Back to Da Nang: Beach babes!

Beach days with Mary's House

Another busy few days here in Da Nang. On Friday we had the great pleasure of taking the 24 children from Mary's House to the beach. It was an amazing day. All of the children were so excited for the outing, as were we, and we spent hours playing in the water at beautiful China Beach. It was so fun getting them out of the house and being able to play with them and share something that we all really love to do- swim! We were also all very impressed with how well all of the kids could swim. They exhausted us, having swim races, climbing on our shoulders and jumping off of us, pulling us around and collecting shells. I can't explain enough how much fun we all had. These are some really incredible children. Its been really special for us to be able to spend time with them and put money into projects that we know will really benefit them. After the beach we went to a delicious lunch and then took them all home for nap time. We are totally delighted to be able to do this outing again tomorrow.

One motor bike, 4 bicycles

A lot of our projects are manifesting at Mary's House. We bought several bicycles for them today to help the older children get to and from school. It was ridiculous- this one man took all four bikes to Mary's House on the back of ONE motor bike. There is a picture to the left to give you a visual. We were all sure that is couldn't be done, but then we watched this 60-something year old 5 foot man haul all four bikes onto the back of his motor bike and head off for Mary's House. We meet him there and both he and the bikes were safely delivered in one piece. We also bought them a bunch of books to give as gifts along with the clothing we brought over from the US and I am thrilled to say that we were able to get Harry Potter in Vietnamese. Olivia and I are so excited about this (Anne Stu is excited as well, she's just not a HP fan). We are spending tomorrow afternoon deciding which clothes go to which child and we will deliver them with a little care package on Friday. The big project we are working on is developing a profile for each child in the hopes of getting them sponsored. Sponsoring a child means providing them food, education, clothing and medical supplies for the time they live at Mary's House. They are able to stay there until they are 18, and the hope after that is that from the education and care they got at Mary's House, they will either go off into the professional world or pursue higher education at university. I wish I could bring you all here to see this place. It truly is phenomenal. I said this before, but it is also amazing seeing directly where donations go. It is clear that they use the money given to them to help the children and the function of the home. There are also clear things that we are able to do while we are here (even though our time is short) that really benefits the children. More beach pictures tomorrow after our outing!

Sweet Dinh at Social Support

In other news, we have spent time at social support this week also. We are still struggling to wrap our heads around this placement. We are all determined to do something to help before we leave, but we have to keep brainstorming for the best thing. My heart lives in the disabled babies room and I really want to do something to help in there. We have brought some medical supplies, clothing and diapers to them per the mothers requests, but we all want to do something that has a little more gravity. It really sends shivers up my body in there sometimes because all the kids in the disabled room have so much potential and with consistent care could improve in ways they aren't right now. Its both heartbreaking and warming watching Dinh 'dance' when you hold her up by her armpits and let her legs move. She can't hold herself up on her own, but with physical therapy she could definitely have more motion. I also really melt for Hoi who just seems to not be doing well. He has a bad cough and seems more fogged then he did before. We're all watching out for him while we are here, and we will figure out something that can help, even if it is doing what we originally wanted to do and taking them in with a translator for an assessment to better understand what their future holds in store.

Olivia doing Physio at Social

Here, more than anywhere else, I wish I was more qualified. I wish I actually knew exactly what was best for them from a medical standpoint and could act on it. These are the children that I will be able to help the most once I am a doctor. Its just so frustrating sometimes. It brings me back to that initial feeling of wanting to rip the world apart and make it right. It reinforces the terrifying results of agent orange. The aftermath of that warfare is just so horrific. This placement really reminds us that there is so much to do and that some things are bigger than us. It also reminds us that this is a place that will be part of our lives forever because we have fallen completely in love with the country and the people here. We will keep working through what is the best investment for this trip. The two girls I am traveling with really are wonderful and its amazing debriefing and brainstorming with them every night.

We also spent another day at the Pagoda orphanage, cuddling with and feeding newborn babies and playing with the older children. We went with our friend Hong whom we met last time and then her friends took us out to a really wonderful vegetarian restaurant called the Loving Hut which was some of the best food we've had since arriving. I've felt a bit homesick this week but that immediately goes away when we get to placements. Its felt different than the first time and I haven't really been able to pin point exactly why, but I think it is just that I am more comfortable in this city this time. Last time, every little thing was crazy and new. The smells, the sounds, the people staring and pointing. But all of that feels more normal this time. Its also of course very different being here with our own agenda, not under the schedule of an organization. I was terrified of that at first, but we fell really nicely into a routine, planning our days between placements and making the most out of the month that we have here.

Now I'm off to bed to be well rested for our big outing tomorrow, but I will post more soon.

With love from Vietnam.