Tales of the two cities: typical early morning in Hanoi one would find the streets packed with people exercising, slowly getting ready for their day. Sunday morning in Saigon before 8 o’clock, a live concert happened on the steps in front of the Opera House watched by a large group of viewers sitting on their bicycles or motorbikes. Not too far away, an engagement party began with the large entourage representing both sides of the families marching through the gate of a restaurant. The streets from the city center to the 
Notre Dame Cathedral were packed with thousands of marchers in uniforms participating on the ‘March To Fight Poverty’ and raised money for the poor. The early mass at the Cathedral was packed with churchgoers. Yes, the day just barely began.
challenges --we did the usual. We lined up the kids, handed out gifts, played and talked. In the baby ward, we learned that one of the hydrocephalus babies will have his surgery tomorrow using one of the shunts we brought last November. Unfortunately, two other hydrocephalus babies were still there in deteriorating condition. It was already too late for them to get their surgeries when we arrived with the shunts last year. Another baby with clef lip will have his surgery on Wednesday. Want to know how you can help the hydrocephalus babies?--- please contact us!
Truc, comes every Sunday and works on English for this selected group of orphans in Go Vap. Today, we had a new KWB volunteer joining the class. Leanne is from Australia and currently lives and works in Saigon. She wrote me last week and it did not take long for her to fall in love with the kids. After we ate lunch and treats, we played English word games. I was glad the kids were not disappointed that we did not take them out on the field trip to the city center as I usually do on my visits.
Go Vap Orphanage welcomed back Kim Browne, born as Son Thuy (Son= mountain, Thuy= water). Growing up in London and is a successful business woman currently working for a major international company, Kim and her Mum returned to Go Vap almost exactly a year after their very first visit. Kim apparently left a positive impression from her three week volunteer stint a year ago--many of the staff and the children were very happy to see her again, especially when both of them walked through the main gate with huge bags of gifts!
worked (and some came from Thu Duc and the Go Vap Orphanages) and gathered at the regular ‘all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant’ in the city center. They were very happy to see Kim and her Mum again (both were at the reunion dinner a year ago). The evening was filled with laughter, story-telling, practicing English with Kim (and Vietnamese for Kim, who does not speak the language). It was a great opportunity for me to have one-on-one time with the kids, help them with life challenges, give them encouraging words, and to set some future goals. The oldest in this group is 26, and the youngest is 16. Some have children of their own now. But they have all landed on their feet, and were able to escape the typical path of most orphans when they leave—they are often destined to live in poverty or in many cases become victims of the streets. 
This morning, I met three doctors from Project Viet Nam here on a medical mission. They signed up for a tour of the Go Vap Orphanage. One of the doctors is from Southern California, one is from Virginia, and one is from Melbourne (Australia). We arrived at the orphanage as some of the kids came back from school for lunch and their usual afternoon nap. After the meet-and-greet with the orphanage staff, the orphanage doctor accompanied us on the tour. We started first in the ward for newborn babies, then to the ward for sick-babies. As usual, visitors could not help but pick 
up the babies and then when the babies were returned to their cribs-- the crying would break your heart. The doctors were quite taken with the little baby with the large tumor, the hydrocephalus babies and the number of sick babies cared for by this orphanage. They were very impressed with the staff and the cleanliness of the facilities. It is my hope that they will share, with others in their profession, how great the needs are here. For almost ten years, KWB has coordinated volunteers working at the orphanage. Our volunteers came from many different countries and all ages, with different backgrounds such as medical doctors, college students, retirees, and teachers.
Global Ambassadors. Kim’ personal story is quite remarkable. In 1975, just before the fall of Saigon and the end of the Viet Nam war, Kim was one of the newborn babies that arrived at the Go Vap Orphanage. Just days before during the massive evacuation marking the end of the war, Kim was brought to airport and handed to a pilot who flew one of the few final planes out of Viet Nam. At two months old, Kim ended up in Hong Kong with only a bracelet on her wrist which had the name of a person in the UK who was in the process of adopting her. Through extreme determination and perseverance, the adoptive mother in London was able to locate Kim and brought her to the UK. Last year, Kim returned to Viet Nam. The trip was made possible by Kim’s company in London. She was the winner of a company essay contest, writing about her dream of going back to where life began for her. Kim contacted me and, last November, I was able to help Kim return to Go Vap Orphanage. Kim and her Mum spent three weeks working with the staff taking care of the children there. She used the funds she raised prior to the trip to provide the orphanage with many of the daily necessities such as air conditioning units, fans, learning supplies, and much more. On her way home from the last trip, Kim began to make plan for this year’s trip. I met Kim and her Mum for dinner and gave them the latest update on Go Vap Orphanage. They could hardly wait for their visit the following day. 
Yesterday at the Asia Pacific Injury Prevention Conference, many of the delegates wanted to purchase the Protec (www.wear-a-helmet.com ) helmets on display. So many, in fact, that this morning the staff from the nearby Protec store brought over hundreds more helmets. One of the Protec staff was our Thao.
go and face the outside world!
Today I attended part of the Second Asia Pacific Injury Prevention Conference. Some of the conference sponsors were UNICEF, World Health Organization, major international foundations and international governments. I watched the presentation by Greig Craft of Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (www.wear-a-helmet.com), titled ‘Lessons from a Helmet Wearing Campaign in Viet Nam’. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) in Viet Nam are still one of the top killers of children. The video of the new ad campaign was disturbing and moving, but a necessary message to get the attention of everyone. Kids Without Borders will continue our commitment to support the Helmets For Kids (H4K) program by AIPF. AIPF has provided hundreds of thousands of high quality PROTEC helmets to school students in Viet Nam and has produced ongoing education programs and advertising campaigns promoting road safety.
After an early business meeting, I went by the orphanage to collect five of the kids for the trip back to Hanoi. We all wondered what we would encounter in Hanoi. The major flood made news not only locally but also on CNN and BBC. The rain had not stopped, streets were still flooded, food delivery to the city was interrupted, food prices were doubled, there was a loss of electricity, and worst of all the government warned of possible disease outbreak. On the way to Hanoi, we went through flooded rice paddies, crested rivers, and people fishing in unusual places. When we got to Hanoi, the rain stopped and life appeared to be back to the normal pace-- at least in the city center and near my hotel.
Sunday was a typical quiet day at the Hoa Phuong Orphanage. The children are assigned to specific household chores. The kids swept the surrounding grounds; walkways were cleared of leaves, all done just before a light rain started. Afterwards, all of the orphans gathered in one of the seven homes, sharing candy sent from Rotarians (my Rotary club in Seattle), singing songs, telling stories, and just being kids. This was the first fall trip in eight years that I haven’t brought along a group of American friends. Lots of the conversations were about many of you whom they met in the past. I passed out some of the gifts you sent to the kids you sponsor in the Teach Me To Fish (TM2F) program. The rest of the kids wondered when they would have a sponsor and would get a letter or gift from someone in America. Interested in sponsoring one of the orphans? Learn more about our TM2F program.
and entertainment plaza where one of the kids works. The hot-pot dinner was a special treat that only happens when Uncle Son visits. I sat back at the dinner table, watched and listened to the kids-- feeling proud of what they had accomplished on their own-- with just a little help from us. We all stopped at the bookstore on our way out, and a book was purchased for each of them. Most selected English books, some selected computer learning books, and one bought a ‘How To Care for Your Newborn’ book. ‘Roi’ is expecting to have her first baby in a month. Working full-time at the shopping center, married and expecting, Roi is another TM2F kid who successfully broke the cycle of ‘orphan’ and ‘poverty’.
met these kids. Back then, they were young and innocent, lacked self-confidence and goals for the future. At some point, even I underestimated them. Now, they go to the internet café and reach me via email instead of waiting until the next visit. At the age of eighteen (when they had to leave the orphanage) they marched out of the orphanage gate into the outside the world and they all ended up better than the majority of the population of this developing country. Through the ripple effect, they have made believers out of the younger kids still in the orphanage. One thing I do know, I have not once stop believing in these kids.
central regions. A car and driver met me at the airport and we headed to the Hoa Sua School for Disadvantaged Children (www.hoasuaschool.com/index.php?) to pick up a group of the ‘Teach Me To Fish’ kids. Four of the KWB-sponsored kids are currently in training (some in hospitality, some in culinary) at this non-profit hospitality and culinary vocational training school. Six kids, myself, the driver, and my luggage, fit barely inside of the SUV for the 3-hour drive to Hai Phong. At some point, we thought we would not make through some of the flooded streets and the rain kept falling harder and harder.
Today, a meeting was scheduled to discuss fundraising for Thien Nhan’s medical expenses. Team Thien Nhan consists of Thien Nhan, Mom Mai Anh, Dad Nghinh, Greig Craft (AIPF), Na Huong (Protec), Elke Ray (Bubbafish), and Son Michael Pham (KWB). We are working on the launch of Bubbafish toys, with part of the proceeds going to Thien Nhan’s fund. If you want to learn more about Bubbafish go to: http://www.bubbafish.com/.
Five o’clock wakeup call this morning and I was off to the Reunification Exhibit Center (the old Presidential Palace before the end of the war) for the BIG EVENT. A line of buses pulled through the big gate, all filled with school children. A total of 1,300 3rd and 4th graders from an elementary school in Saigon came to take part in the ‘Helmets for Kids’ new awareness education campaign. The kids got off the buses in orderly fashion, lined up and marched with teachers to the staging area. The theme of the event is “March with Michelle Yeoh for Children’s Road Safety”.
A very large number of media was at the event, following every move by Michelle Yeoh. She is so well-known in Asia and she even has a Vietnamese name, known as ‘Duong Tu Huynh’. Things did not start out too smoothly. I introduced Thien Nhan to Michelle. He was not ready, unimpressed, yelled “No!” while holding his hand out when Michelle asked if she could hold him! Meanwhile hundreds of media cameras were clicking and rolling. Michelle’s charm won in the end and she was able to hold Thien Nhan even though he still looked cranky and tired. It was just too early in the morning for him to put up with all of the commotion.
Off to visit Go Vap Orphanage after breakfast. When I arrived, many of the kids were in school. After visiting with the kids on the main floor and interrupting the normally quiet lunch time, I went to the sick ward. Several more babies with hydrocephalus arrived since my last visit in July. The shunts delivered in November 2007 are still available to take care of the new hydrocephalus babies. One of the new babies, who arrived three weeks ago, had a large tumor on her back. The tumor grew to the size of half of her body, approximately 24 inches in diameter. The best hospital in Viet Nam, Cho Ray Hospital, rejected her since they were not capable of treating her. I met quite a few new premature babies in the new-baby ward, two were small enough that each would almost fit on one of my hands, and of course, they have all sorts of medical problems. As always, the needs at Go Vap are unending and I cannot help but feeling overwhelmed and guilty that I could not help more.
For the last ten years, KWB Founder Son Michael Pham makes his fall trip (October-November) to Viet Nam. This year, it would be the first time in eight years that he is traveling solo in the fall. Without leading a group of colleagues, friends, supporters, and volunteers, Son Michael promises that he has enough free time to write regularly on the KWB blog, reporting back on KWB programs and projects in Viet Nam. Looking at his schedule, we wonder how much free time he will have.
