This is Vietnam

So, I am going to start this entry with a little reflection. Bear with me, 2 months living in an apartment by myself and working with people where the only words we have in common are 1-10, hello, goodbye, thank you and sorry has left me with a lot of time to (try) to process exactly what I am doing, feeling, thinking and experiencing. Everyday I go through periods where I feel natural and normal and like I am home, but I also experience times of complete shock where I am reminded that I am thousands of miles away from home in a country where 99% of the people do not speak the same language and where many of the comforts and securities that I have grown accustomed to do not exist in the same way as they do back home. It is easy to feel safe in comfortable in the place that is safe and comfortable for you, and it does not always feel that way here. Not to say that Boston is the safest place, but it is definitely comfortable for me and even on my most challenging days, it is easy comparatively to how it feels here sometimes. But I love it here, even when I don't know where I am and I let my minutes run out on my phone so I can't call anybody and I am too tired or proud or stubborn or whatever you call it to attempt to ask someone for help, even though I know they would be more than willing to give it even if it comes with a few giggles and questionable looks. It is so different than anything I am used to and I am constantly taking in what is around me, even in my times of relaxation where I am just enjoying the busy simplicity of this developing country. I come home to my studio apartment where I get to pace the length in the air conditioning and think about what I am doing, have done and hope to do, but the second I walk out the door I am in constant contact with the country I am currently living in. What I mean by this is that it is impossible here, for me at least, to simply go through the motions without being aware of my surroundings. 

I am constantly stared at, touched, spoken to and interacted with and although at times it drives me crazy, it is a constant reminder that the world is full of new and exciting things and people that want to experience them. I am constantly learning about so many different things here and am challenged in one way or another to both push myself but also to take the time to breathe and take in what is right in front of me. I am really lucky that back home I am surrounded by people who I love and respect and get to learn from regularly. My friends, family, employers and teachers are incredible people whose support I could not function without. I have amazing friends here and I love the people I work with, but I have found that I often need to sit by myself and really spend time taking in the opportunities I have here, and it is definitely in these times that I miss my people back home because I want them to be here experiencing this all with me. It's not easy for me to describe, but I love the people I get to work with here so much and I don't think I have ever felt as comfortable as I do when I am at 'work' here. Even on challenging days when I am hot and tired and overwhelmed, my ability to breathe and smile and feel happy is really genuine and I honestly feel so fortunate to be able to come here and just spend time with them. They are all so special and unique and strong and easily the most inspirational people I have been able to spend time with. This country has really given me so much just by allowing me to come and experience the ups and downs of living in a developing country and spending time in a culture that while it is very different from my own is intimate and special. I'm excited to figure out what my next step is and I look forward to being able to spend more time here and am sure that I will never get fully 'used' to it, and I find that to be so exciting. 

Now for a little week summary! On Wednesday morning I met with the chairman of the city of Da Nang who is an incredible man very invested in the orphaned and disabled. His organization is hopefully going to work with Mr.Phuc and Mr.T's new organization, allowing them to go into centers that we haven't been able to spend a lot of time in yet. He told us that there are 18,000 disabled people just in the city of Da Nang. That number really blew my mind. We go to 5 different centers that care for the disabled and I know there are many others, but I can't imagine how 18,000 disabled people can be cared for. This is city is constantly looking for new ways to care for the disabled, however, and many different countries/big corporations give funding and donate space to open centers for them. However, volunteers are definitely needed! The chairmans office is constantly in the field finding orphans, taking care of them medically, and finding centers for them to live in. Some exciting news is that the US and Vietnam are going to start adoption again in 2014. There are many restrictions and requirements, but it is great news and hopefully in the next few years there will be more opportunities for Americans to adopt from Vietnam. I am going to go on a few home visits and to visit some of the centers not right in Da Nang with the chairman next week. 

I spent time at the baby orphanage and am pleased to say that all of the babies seem healthy right now, aside from a few rashes and bumps and bruises that come with 23 toddlers playing together all day. We also spend a good amount of time at the center for victims of Agent Orange last week and are figuring out what the best supplies to bring are the entertain the people there and also provide them some education. There are great coloring books that teach them the basics and they really enjoy doing. Playing soccer and running around is always a popular activity, too. Mr.Phuc is working with the boy who can't walk and they are going to bring the volunteers to this center twice a week once their organization opens. I went to Mary's House Thursday afternoon and had a really great time playing with kids there and we celebrating two birthdays, Yen turned 16 and Dinh turned 17. It melts my heart how sweet the kids are there. They love each other so much and are just so wonderful to be around. We took them to the pool on Friday morning and had a blast. I'm hoping to get a couple more of those trips in before I leave. We went to AOV and Social yesterday and I went to the baby orphanage this morning. It has been incredibly hot the last two days, so there was a little less running around and a little more sitting in front of the fans playing with lego's, doing some drawing, and working on counting from 1-10 and speaking through the alphabet. The kids at Mary's House taught me how to properly count to 10 in Vietnamese last week. Yes, it has taken me 3 trips to learn how to count to 10. VIETNAMESE IS A REALLY HARD LANGUAGE. I do feel like I have actually picked some up this time, however, so that is good. 

I am going to Hanoi tomorrow until Thursday afternoon and then I'm hoping we can take Red Cross children to the beach on Friday! My friend Trang is taking me to the pagoda orphanage on Saturday and I am going to dinner with some of my other Vietnamese friends that I met through GVN on Saturday! I have a bit of a rhythm here now, and even though much is unpredictable and my plans often don't go as I intend them to, I am really feeling more fluid. 

I think that is it for now, more soon. Miss you all in the other hemisphere and thank you everyone here for taking me in and making me feel at home. This country is full of really special people, both the locals and the ex-pats. 

PS I am having a hard time with my photos, so I will add some later!

Back to it

I can not believe how quickly the weeks are flying by here. I could have sworn I wrote an entry a few days ago, but its been over a week. It's been a great few days here in Da Nang, I am feeling almost completely better and we have really gotten into a nice, regular routine where everything feels natural and familiar. I'm really glad that I still have almost a month to be here now that things feel fluid. 

We had another great morning with the children from the Red Cross at the beach last Wednesday. My good friend Oanh and her sister Kim came along with us, so we were able to take a lot of children. Oanh is a physio here and we met back in 2010 when I first came over. She is one of my favorite people in this country. Her sister Kim is really wonderful to, and she works with Mr.T and Mr.Phuc and I'm confident that they will are start a really amazing volunteer program in Da Nang. The water was pretty rough on Wednesday, so some of the children couldn't really go past the shore, but we managed to get a few of them past the break and in a little deeper. We spent about 20 minutes getting the sand out of our bathing suits and hair before heading back to the orphanage, but it was definitely worth it. Some of the kiddos who were scared of the water at the beginning on the summer are getting more confident which is really fun to see. They are so happy in the water, which all of us from the coast can relate to. It is definitely my favorite place to be. 

I've been spending the afternoons at the center for victims of Agent Orange and I really love all the people there. They are a wide range of ages, the youngest being 13 and the oldest is in her 40's. The centers were established because the families of the disabled people needed somewhere to send them during the day so that they could work, so many of them have been going to this center for years. We brought some arts supplies on Thursday afternoon and it was a big hit. We also brought puzzles and groups of them worked together for over an hour to finish them all. Today we are bringing scissors, paper and markers to make masks that they can bring to their homes. Some of them are really incredible artists and do some embroidery and printing at the center that they sell to help support them. There are others there whose disabilities make it hard for them to do anything, but they also enjoy the mechanics of drawing or doing other projects with their hands such as building and hitting at a ball. Another favorite activity is making up different games with soccer balls and soft balls which is great because it gets them moving around. Unfortunately, last Friday we all got a little too excited and one girl kicked the ball so hard that is knocked out one of the big lights and almost fell on her. Luckily, she moved and everyone was OK! But we are definitely going to be a little more careful with the ball games. 

Mr.Phuc came to AOV with us yesterday and spent a good amount of time with the boy, Thien, who can not walk. It seems that he may have had polio as a child and that is why he can not walk now. Mr.Phuc was amazing and feels that if he visits regularly to do PT with him, he may be able to get some control over his legs and at least move with a walker. Thien was so excited when Mr.Phuc was explaining that he was going to help him get strength in his hips and legs. Aside from not being able to remember very well, his brain is so good and he is such a funny kid and I really hope he can improve. It would mean a lot for his family too. His grandparents are much older and are really worried about what will happen to them once they pass away. Having Mr.Phuc work with him at the center seems to be the best option. It is the most affordable and almost most time efficient since the boys family will not have to take him to a different rehabilitation center to get treatment. 

This week has involved changing many diapers at the baby orphanage (we don't have other volunteers living in Da Nang right this second, so it's me and Mr.T and Mr.Phuc at the baby orphanage which is great- just a lot of diapers). My friend Molly came with us on Monday and is going to come again and it was really wonderful having her with us. The baby orphanage really is so fun. The older disabled kids play nicely with the babies and we're able to spend time with everyone there and it feels like we are one on one even though there are many more children than adults. Feeding gets a little tough when you have 23 hungry babies and only two hands, but I feel like I am starting to get the hang of it. We go to AOV in the afternoon and will visit Social Support tomorrow and Friday. We're taking Mary's House to the pool on Friday morning and then out for ice cream after.

I also went to Hoi An last night for my first time this trip. Mark had a friend in town from Australia so we had dinner with she and her fiancee and it was really nice getting out of Da Nang for a few hours. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants in Hoi An called Cargo which is owned by this amazing woman named Ms.Vy. She owns several restaurants in Hoi An as well as a cooking school. I go to Hanoi next week for a night to meet a few people and go to go a meeting and I am really excited for that. I haven't been up North yet so it will be good to see what it is like up there. 

That is all for now and I will write again before the week is out I promise!

c

Those tropical viruses!

So I am finally starting to feel better today, but I caught a nasty virus and have spent most of my time at home this last week. I'm not sure exactly what I have, but I saw a doctor last week and she feels pretty confident that I caught the Coxsackie virus from the babes, which is a virus usually found in children but sometimes passed to adults. I've had ulcers in my throat and sores in my mouth along with a week long fever and pink eye, so it has been pretty uncomfortable! I am definitely not as precautionary as I should be and tend to feel invincible even around the sickest babies, so I have definitely learnt my lesson that I need to constantly wash my hands and maybe not hug and kiss the babies with bad rashes....! That aside, I am starting to feel a lot better and am going to the center for victims of Agent Orange this afternoon.

Last Monday we went to the Red Cross baby orphanage in the morning and many of the babies had bad coughs and difficulty breathing and after a few trips to the children's hospital up the road, quite a few of them were diagnosed with pneumonia. The childrens's hospital here is really great and continuing to get better, but it can not accommodate the need and there are often several children to a bed. In Vietnam, children under 5 (I believe) receive free medical care, but that does not include medicine, so they can get diagnosed but then the families, supporters, etc. need to buy the medicine. Mr. Phuc gave me a list of medicines needed at Social Support and Red Cross and I was able to go to the chemist and get several bottles of each for a very small amount of money. Last night I went with my friend and her husband, who is a doctor at the children's' hospital, to check on the babies at Red Cross, and they seem to be getting much better, although several of them who were not sick before are now showing symptoms for pneumonia and other sicknesses. It's almost impossible for them to not all get sick between the heat and the small space that they all live in. I'm excited to be able to spend some actual time with them, hopefully tomorrow morning.

On Tuesday we took the sweethearts from Social Support to the beach again. We had 6 volunteers (including Mr.Phuc and Mr.T) so we were able to bring more children than usual which was really wonderful. I spent most of my time with Tinh and Khung. It was much rougher than last time, so we were not able to spend quite as much time in the water, but the children really loved being splashed around. We left right in time as it started to down pour the second we got into the car. That was the first really heavy rain I've seen this summer and it continued for about an hour straight. It was an experience shuttling the children from the car to the center without getting everyone soaking wet. There have been two volunteers here from Australia and it's been great having some extra hands especially for outings like these. My friend Anna was also in town for the night so she came along. She was the one I visited in Tam Ky and she was in Da Nang on her way back to Australia!

We also visited two different centers last week, one was another baby orphanage and the other was a center designed for disabled adults (16+) where they are taught to do needle point. The baby orphanage was really wonderful. When we first walked in, all of the older babies looked at me and the other two Westerners and started screaming and crying; I think we were the most terrifying thing they had ever seen, but I was able to bribe them with paper airplanes and pens and eventually we were all friends. There are about 15 children at this placement and three carers and they depend on donations to sustain the children's food, diapers etc. The other center we went to was really interesting. It was founded by a woman with experience in tailoring and need point/embroidering. She has taught older children/young adults who are disabled and unable to complete school and incredibly valuable skill and she helps them market their craft in a really peaceful, clean environment. She has also taken in two young adults who are orphans and she fully supports them. One of the boys in this center is 24 and he lost his arm in a work related injury when he was 18. He was in University at this point, but was not able to continue since he could not work and didn't have any support. He would like to be able to go back to school to at least learn English so that he can be more independent, so hopefully we will be able to set that up before I leave. There is another boy in this center who is 20 and suffered from polio when he was 10 and was never able to get past grade 4 in school. However, he is naturally very good with computers and asked if we could help him take a computer class so that he, too, could have some independence. Once more of the details are figured out, we can hopefully set both of these boys up. It would be great if eventually Mr.T and Mr. Phuc's volunteer company could teach English in this center. These types of vocational learning centers are really important for the disabled everywhere, especially in Vietnam, because it not only gives them independence and helps them be productive, but is also empowers them by focusing on their abilities. We're seeing more and more of these places showing up and I am so glad. Especially for the victims of Agent Orange, the empowerment is really vital since so many of them do have skills that can help support them. 

On Thursday we took the children from Mary's House to see Despicable Me 2. They had such a good time and it was the perfect outing for a hot Thursday afternoon. After the movie we had ice cream and brought them home full of energy and ready for their dinner and bed! We're hoping to take them on another outing to the pool sometime this week or next. A lot of people have expressed interest in helping out on these trips (both our Vietnamese and Western friends), so that is great. I am hoping to bring them along to several of our different placements. Mary's House is definitely a really fun outing though, so hopefully we will have some friends join us at the pool!

I can't believe I have been here for a month already. The time really does fly by. There is a lot coming up in the next few weeks before I come home and I am looking forward to feeling 100% better! I go to Hanoi at the end of the month for a meeting and get to meet several people actively involved in Agent Orange advocacy and research, so I am very excited for that! It's definitely difficult being sick so far away from home, but I am glad to be feeling better and eager to get back to work. 

Also, I want to thank everyone who has donated again. All of the donations go towards the outings, medical care, supplies and sponsorships and I assure you that there are very many people who are very, very grateful. 

More soon!

Connie

Beach Babes

It's been a very busy week here in Da Nang. The weather is still hot, although not quite as biting as when I first arrived. I'm starting to get in the swing of things and have finally, definitely overcome the jet lag, just took a casual two weeks.

Last Thursday we took a group of children from Social Support to the beach, and it was quite the experience. The children were so happy to be away from the center and also to be in the water. Tinh kicked and laughed the entire time and almost gave me about 5 bloody noses all out of excitement. Mr. T and Mr.Phuc really are incredible and just move forward to empower these kids without thinking twice. It wouldn't have occurred to me when I first met the disabled children at Social 3 years ago that we would be able to take them into the ocean. Aside from the attention they need physically, these kinds of outings really are so good for them. It was one of the best experiences I've had here so far and I look forward to taking them again next week.

On Friday me and Mark went to a town about 2 hours away from

Da Nang called Tam Ky to see our friend Anna from Australia who has been more or less running the orphanages there. She spent a year living in Tam Ky and is back now for a couple of weeks. We took 25 girls to the swimming pool on Friday afternoon, as well as a few painfully adorable little guys, and then had dinner with them. On Saturday morning we visited a center for "Victims of Dioxin and other Unfortunate Circumstances." This center is incredibly peaceful despite the severe disabilities the people there are living with. It's more difficult in Tam Ky because they do not have the same resources and volunteer traffic that we do in Da Nang. We're planning on getting back there a few more times this summer to hopefully take those kids out for the day. I went back down to Tam Ky by myself on Tuesday to visit a new center that Agribank built for victims of Agent Orange and other disabilities. I had a meeting with the director and a very detailed tour of the center and it gave me a good understanding of the support being provided to some of the families with disabled children. I'll be spending more time at the AOV centers in Da Nang, but it was really good to see a bit of what is happening in other areas. 

I stayed home for Sunday and Monday because I got a pretty nasty case of pink eye in BOTH of my eyes and the beginnings of a chest infection, but about 48 hours of sleep seemed to knock that out. 

On Wednesday morning we took the children from the Red Cross to the beach with two volunteers who are here from Australia. It was so fun. There is a little girl at Red Cross named Ha who is very similar to Tinh and just LOVES the water. She wants to swim on her own so badly, but is happy to kick around while I hold onto her underarms. Little Nga was a bit of an escape artist and we spent a bit of time chasing her up and down the beach as she sprinted away with a devious look on her face, but the water scared her so she more or less stayed on the shore playing in the break. We also brought 5 of the babies with us and they were delighted to be submerged in the ocean, several of them even fell asleep. 

This morning I brought my friends Mark and Kaberly to meet the kids at Mary's House and we spent the morning playing at the pool (we all miss you very much, ASM, Olivia and Dung). I haven't been able to see these children as much this summer so it was really nice to have some quality time with them. We're going to take them to the movies next week. I have Kerry's sweet daughter Giang spending the night with me tonight and we had a really nice day going to lunch and the movies and we're getting ready to meet a few of my friends for pizza in the city. I've been invited to a wedding tomorrow and it's my FIRST Vietnamese wedding, so I'm really excited for that!

Aside from getting to hangout with the sweetest kids this week, I was also introduced to several people who are really the leading faces in Agent Orange research and advocacy and have really, really inspired me. On Wednesday afternoon I met with Dr.Long who is the head of biology at the Da Nang University of Technology. We spent the afternoon talking about the different ways in which dioxin has and is continuing to harm people and the current and past research that has been done. I am going to write more about this after I meet with him and a few more people on Sunday morning, but considering the amount of known damage that dioxin has caused, there is very, very little known about that long term effects and the ways in which the chemical will continue to effect those initially exposed and continuously exposed. It's also incredibly frustrating, because there are tests that are done in Da Nang that can determine whether disabilities are caused by dioxin, but there is further testing required to definitely tie the chemical to other disabilities that there is not the funding for. A lot of the diagnoses are based on background and not actual testing, so although it seems clean the foundation of the disability, there isn't the set proof that I think could open the doors for greater funding. I am eager and excited to learn more and continue my research.

Last night I had dinner with a man named Chuck Palazzo. He is a Vietnam veteran who has moved back to Da Nang and dedicated to his life to advocacy and peace. He is easily one of the more inspirational people I have ever met and I had an amazing time speaking with him and learning about the programming that is being done and the work he and his colleagues are doing here. He has also introduced me to an incredible group of doctors, veterans, and researchers who are very knowledgeable and open to talking to me, which is really blowing me away. I feel incredibly lucky to have been introduced to such a passionate, intelligent and interesting group of people and I really look forward to learning more about them and their research throughout the summer.

Needless to say, it's been a very full week and I could not be happier to be here. I miss home for sure, especially my family in Boston and at home, but I feel right here and am full of motivation and inspiration every day.

I will write more soon. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

c