Sabaidee

Sabaidee means "hello", "goodbye","be happy", "blessings" in the Lao language.

Luang Prabang is a one hour flight and a world apart from frenetic Hanoi. We were immediately struck by the absence of motorbike horns...they are here...but the volume is considerably less. The pace is slow and no one seems to be too intent on working. Today, I spied some very beautiful cards made of hand made paper, with images of elephants, but as it was shortly after noon, siesta time, there was not a soul to be seen in the wide open shop. Sometimes the proprietor will be snoozing on a cot in the back of the shop...but not this one!

Luang Prabang is at the confluence of two rivers, so it is easy to find a shady spot to sit and watch the river flow slowly by and sip a cup of really bad coffee or a really good bottle of beer.

The taxis or tuk tuks are three wheeled vehicles, with rows of seats in the open bed. We piled into one of these at the airport and were transported to the centre of town and had a real tour. Our driver, so willing to please, as are all Laoations that he just kept saying "yes,yes" "OK OK" as we cruised to several guest houses, which were not our destination. After many false stops, he finally succumbed and phoned the hotel from his cell phone to get us to the right place. A marvelous introduction to the city of 26,000 people, 178 hotels and about 400 monks.

This World Heritage site is a treasure, but will we fear ,too easily slip into a tourist Mecca, where traditional culture pales. Meanwhile we are lucky to be here at a time when by walking over a rickety bamboo bridge or putt putt across in a slow boat we can see village life where the only evidence of the modern world is unfortunately the plastic bag. They are everywhere, on river banks, in ditches and low hedges. The streets of Luang Prabang are quite clean, but this clean up is a facade, one only has to walk along the river and peer over the embankment to see the detritis.

Such a contrast to the beauty of the woven fabric, it's precision and glorious color speak of a pride of place and culture; silk, cotton, and hemp all with exquisite Hmong embroidery.

Ba Be National Park...a trip back through time

The pictures of our trip to this remote, wild and primitive place, (which can be viewed on our web album...by clicking on the slide show to the right), do not do justice to the experience. The van ride was billed as 5 hours, our friends told us maybe 6-7 and in reality it was 8 gruelling hours north of Hanoi...over rough roads and a mountain pass with dangerous "S" curves and steep prespices down unguarded gulches.

We were so glad to arrive safely, that we accepted without question that we would bed down in the crumbling and decaying park lodge, which may have at some time been a fairly posh retreat for the French, during their occupation of this tiny country.

Our river trip the next day took us to remote villages , where we saw people living as they have for thousands of years, no mechanization, tilling, spinning, weaving all by hand. The best part was being invited into a village house, where Mama was making the rice wine for Tet, and although it was only 10 am , protocol dictated that we sample.

At our home stay that night, our meal was cooked on an open fire which the cat seemed to love, but his proximity to the same flame which cooked a duck...did not singe his fur.

Hectic Hanoi

Hectic Hanoi

Hanoi was a rapid immersion in South East Asian culture for all four of us.....even though our travelling companions JoAn and Michel Maurer had visited ten years ago and Bruce and I thought that we had become acclimatized through previous visits, we were all breathless within the first day!!! The sea of humanity, millions all living, working, eating and careening around the dusty streets on motor bikes, was an assault on our senses.

Thank goodness we were immediately diverted by our excursions with Quyen ( the retail Manager of Reaching Out in Hoi An) and her Hanoi representative Yen. With them we visited two sites in Hanoi where goods for RO are made by disabled persons. Quyen was delivering Tet( Lunar New Year) bonuses, so everyone was glad to see her, and of course they remembered Bruce from his visit to their shop last year with Binh. The seamstresses were busy with the cotton carry bags which have been such a good seller. At the second facility, the workers were also blessed with a plot of land, where they were able to grow vegetables. They were happy to share the bounty with Quyen, who somehow was going to manage to get them home on the airplane to Hoi An!!!

Dinner was at the home of Tue and Yen ( another one) whose gracious hospitality and sumptuous meal typified the warmth of a Vietnamese welcome. Tue and Yen both speak excellent English and were very open and candid about their life as professional, European educated Catholics. They characterize so many of the contrasts and contradictions in this society.

Tue and Yen's second son is Autistic. Their love for him is tender and because there is little understanding of autism and absolutely no resources in Vietnam, they have educated themselves and developed and funded a school. Eight Autistic children have prospered under the guidance of their seven teachers.

Another dinner which we will remember always is that which we shared with the other Yen at the home which she shares with her mother Phuong, a married sister, husband and two very charming daughters. The special Tet food was lovingly prepared and delicately presented. Phoung, who is our age, had been a young mother during the war and shared openly the hardships and terror during bombing. On learning that Bruce had served near Cu Chi and Na Trang she said" I am so happy that you were not killed". Bruce, with tears in his eyes said the same to her.

Our next day was spent travelling with Quyen and Yen again, this time to a village which specialized in the art of pottery and ceramics. We visited a "factory" where disabled people create goods for RO. This entire village is devoted to the productions, sale and distribution of the most amazing ceramics. The village itself, a labyrinth of lanes through ancient neighborhoods, was fascinating.

After a great lunch at a Vietnamese version of a food courst....fabulous open air place, with specialties all around the perimeter being cooked before our eyes....we did a little "market research" at fair trade shops aand a bakery/restaurant where street kids learn food service...what a nice vibe in the place.

we are again in love with these dear people.

We are Off!

With the winter snows, which have had us confined to quarters for almost three weeks, slowly receding, our attention is diverted from shoveling, to our Journey of the Heart.

We depart from Vancouver very early in the morning on January 15th. The long flight, through Taipei and on to Hanoi, will be one of contemplation and anticipation. After a week of travel in northern Vietnam and Laos, with our dear pals JoAn and Michel Maurer, we will arrive in Hoi An on Febraury 1st. Our work at Reaching Out and with Global Village Foundation will begin almost immediately.

Thank you to our "home team", whose generosity has already made possible four, yes four!! portable libraries for the GVF's project. Although we do not go to the village schools until the week of February 15, the funds have assured that the boxes for the books are now being built. Four boxes will provide 1000 books for these villages. Our friends and family have also contributed enough so that we have sent Le Ly Hayslip of GFV, $2500 to buy much needed equipment for a hospital in Que Son. We hope that we, along with a delegation of Japanese, will have the opportunity to visit the hospital and see your dollars and theirs at work.

Weaving looms have been ordered for the workers at Reaching Out and we will also be sponsoring at least two disabled persons to pursue training. While in Hanoi we hope to visit a new producer for the shop, located about 60km from Hanoi.

All this and we haven't landed yet!!!

Our next blog entry will probably not be until we are settled in Hoi An, with the family at Vuon Trau. Several of the Canadian contingent will stay at Vuon Trau as well, JoAn and Michel and Stan and Marie Teitge. Brenda Smith from Sussex will hang her hat with us at this family homestay. Sharon Brewer will be at the Ha An Hotel. We look forward to their participation in our projects and of course sharing wonderful meals and adventures.

Your messages from home are so important to us, while we are in Vietnam.....they keep us grounded and motivated, so please send us an e-mail or add a comment to this blog by linking on the "Comment" icon after each entry.

To Market To Market

We are always so impressed with how industrious and creative the Vietnamese are! Pictured above are only a few of the many products that we have seen on the backs of bicycles and motor bikes. on their way to market. If you click on the picture you will see a larger version of these quite spectacular feats. How the riders manage to stay balanced with such heavy loads is miraculous. Equally amazing is that the take home pay for these loads is only pennies a day. But they are undaunted, repeating the exercise 6-7 days a week.

When we are in Hoi An, we feel obliged to try to match these Herculean efforts, but we are merely 60 something Westerners, softened by the luxuries of our lifestyle. We rise before dawn, it's true but by mid-afternoon we are ready for a nap! Perhaps we should be working on our "staying power", getting fit for longer days of toil!

We are working here at home our projects for Reaching Out...consulting with Binh on a new Business Plan and creating an Employee Handbook for the sales staff in the shop. Our attempts at learning the language are still rather futile, and we will have to remain dependent on the help of others to translate for us and the patience of our Vietnamese friends while we pantomime our intentions.

Despite our limitations, we are buoyed and looking forward to our Journey of the Heart 2009.

Please Note: There is a new feature on this blog. On the right hand side, at the top, you will see a small picture. It changes every few seconds and is our slide show of this year's trip. If you click on the picture you can enjoy the full screen show. Once you are on the album site, watch for the slide show icon which appears above left of the picture. I promise, I will replace this show with pictures from Journey of the Heart 2009 as soon as they are available!

What a Difference!

Remember this little guy? Last year he was our "poster boy" for our appeal campaign. Vinh was so dear, enchanting us with his bravado on a mouth organ which he had never seen before, while soliciting the help of a buddy to take care of his prized A&W Root Bear! He was the first in line to get his face painted.

This June, Bruce saw a very different little boy. The next picture shows him not only having grown like a weed, but also showing off his skills on the keyboard.

What a difference a year makes! And what a difference the gifts of funding and equipment mean to Vinh and the others in this orphanage!

Duc Son Orphanage

One of our favorite places to visit in Hue, Vietnam, is the Duc Son Orphanage. This photo was taken on Bruce's last trip there, with Tours of Peace in May of this year. The young man with him is Anh, the tour guide who has been a faithful TOP partner for many years.

The Buddhist nuns at Duc son, care for up to three hundred children. Although our hearts break that these delightful children have been abandoned by their parents, we are comforted to see them so well cared for and loved.

The atmosphere at Duc Son is vibrant, the children are all clean, healthy and well fed. TOP has visited regularly over the years and so our visits are anticipated with much excitement. This picture is a rare moment of quiet, before the bedlam which erupts when the toys are brought out

There is much singing, by the children and the TOP delegation. We paint faces, play musical instruments, play circle games and hold a lot of babies and toddlers.

The big treat for the kids is the dinner that TOP presents, including meat, which the nuns do serve the children if the budget allows, but that does not happen often....the food budget is 30 cents a day per child.

2009 Return to Our Beloved Vietnam

As the weather cools here on the West Coast, the leaves begin to turn and the garden takes its last gasp, we are beginning to anticipate our next Journey of the Heart.

In January 2009, we will travel to South East Asia, to once again serve the people of Vietnam. Our appeal for funds has generated such a response, that we are inspired to work even harder to alleviate some of the suffering in this small country still suffering form the centuries of conflict within her boundaries. With your support we will be able to accomplish more than we had anticipated.

Not only have our friends and family offered funds, but this year we will be accompanied by other Canadians, who also are intrigued with the beautiful country of Vietnam and her welcoming people.

• JoAn and Michel Maurer will join us for our first two weeks. We will travel to Laos together and on to Hoi An, Vietnam.


• Stan and Marie Teitge, our neighbours, will be in Hoi An for a few weeks and look forward to helping with our projects.


• Sharon Brewer, another Salt Springer, will arrive in March to help out at a child care centre.

Brenda Smith, from Essex, England, will also arrive in Hoi An to add her willing hands and loving heart to our projects and is likely to help Catholic nuns deliver rice to needy hospital patients. In Vietnam, family is expected to feed their relatives in the hospital....some are unable to do this...they are too poor or live and work a distance away.

How wonderful that the Canadian ( and British!) contingent is growing!

We hear regularly from Le Ly Hayslip of the Global Village Foundation, with whom we work to deliver portable libraries to remote village schools. Binh and Quyen at Reaching Out have a "to do" list growing for us to tackle when we arrive in Hoi An. The 2009 Journey of the Heart promises to be as busy and rewarding as our earlier trips.

Cam On (thank you) To Our Benefactors

We are home on Salt Spring Island and trying to make the transition back to "normal". Our Journey of the Heart was far richer than our wildest expectations. Altogether, we spent 80 days in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam doing volunteer work with two different organizations.

We have added a new link to our list on the right side of this blog. http://vietnamanon.blogspot.com/. Here you will be able to view a video of an interview with us in Hoi An. There is also footage of a speech made by Le Ly Hayslip with whom we worked on the Portable Libraries Project.

We would like to express our profound gratitude to the many friends and family who supported us with genenrous contributions to our work. We felt blessed to be able to deliver so many gifts from our benefactors in Canada and the United States.

This is the way we put your gifts to work:

• Go Vap Orphanage in Saigon - $500.00
• Bursaries for disabled trainees at Reaching Out, Hoi An - $2,000.00
• Tours of Peace Vietnam Veterans - $1650.00
• Global Village Foundation, portable libraries project - $500.00
• Hoa Van leprosy village - $500.00
• Hoi An Foundation for Children-$100.00
• Leprosy victims, school children, the aged and the poor -Leprosy bandages, medical supplies, personal hygiene items and toys.

We would like to acknowledge the following very generous donors to our projects:

• George and Nancy Alliston
• Trisha Wilcox
• JoAn and Michel Maurer
• Gail McKechnnie
• Bryna and Dan Cable
• Suzanne Bolton
• R. Bruce Morrison
• Ivan Mindlin
• The Red Tent Book Club ( the Best Book Club in the World!)
• Stan and Marie Teitge
• Heather Horton
• Barb and Bruce Housser
• Janet Musgrave
• Grade 8C, St Thomas Acquinas High School
• Rosemary and Jim Robertson
• Kim Young
• The Rowlandson-O'Hara family
• Stan and Ann Derelian
• Pat Sather
• Carole Earle
• Philip Musgrave
• The Conradi family
• Dr. Richard Hayden
• Ganges Liquor Store
• and of course the many knitters in the Bandage Brigade

You were all in our hearts and we bring back to you the warm smiles and deep appreciation of the Vietnamese people to whom your gifts brought comfort and joy.

Homeward Bound

We are in Ho Chi Minh City, ensconced in a small "boutique" hotel, somewhat far from the centre of the city, but it provides the quiet and comfort that we need to rest up for the long journey home on Saturday, March 29th.

Our last "exta" week in Hoi An, was, of necessity, also very quiet. Elaine spent hours sleeping, trying to aid the healing of her old bones. Bruce, UIN, ( unqualified, inpractical nurse) doing his duties, with a few last tasks for Reaching Out and some editing for Global Village Foundation and the ocassional bike ride.

The stream of well wishers was endless, Quyen bringing lunch or dinner everyday, unless we strenously objected. One day Elaine said to Quyen, " I feel badly that you are cooking for us, as well as your family, working at the shop and caring for Sesame" to which she responded " I will feel bad if you don't let me cook".....ah the straight forward logic and candor of the Vietnamese!

The staff of our homestay spent our last morning pampering us and showering us with gifts. The drive away from the gate, with everyone waving was so tender.

Quyen arranged a comfortable car and escorted us to the clinic and on to the airport. Our parting at the check-in counter broke our hearts. We had already said good bye to Binh at the gate of their home. Words were few, tears many.

It is hard to imagine that we are about to embark on this epic journey home. It is always a
gruelling experience, even when not dragging one very painful, semi-attached limb in a sling. We have mega pain killers on hand.

The sweet memories well carry us through, as will the excitement of seeing you all. Your interest, financial support for our projects, many messages of encouagement and of late concern for Elaine's healing have been a comfort. We are blessed and are very grateful for this three month Journey of the Heart.

Mother is Broken

Last Friday morning, Hanh, one of our two lovely receptionists greeted Bruce, her eyes brimming with tears, "I am very sad this morning because my Mother is broken." The outpouring of kindness, since the day before when Elaine fell and fractured her left humerous, has been unceasing, sweet and continually overwhelming. This mishap has served to, once again, demonstrate to us the loving, tender, sweet nature of our Vietnamese "families." From the crew of disabled persons at the shop where we have been volunteering, to the staff at our homestay accommodation and even the young women proprietors of the two restaurants where we have taken many meals over the past two months, everyone has been caring and solicitous wishing to help ensure Elaine's comfort in some way. Food arrives in our room daily, flowers have appeared a couple of times and the expressions of "I hope mother is feeling better today" are non-stop.

Quyen has already had custom made chemises made at the shop. These clever garments fasten on one side seam and thus slide over the head and arm easily.

We had planned to leave Hoi An on the 15th and visit some other spots before flying home at the end of the month but have decided to remain in this restful spot and give the bones the best chance at starting to mend before commencing the stressful 20-some hour marathon of travel that should see us back on Salt Spring Island on the 30th of March.

Bruce's Trip to Hanoi

On the weekend of 7 and 8 March, Bruce flew to Hanoi with Binh to attend a VSO (Volunteer Services Overseas) conference on disabilities in Vietnam. The VSO who has traditionally been involved in education in 3rd world countries is expanding its mandate to work at helping the disabled in developing nations be less marginalized. The conference was a briefing and feedback session on the proposed program plan for the expansion within Vietnam.

The pictures (from left to right, top row first) are 1. A profoundly disabled young woman who is one of Binh's home-based producers in Hanoi for the handicraft shop in Hoi An. If you look closely at her feet and hands you will note the horror of her disabilities. Her hands are truncated and her feet grow at right angles directly out of her knees. You may be able to count 8 toes on her left foot. 2. Binh being loaded unceremoniously aboard our modern Airbus 321 via a front loading catering truck through the galley door of the airplane. Binh, for whom this is du rigeur, wasn't fazed, but Bruce was horrified and close to tears at the indignity. 3. Binh's cousin Tue and Bruce posing at Hoa Diem Lake - a mandatory tourist stop. On the day after the conference, Tue an engineering director employed by the state in Research and Development conducted Bruce on a personalized tour of Hanoi's highlights aboard his motorbike.

Hoa Van Leprosy Village

The "iffy" Internet has once again foiled the putting together of this entry....the pictures came up in the order that they wanted to, not necessarily in the sequence of the story of how this heartwrenching yet enriching day unfolded.

The Global Village Foundation's Moblie Libraries Team, with whom we worked all last week, decided that they too would like to be involved in the leprosy village project, so our crew of 13 left in two vans early Monday morning to travel to the boat launch site, just past the city of Da Nang. As usual we left at 6:30 a.m. sharp (that's 7:15 Vietnamese time!)

After loading the boat with 100 blankets, medical supplies, hand knit leprosy bandages and goodies for the children, we set out onto the blessedly calm sea, to cross to the village which can only be accessed by water or a precarious hike down a jungle trail. Our craft was heavily ladened and we were glad that the six life rings were not forced into service for the 17 people on board.

Upon arriving the unloading took place on a beautiful stretch of beach. As there is no pier, we lept off the boat into the water and handed our precious cargo, hand over hand ( actually head over head) across the shallows and hiked toward the village gate.

The customary introductions of the village chief, the People's Party Representative, the Nurse and Secuirty Gaurd were followed by cups of tea. Without delay the blankets and medical supplies were doled out to each family. There are approximately 300 people in the village, with about 50 suffering active cases of leprosy with another 40-50 whose disease has been arrested. They were grateful for the blankets as the weather continues to be unseasonably cool.

I was able to meet with the nurse in his "clinic", which brought tears to my eyes. The examining room, as you can see is neglected, filthy and poorly equipped. How infections are treated and cured under these conditions is a mystery.

The bandages, knit by so many compassionate women from coast to coast in North America, were the first that this nurse had seen. He uses a commercially made bandage, supposedly for tropical ulcers but they are flimsy and small, so he was excited to see our product. He preferred the smaller gauge yarn, but assured me that every one would be useful.

We wandered through the village and the fields behind to reach the school. The crops looked healthy and although we were assured that the village was able to subsist on the crops, an older woman did make an appeal to us to bring rice, cooking oil and noodles the next time we visit, as the elders who are unable to work in the fields are hungry. How could one not resolve to return??

The school consists of a delightful kindergarten, decorated colorfully with posters and decorations ( financed by a Japanese NGO) The two rooms for students 6-12 years old are sparsely furnished and have NO equipment, illustrative pictures, posters, maps or charts. Each student seemed to have one exercise book. How they drooled seeing the crayons, pens, pencils etc sent by the kids in Kenora. as well as folks from the home towns of some of our group. Our indefatigable Oil from Thailand again did her balloon tricks.

The afternoon sun became quite warm as we putt-putted our way back across the bay. Our group was quiet, each staring back at the beach as it receded, lost in thoughts of how they were touched by this experience. The beauty and serenity of the village's location, the warm sand, the green fields, the quiet absence of motor bike horns, the cleanliness of the village ( no plastic bags or garbage) all painted an unlikely background for the reality of the pain and isolation of this community.

Leapin' Lizzards Libraries in Que Son

There are too many stories to tell!! On Thursday and Friday of last week we delivered the last two workshops and 12 portable libraries to two central schools in the Que Son District. The Canadian boxes were in this delivery and we were pleased to have contributed to this particularly poor district.

The district is hidden away over a mountain pass, across a beautiful, lush green valley. Even though the fields in the valley seemed to be rich with rice crops and the water buffalo fatter than twenty years ago ( according to Lan, one of our team, a Vietnamese American who has done humanitarian work in this area for many years), we were shocked at the level of poverty. Electricity was only installed in the town in 2005!!

Because Friday's school was a bumpy two hours away from Thursday's school, and about four hours from our hotel, we were invited to stay the night as guests of the People's Party in their headquarters' dormitory. Bruce and I shared our room, and in fact our bed with the lizzard pictured above. He was the size of a cucumber and perhaps he had gotten fat on the fleas and bedbugs which we expected, but did not find on the grey sheets and musty, mildewed blankets and pillows. I slept in my clothes! It wasn't much of a sleep. The bed was lumpy, the the room stinky and the loudspeaker in the compound starting blasting its tinny rendition of the national anthem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam followed by party propaganda at 4:45 am.

That evening we hosted a BBQ for the school and district officials. Bruce is still wondering if he did indeed drink vodka with the party Chair, the highest ranking communist in this district of 260,000 people, who is in the picture with Le Ly Hayslip and her man Joel Boehm.

Huong is singing us a Vietnamese song at the BBQ, with a fine voice and big heart...he had us all in tears. But the sweetest part of this story is that Huong is the gardener at our hotel!! He and all the staff have been involved in the project. Even the owner's 11 year old son and both receptionists helped us wrap the 500 exercise books that we gave to the kids throughout the week! Huong begged to come along to Que Son, we suspect because it is his home village. He certainly found a few buddies to drink with on Friday afternoon!!!

Ultimately it is about the kids and once again as you can see they could hardly wait to get their hands on the books.

The week was exhausting, frustrating, and exhilarating. We think that we will do it again next year!!!