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
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