Christmas Day 2009: meet the children of the Thu Duc Orphanage

On Christmas Day morning, we took a 40 minute drive, by car, to the outskirt of Saigon to visit the Thu Duc Orphanage. Almost all of the youth (in Saigon) in the Teach Me To Fish lived here after they were transferred from the Go Vap Orphanage.
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After a brief meeting with the management staff, everyone was eager for us to meet 'Baby Hoa Hau' (Beauty Queen). Baby Hoa Hau had a successful hydrocephalus operation in early 2009, using one of the donated shunt (THANK YOU JoAnn Quattrone).

Baby "Hoa Hau' (Beauty Queen), survived hydrocephalus

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Currently there are 40 babies out of the 200 orphans in this orphanage. We were able to identify some immediate needs during our visit and over conversations we had with many of the staff members:

- We watched some of the caretakers outside on the front porch folding cloth diapers. The cloth diapers are made from old bed sheets, towels, and napkins. Many of these are torn or tattered. And the cloth napkins, unfortunately, are water resistant. Diapers (cloth and disposable) are desperately needed.

Caretakers folding diapers (made from old bed sheets,

towels, and napkins)

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- Two years ago, we purchased two washers for the baby ward (funded by the Kiwanis Club of Issaquah). This has allowed the staff to spend more time caring for the babies instead of handwashing the diapers, sheets, and clothes. Well, that solved half of the problem. Drying the wet clothes by hanging them under the sun only works when the sun is out, a problem during the rainy season (up to 6 months a year). We promised the staff that we will look into getting them at least one dryer (two would be great).

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- The babies spend part of the day outside of their cribs and on the tile floors. Hard tile floors and baby heads are not good combination. What is needed is rubber floor mats (easy to clean and store type).

Sample of the needed floor rubber mats

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Please share information on these needs with others and or support us with your contributions to provide better care and quality of life for the children of the Thu Duc Orphanage. For more information, contact us or make your donation online at http://www.kidswithnoborders.org/ . You can also join us on one of the two HumaniTours in 2010, and participate in our programs and projects in Viet Nam.

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View more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39932570@N06/sets/72157623149636964/