a day!!!
The biking team met at 5 a.m. to start the long trek from Dong Thap to Saigon. There were 7 riders for 6 bikes. In the van that followed us (and then went ahead to find places to rest), we had a driver, a bicycle repairman, an ER nurse from our Catalyst team, a photographer/cheerleader from our Catalyst team, and the extra rider, who would rotate in when we took breaks.
We hit the road around 5:20 a.m. It was absolutely surreal to be riding out on the streets of Vietnam before the sun came up. The sun did come up, however, and it got HOT! We took breaks every 10 'ish miles to reload water bottles into our pockets, to inhale a couple of granola bars, and to use the "facilities". (We'll call them "rustic" and I'll just skip the color commentary!)
Admittedly, I didn't see much of the countryside, because I was focussed on the road. There's more traffic in the region south of Saigon than I would have expected, but that's probably because we were on one of the few main roads. I've never consumed so much water in my life -- Catherine, the ER nurse, made sure we were well-hydrated. We stopped for a very nice lunch somewhere around the 60 mile mark, which was a great break.
Things got dicey shortly after the lunch break. Traffic started getting very heavy once we hit the Saigon city limits, probably about 2 hours before the end of our ride. (Saigon, with its more than 10 million people, is huge.) The last hour was just plain scary. I've seen Saigon traffic before -- when we were here in 2001 -- but never from a bicycle. Rather, it was always from the safety of a sidewalk or cab. We hit Saigon at 5 p.m., right at the start of rush hour. It was simply amazing. We wove in and out of motorbikes, and, to a lesser extent, cars and buses as well. Somehow, the six of us stayed together and made it to the end in one piece. (All seven riders were great about that -- supported one another (as did Catherine and our cheerleader, Sandy) and worked to stay together as a group.)
Today was extraordinarily challenging, but I'm so happy that I did it. For goodness sakes, how many people can say they've ridden a bike 100 miles (yes, I rode all 100 miles.....once I hit 60, I didn't want to get into the van!), ending with a trip through the incredible rush-hour traffic of Saigon, where the only rule of the road is that you shouldn't get hit.....or hit anyone else. Other than that, it's one big game of Frogger.
Time to find some food.....100 miles on a bike can make a girl hungry. (And sore.....I'll need to spend the plane ride home standing up!)
The biking team met at 5 a.m. to start the long trek from Dong Thap to Saigon. There were 7 riders for 6 bikes. In the van that followed us (and then went ahead to find places to rest), we had a driver, a bicycle repairman, an ER nurse from our Catalyst team, a photographer/cheerleader from our Catalyst team, and the extra rider, who would rotate in when we took breaks.
We hit the road around 5:20 a.m. It was absolutely surreal to be riding out on the streets of Vietnam before the sun came up. The sun did come up, however, and it got HOT! We took breaks every 10 'ish miles to reload water bottles into our pockets, to inhale a couple of granola bars, and to use the "facilities". (We'll call them "rustic" and I'll just skip the color commentary!)
Admittedly, I didn't see much of the countryside, because I was focussed on the road. There's more traffic in the region south of Saigon than I would have expected, but that's probably because we were on one of the few main roads. I've never consumed so much water in my life -- Catherine, the ER nurse, made sure we were well-hydrated. We stopped for a very nice lunch somewhere around the 60 mile mark, which was a great break.
Things got dicey shortly after the lunch break. Traffic started getting very heavy once we hit the Saigon city limits, probably about 2 hours before the end of our ride. (Saigon, with its more than 10 million people, is huge.) The last hour was just plain scary. I've seen Saigon traffic before -- when we were here in 2001 -- but never from a bicycle. Rather, it was always from the safety of a sidewalk or cab. We hit Saigon at 5 p.m., right at the start of rush hour. It was simply amazing. We wove in and out of motorbikes, and, to a lesser extent, cars and buses as well. Somehow, the six of us stayed together and made it to the end in one piece. (All seven riders were great about that -- supported one another (as did Catherine and our cheerleader, Sandy) and worked to stay together as a group.)
Today was extraordinarily challenging, but I'm so happy that I did it. For goodness sakes, how many people can say they've ridden a bike 100 miles (yes, I rode all 100 miles.....once I hit 60, I didn't want to get into the van!), ending with a trip through the incredible rush-hour traffic of Saigon, where the only rule of the road is that you shouldn't get hit.....or hit anyone else. Other than that, it's one big game of Frogger.
Time to find some food.....100 miles on a bike can make a girl hungry. (And sore.....I'll need to spend the plane ride home standing up!)
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