Heading to Hanoi early this morning, I arrived at the airport in Saigon to a scene of confusion. Most of the domestic terminal was still closed due to a fire earlier this week, and domestic flights were moved to depart from the international terminals.
As the plane was landing, I could see Hanoi was in severe flooding condition. The worst flooding in 35 years turned many city streets into rivers, destroyed crops and many infrastructures in and around Hanoi. The same flooding condition extended from the north to the
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.
On our way out of Hanoi city, you could see that in spite of the continuous heavy rain and the water-filled streets, life went on as usual. People were smiling, walking in normal pace or threading through water pushing their motorbike or bicycle. Occasionally you could see children with bamboo baskets trying to trap fish in the middle of the streets. Rice paddies along the road all but disappeared, all covered by flooding water.
We made a stop at a supermarket to pick up some gifts for the orphanage staff, tin cookies and snack packages. We arrived at the Hoa Phuong Orphanage by dinner time. It took only a few minutes for the news to get around the seven buildings in the orphanage, Chu (Son) came with a car load of special gifts – their older sisters. The reunion began, the kids from Hanoi had not been back to the orphanage for a while and. Growing up together in the orphanage, the kids all bonded to each other and all became part of a huge family. As I was leaving the orphanage, I could see inside of some of the buildings the younger kids were gathering around their returning sisters – time for story-telling and catching up.
As the plane was landing, I could see Hanoi was in severe flooding condition. The worst flooding in 35 years turned many city streets into rivers, destroyed crops and many infrastructures in and around Hanoi. The same flooding condition extended from the north to the
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.On our way out of Hanoi city, you could see that in spite of the continuous heavy rain and the water-filled streets, life went on as usual. People were smiling, walking in normal pace or threading through water pushing their motorbike or bicycle. Occasionally you could see children with bamboo baskets trying to trap fish in the middle of the streets. Rice paddies along the road all but disappeared, all covered by flooding water.
We made a stop at a supermarket to pick up some gifts for the orphanage staff, tin cookies and snack packages. We arrived at the Hoa Phuong Orphanage by dinner time. It took only a few minutes for the news to get around the seven buildings in the orphanage, Chu (Son) came with a car load of special gifts – their older sisters. The reunion began, the kids from Hanoi had not been back to the orphanage for a while and. Growing up together in the orphanage, the kids all bonded to each other and all became part of a huge family. As I was leaving the orphanage, I could see inside of some of the buildings the younger kids were gathering around their returning sisters – time for story-telling and catching up.
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