Almost There!

Once again we are counting the weeks and days until our departure for Vietnam. This will be our 8th Journey of the Heart, our 10th trip to Vietnam. For Bruce it will be his 18th trip...six with TOP Tours of Peace Vietnam Veterans and then of course two tours of duty during the war. That is a lot of miles travelled!

Funds have been coming in to Journeys of the Heart, by mail and hand delivered...one cheque even etched on the trunk of a friend's car, during one of those typical Salt Spring Island encounters...we were strolling home from our garden plot with our basket of vegetables and she just emerging from a game of bridge at a neighbourhood house. We did trade some fresh chard and basil for a most generous gift for the library at Children's Education Foundation. www.childrenseducationfoundation.org.au. A link for this organization is on the sidebar of this post.

Bruce's retired buddies of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry have once again donated a goodly sum and we will be able to expand the micro loan program which we initiated with VAVA (Vietnamese Association for Victims of Agent Orange). We look forward to meeting a new liaison at VAVA in Hoi An. Our lovely friend Phuong has recently been married and has retired. We will miss her sunny smile and her co-operation and translating expertise. It was always a treat to work with Phuong.

Miss Hoa is still the director and we look forward to cups of tea again in her tiny office at the Red Cross Centre.

Our new interest is in helping Same Same but Different...a local Vietnamese organization which not only delivers aid to locals in Central Vietnam, but now also builds school in remote mountain villages. We have been able to send funds for these school building projects, thanks to the generosity of retired teachers and Sunday School children in Kenora, Ontario and some dear friends too!

This fund could do with a little more help!!! 

So many of these mountain villages have, as you can see in the photo, dirt floors and the walls and roofing are not weather proof by any means. Below a picture of a finished school, the crew and the mountain of food, clothing and school supplies that were packed up the mountain by the youthful group.

Of course we will be working again with Reaching Out. Look how we have grown. When we started working in 2008 with Reaching Out, a social enterprise providing skill training and meaningful employment for the disabled, the "family" was about a third this size. The new Tea House location has opened up more opportunities for the hearing impaired. There are very clever seamstresses working at the craft shop, so the lovely ladies at the Tea House have fresh new uniforms every couple of months.

We look forward to working with Binh and Quyen and a young consultant from Singapore this year. Bryan has been contracted to update the website and lay out a social media strategy. Facebook and our #1 rating thereon has drawn the attention of thousands of international travellers to the business.

The needs for Reaching out have shifted, but two areas still need some financial assistance. Scholarships for new trainees AND their own charitable foundation, which reaches out to the disabled in the community who are not as fortunate as the Reaching Out crew, could always use an infusion of donor dollars from across the sea. Journeys of the Heart will be happy to deliver your gift to this ground breaking organization which has proven that small, grass roots, self-help groups can show by example that an empowered, independent life IS possible for the disabled in Vietnam where legislative changes and social support are slow in emerging.

So...we are almost there in terms of funding....but of course we would welcome more gifts.

Many, many warm thanks to all who have already contributed to the 2015 Journeys of the Heart fundraising campaign. Your support makes all of our work possible. 

Hopefully we will reach a few more kind folks before our departure in mid-September. 

WE ARE ALMOST THERE!

Annual Appeal

Journeys of the Heart Annual Appeal 2015

Once again we are planning our return to Vietnam. Since 2006, with financial help from many friends and family we have been able to change the lives of a few of the thousands of disenfranchised still recovering from the war and the critical conditions after that war.

Schools for Remote Villages

The children in remote villages in the central mountains of Vietnam are often hungry when our friends from the Ong Van group, known as "Same Same but Different", travel the arduous trails through the jungle to visit them.

Their schools, if there are any, are no more than shacks and books and supplies are meagre. But, not only does SSBD climb the trails to bring food and warm clothing they also haul in the materials to build new classrooms. 

Thanks to generous donors, a retired teachers association and a church school class in Ontario and kind friends of Journeys of the Heart has been able to put funds into the hands of the builders. We hope to do the same again when we go to Vietnam in September. Schools and school supplies bring hope to the destitute for a better future.

School Tuition for Girls from Poor Families

We have worked with the Children's Education Foundation for many years. the mission of this grassroots NGO is to provide school fees (and additional support for their families such as medicine,bicycles and a mobile library) so that girls can remain in school and have more choices as they grow. The threat of child trafficking is real for girls who end do not stay in school. 

When in Vietnam, we visit these children on behalf of their sponsors and we are privileged to receive their appreciative smiles and to see them prosper despite the conditions under which they live.

Micro-Loans for Victims of Agent Orange

Friends of Journeys of the Heart, including Bruce's fellow veterans of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry, have annually contributed funds to seed a new micro-loan program with VAVA (Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange. This loan program allows victims and their families to develop a home based business and through independence gain self-worth.

A woman who used her loan to start a home based knitting company, showed her gratitude by knitting scarves for our donors. 

The payback rate of the loans is high and as we had hoped the program is becoming self-sustaining. However, There is still a long list of loan applications and we would love to be able to help them start a business too.

Reaching Out, a Social Enterprise

We began our volunteer work in Vietnam with Reaching Out in 2008. Since then it has grown to more than 70 disabled staff in two locations, a craft shop and a tea house where speech any hearing impaired staff serve in silence in an ancient house in Old Town, Hoi An.

Our work has evolved into roles as advisors on business matters, however we still support the trainee scholarship program so that more people of disability can join this successful team as empowered and  integrated individuals. 

Your contributions have been and will be delivered directly to the people and or groups who are "on the ground" in Vietnam. We love and trust the people who year after year have welcomed us and are so appreciative of your gifts. 

Cheques can be sent to:

Journeys of the Heart

#10-115 Upper Ganges Road

Salt Spring Island, BC

V8K 2Y3

Canada

Cam On! Thank You!

Thank You Letter to the St. Alban's Church Sunday School: Kenora, Ontario, Canada

In Vietnam, the ethnic tribal peoples of the mountains live in remote, poverty stricken villages. The soil is poor and their crops are meagre.

Access to these villages is very restricted, often the last few miles are on foot. 

​

If there are schools in these villages for the children, they are often no more than shacks which do not keep out the wind and the cold in the winter time.

​

There is a group though, in the seaside town of Hoi An, that is doing something to change the lives of these young children. The name of the organization in English is Same Same but Different. In Vietnamese it is Ong Vang (om van). We know this wonderful man whose name is Thanhhuynh Huynh,(pronounced Tun-who-in, Who-in) . His job is as a tour guide, but on the weekends he is the leader who takes volunteers into the mountains to build schools and to nourish the ethnic tribes who are often hungry. They also take warm clothes for the children.

The Saint Alban's Sunday School group has given $200.00 to help Same Same but Different to build a school. Look what your dollars have helped to build!

When there are desks and books the children will be able to learn and through education they will be able to help their communities become more prosperous.

From the children whom you have helped...a VERY big Thank You. In Vietnamese that is Cam On.

Warm Woollen Wishes

I don't imagine that many people think of woollen scarves when they think of Vietnam. But, yes, they do wear scarves when it is cold. Not only up north and in the mountains, but also in Central Vietnam during their "winter." For us, the drizzly, cool weather in December is like a fall day and we may wear a raincoat, but the Vietnamese wear parkas and wool hats, gloves and scarves. Serious gear!

When Bruce visited the home for the aged and disabled in Hoi An this past December the residents were all wrapped up!

A coveted gift to mountain children is a warm jacket...no matter what the size. Below, Thanhhuynh Huynh our friend who, with Ong Vang (Same Same But Different), builds schools in very remote areas, posted this picture from one of his latest excursions. The children and their jackets are precious! I think that the little guy on the left will be wearing his jacket for about ten years!!!

One of the recipients of a micro loan from the VAVA program submitted an application to start a home based knitting business. We were skeptical. How successful could this woman be? Well, Phuong has knit her way to independence and has also built enough confidence to get a part time job as an attendant at a nursery school.

But here is the wonderful part of the story. Phuong knit a scarf for each of the Journeys of the Heart donors who support the micro-loan program.

What a delight for us to be able to deliver these scarves and to see the big smiles.

The staff at VAVA have made sure that letters and pictures from the donors are translated and delivered to Phuong. As you can see in the picture of Phuong she is very proud that her work has reached North America!

We have the best job in the world....simply linking people with a desire to help, with those is need of a little help to break the cycle of poverty, overcome disabilities or health issues or to remain in school.

Warm Wishes to All!!!

A Village School

In a recent post we made an appeal for help in building a school in a remote village in the mountains of Central Vietnam.

As usual, our donors responded with alacrity and generosity and we were able to send $1000.00 over to the charity Ong Vang to help with the projected costs of $3500.00 for the new school.

A large portion of that money came from the Retired Teachers Organization in Kenora, Ontario. My sister raffled off a beautiful Christmas basket to encourage donations and the group astounded us with the amount that the raffle generated.

Another large donation came from donors who have supported Journeys of the Heart from its inception.

Thanhhuynh Huynh, who heads up Ong Vang in Hoi An has been wonderful in his expressions of gratitude for the donations and now with keeping us posted with the building project.

It is a real slog to climb to the village through mountainous jungle with all of the building materials.

It is just great to see all of these vibrant, young Vietnamese giving their brawn and hearts to such an arduous project. The whole building goes up by hand.

In the above picture you can see on the table to the left the offerings to the ancestors spirits to bless the crew and to bring luck to the project.  The labours continue after dark, which falls early here in the mountains, where the nights get really cool by the time the crew relaxes for the evening.

When Thanh told me that they would build the school in a matter of days....I thought that I did not understand what he was trying to tell me.....but look at what has happened in two days!!!

What an accomplishment! The children will be dry and warm and will be able to concentrate on their studies. 

Thank you friends of Journeys of the Heart! We will post  pictures of the finished school and maybe some of the children's smiles. 

Tour of Peace 2014: by Bruce

There are many layers to our Journeys of the Heart. For me, one of the most meaningful is the eight-year personal journey I have been on from warrior to soldier of peace. The monthly check I receive from the Department of Defense for my 25 years of service is not called a pension. It is retirement pay – pay because it is considered compensation for ongoing post-retirement service. I serve by working with Elaine, through our unregistered charity, to help marginalized persons in Vietnam  become independent and productive. Many of their difficulties are part of the legacy of the war in which I fought as an infantryman those forty-some years ago.

But the service from which I derive the most satisfaction is helping American veterans of the Vietnam War find the sites that are significant to them. These could be fire-bases, battlefields, helicopter crash sites or base camps.  When I see these old soldiers' eyes flood with tears as emotion washes over them, my heart becomes full. I've just returned from my second trip to Vietnam in 2014. This was a two-week tour with TOP (Tours of Peace) Vietnam Veterans. We traveled the length of the former South Vietnam to deliver food, medicine, toys and compassion to orphanages, elder care centres and a Leprosy village. As well we visited the veterans' important and memorable sites.

In this picture we were at the former Khe Sanh combat base. The location where 6,000 Marines were besieged by 20,000 North Vietnamese for over ninety days in 1968. One of the members of this group was gravely wounded here, and very lucky to have survived. 

A group-hug at the Khe Sanh combat base site. The C-130 Hercules in the background is a war relic that the Vietnamese have restored to be part of a museum display of US military equipment at the battle site. 

Above (2 pictures). Working at a Leprosy village. Note the ravaged digits on the victim's hands, He was the village spokesman -- effusive in his gratitude. 

Above: Handing out tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soap, razors  etc. in a Hill tribe village enroute to Khe Sanh. TOP's motto is "By helping others we help ourselves." These humanitarian activities are very healing for the veterans, some of whom have had struggles with PTSD.

At the Duc Son orphanage near Hue. The kids loved our visit and I wished I could have taken several of them home.

I  cannot  close this post without a tremendous thank you to the founder and organizer of TOP Vietnam Veterans, who was a Marine Corps rifleman during the Vietnam War. He has been returning to Vietnam every year for the past two decades to do humanitarian work and take veterans back for closure and healing. He, along with our intrepid Vietnamese Guide, Anh, are the heart and soul of TOP. Elaine and I are grateful to both these men for launching us on our new path in life and our retirement "career" with Journey's of the Heart and mine as the Deputy Duck or Chief Research & Reconnaissance Officer (CRRO) (aka Map Reader).

Let's Help Build a New School

One of the very special things about our recent trip to Vietnam this year was that we found a way to support a local Vietnamese charitable organization called Ong Vang ....Same Same But Different.

We have discovered through them the plight of a village, Ka Doong in western central Vietnam. This remote mountain village suffers severe poverty.

What struck me were these pictures of the school.

The children are underfed and have little clothing. The winters are harsh here and the rainy season must be terrible to bear.

Journeys of the Heart is hoping to contribute to the building of a new school, where the children will be at least protected from the elements while they try to study.

Thanh Huynh, our contact in Hoi An, who leads the activities of Same Same But Different has told me that their target is to raise $3500 US.

Surely we can help!!! Think of this as a Christmas gift that will change the lives of these little tykes.

Please e-mail us at info@backtovietnam.com if you would like to get on board with this initiative or message us through Back to Vietnam or Journeys of the Heart on Facebook.

Better yet, mail a cheque to:

Journeys of the Heart
#10-115 Upper Ganges Road
Salt Spring Island, BC
V8K 2Y3
Canada

Time to Say Good Bye

This Journey of the Heart has drawn to an end.

Good byes in Vietnam take a long time......so many wonderful people to whom to say "hen gap lai nam sau"....see you again next year. Tears, hugs, smiles and thank you's over coffee, a meal, in the street, as the taxi arrives for the airport!

This has been the most wonderful Journey of the Heart. A balance of work and play; old friends and colleagues, new friends and neighbours, witnessing people succeeding, encouraging young girls to study, seeing our Reaching Out family learn the joys of yoga, hearing about the successes of our micro-loan recipients, being honoured by the Government for our work with victims of Agent Orange, playing with our "grandchildren",  eating new delicious dishes and being absolutely pampered by our Vietnamese family.

                                     Quyen, Sesame kneeling, Binh and Gao sitting on the grass.

We bought new bikes to get around and to exercise this year. Great to get up and cycle in the countryside and have a swim before tackling our work.

It was our plan to donate the bicycles once we were on the way home to Canada. Quyen helped us to get the bikes to poor children in our village.

At the appointed hour I showed up at Quyen and Binh's house to meet the People's Committee member for our village. We hopped on his motor bike, with me clinging to his tiny waist. We zoomed off for all of two blocks and entered a yard not four houses away from the one where Bruce and I had been living for two months.

The young boy who would receive my bike in a couple of days was home alone, excused from school at the request of the Party Representative so that he could meet me.

The shy lad was terrified of me and the pomp of the occasion. He is twelve years old. The altar behind us honours his mother who died ten years ago. Father is raising three boys on his own and they live with the barest of necessities.

I was thrilled that the bike was going to be used by a neighbour, someone that I had probably seen in the lane playing marbles with a pack of cronies!

This year living in a tiny fishing village, which is on the brink of development but still very traditional, was a closer look at this country of Vietnam where we have learned so much about ourselves and about living in the world.

                                                      Bruce and Binh in the "office".

                                                                      Two Grannies

                                                        Yogi Tea at Reaching Out Tea House

                                                       
                           
Thank you for all the comments, e-mails and encouragement from our home team.  We are now settling in on Salt Spring Island. It is good to be home although we miss our family, our little house and our colleagues in Vietnam.