She is raising funds to better the lives of the orphaned monk children. Your generous contribution (should you chose to make one) is for a worthwhile cause...
Lets help make a difference to the lives of these kids! ... $30 (usd) could bring music to their lives, how could you resist???
(Thanks for passing this on Sonia)
Tam Ky Program
Tam Ky is a city in the Quang Nam Province of central Vietnam. It is 860km south of Hanoi, 947km north of Ho Chi Minh City and 70km south of Da Nang City (a 1½ hour drive). Tam Ky is the capital of the Quang Nam province and has a population of approximately 100,000 people. It is most famous for the nearby ancient Cham Towers. You won't find many westerners in Tam Ky, so it certainly offers a different experience of Vietnam compared to the more touristy areas.
The Global Volunteer Network (GVN) partner in Vietnam cooperates with local authorities such as the Quang Nam Union of Friendship Organisations and Quang Nam Department of Welfare to place international volunteers in the following placements around Tam Ky.
1. Home of Affection (HOA)
The Home of Affection is home to 35 orphans and disadvantaged children. Many of the children are orphaned due to parents who have died in the 2006 or 2009 typhoon, and relatives are unable to care for them. The children range from 3-17 years old. During the school semesters, the older children go to school and receive
general education. Classes change depending on whether school is in or whether it is school holidays. Some of the children have intellectual and physical disabilities, and some come from very sad and tragic backgrounds. But you wouldn’t know if from the smiles on their faces and the affectionate cuddles they give you.
The children share rooms according to age and sex. The rooms are very basic. Some have desks, some have lockers, they share a bed, some don’t have mattresses. Some windows don’t even have glass on them, so when it rains water comes in, insects come in and on the cooler nights the children don’t have warm clothes or warm blankets. A sign of damp rising is evident.
The kitchen used to prepare food for the children and wash up areas is absolutely disgusting. Laced with mould and all sorts of breeding bacteria. Their bathroom facilities are not much better. All the children go to the local schools near by – except for the really young ones under 5. Their day starts at 5am when they wake up. Then it’s 5.15am for exercise, 5.45am for breakfast, 6.30am they go to school, 11 am they are back from school, 11.30am is lunch, 12.30pm is afternoon nap, 2pm they go back to school for the afternoon, 4pm they are back and have to do homework, and then it’s dinner at 5pm. They go to school 6 days a week. Dinner is a very basic bowl of steamed rice, a bit of veggies and dried meat of some sort. So once a month volunteers fund a feast for the children. We organize a more decadent meal which only costs $1.1m VND ($66 AUD) to feed all 33 of them. We also fund the monthly breakfast program, which costs $3m VND ($180 AUD), making sure the children have something to eat before they start their day. In the evenings at 6pm, volunteers teach the older children English and General studies twice a week. The younger children are still at a basic English level, learning the alphabet, colours, days of the week, greetings, etc. The children love art lessons, games and sports. Every second evening is used for art/crafts, games or sports.
I teach English to a class of 9 children aged 12-14 years old. Initially they were quite rowdy, disruptive and disrespectful – thinking I was just another volunteer that will finish up in a month, and that I was a push over. How wrong were they!
I let them be in the first week to see their behaviours and characters. In the second week I made them sit in class balancing books on theirs heads to gain concentration, improve posture and improve tonal projection when they spoke in class – instead of having them slumped over their desks and mumbling. If anyone dropped their books, I made them do 10 knuckle pushups. If they failed to complete homework, it was
20 knuckle push ups. So that straightened them out. In English classes, we focused on the sounds and words beginning with “TH”, “CH”, “SH”, “F”, “W”, and “J”.
The Vietnamese alphabet does not have F, W or J, so this can be hard for the children. We also focused on past, present and future tenses, reading and comprehension, dictation, writing their thoughts in journals, conversational skills, confidence in public speaking. The children did very well, as indicated by their test results every two weeks. On Australia Day, I proudly wore a t-shirt with the Aussie flag and taught the kids the states in Australia and we sung the national anthem.
In our games and sports sessions, we play eye spy, hopscotch, dodge ball/poison ball, musical chairs, frisbie, twister, three legged race, soccer, shuttlecocks, skipping rope, etc. I also run a taekwondo clinic and basic self defence. This is very popular with all the children as they also learn how to count in Korean. I also teach dance (the hokey pokey, the Macarena, the Twist, the Bus Stop and the Nut Bush). This is also very popular with the children.
In February I took my English class back to the house where volunteers stay and we had an afternoon of cooking. We made gourmet spaghetti bolognaise! This exercise cost $750,000VND ($45 AUD). Each student had a task to do, whether it was grating carrots, chopping veggies, cooking the spaghetti, preparing the mince sauce or setting the table. I even made paper chef hats for them. We all had a great time. Following lunch, we served up snack foods and watched DVDs. February is also when the new year Tet festival takes place – the biggest celebration on the Vietnamese calendar. This is usually a sad time for the children, as they do not have families to go back home to, no big feast and no lucky money in little red bags. So I surprised the children by giving them all $30,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND) – equivalent to $1.80 AUD. They were so delighted. These are some of the children from the HOA
Saying goodbye to these kids was very emotional. I gave them each a goodies bag filled with exercise books, pencils, pens, sharpeners, erasers, correction pens, tooth brush, combs, stickers, sweets, photos I had taken of them, the older boys got disposable razors and the girls got clips and hair ties.
The Tam Ky Baby & Children’s Orphanage
This orphanage is actually on the outskirts of the city in a neighboring village surrounded by emerald green rice paddies. The orphanage is the permanent home for 45 orphans aged from newborn to 11 years old. There are 13 babies, 5 toddlers and 21 children. When the children turn 12 years old, they are moved to the Hoi An orphanage (about an hour’s drive north) where they can stay until they are 17.
Most of the babies and toddlers have unknown backgrounds as they are dumped in neighboring villages, on the side of the road, in the jungles or near rice paddies. Many of the children do not have parents because they have passed away or left home. A minority of the children have poor parents who are unable to look after them or send them to school. There are 12 Vietnamese staff who are referred to as 'Mothers'. The mothers care for the babies and children. On any given day 8 mothers would be at the orphanage (3 looking after the babies, 1 looking after the toddlers, 2 looking after the children and 2 cooks). They are kept busy cleaning, bathing and feeding the children everyday. The mothers are paid $80USD per month (average monthly income in Vietnam is $100USD per month). Again, some of the children have intellectual, physical disabilities and tortured backgrounds.
Volunteers care for the babies and children while the mothers are doing chores or have a little break. Sometimes volunteers assist the mothers to feed and bathe the children. There are some teaching programs, but it’s mainly games and art/craft activities with the children. The babies and toddlers do not wear disposable nappies – this is considered a luxury item only to be worn if they have diarrhea or for night time use. The nappies they are basically made of 2 handkerchiefs – one folded into a rectangle and then placed in the centre of another folded into a triangle. Each baby and toddler goes through an average of 8 per day – as they are not absorbent at all. So the mothers are constantly washing, drying and folding at least 288 andkerchiefs a day!
Each day there is a different activity we organize with the children, from dress ups, art & crafts, sports, music & games and manicure/pedicure days. The children share rooms according to age and sex. The rooms are very basic and only have timber slat beds with no mattresses. Some children sleep in metal cribs..and that’s all they have. The condition of the rooms are not much better than that of the HOA, which is riddled with bugs and damp rising. At least the kitchen is in slightly better condition that that of the HOA. Again, the washing and bathroom areas are laced with mould and all sorts of bacteria. Nine of the children are old enough to go to the local primary school. 15 other younger children have English classes with volunteers each morning. The babies who are old enough to eat are feed blended boiled rice (like a congee/porridge mixture) with a little bit of blended veggies – usually carrot or broccoli. The toddlers get fed the same. The older children eat a bowl of rice and some dried bits of meat. As with the HOA, once a month volunteers fund a feast for the children. We organize a more decadent meal which only costs $800,000 VND ($48 AUD) to feed all 25 children (babies and toddlers do not partake in this feast.
In the first three weeks of commencing volunteer work in January at the orphanage, we were peed on, pooped on and puked on, and encountered the following breakouts:
1. Lice infestation amongst the children. So we implemented a preventative program whereby every Friday when the children are bathed, they must use lice shampoo/conditioner. Volunteers also had to follow this program to prevent getting lice.
2. Bug/mite bites. The babies suffered horrible bites where by the part on their bodies would swell where they had been bitten.
3. Scabbies infestation. The babies suffered from this all over their hands and feet.
4. Scarlet fever. One child suffered scarlet fever.
5. Fevers. Many of the babies were teething, therefore many of them had high fevers.
In February we faced the below;
6. Diarrhea. 8 babies had diarrhea
7. Vomiting. 5 babies suffered severe reflux and vomiting.
8. Ear infections. 7 children had severe ear infections causing them to have high temperatures.
Volunteers were constantly going to the pharmacy to get supplies to treat the children, and at times personally taking the child to the local hospital and funding the consultation and treatment. A small clinic (the Rainbow Clinic) was built in December with funds donated from previous volunteers, where two junior nurses with very basic training are employed. However, funds ran out and the clinic could not be stocked with medication. So the January volunteers used their own funds to stock the clinic with supplies costing $3mil VND ($181 AUD). I continued to replenish stocks in February $2mil VND ($121 AUD). An expensive exercise, but a very worthy one. Everyday volunteers bring bananas for the toddlers and children, so they have a healthy treat. This costs $600,000 VND ($36AUD). Unfortunately, the babies missed out. In February, I implemented a fruit and veggie program for the babies so they didn’t miss out. Every Friday, the babies would enjoy a rotation of blended mango and banana, custard apple, papaya, sweet potato or pumpkin.
Volunteers also donate money and buy the following necessities to ensure children at the orphanage don’t go without; baby milk formula, special corn milk formula for a lactose intolerant baby, disposable nappies, baby wipes, nappy rash cream, baby cream, tooth brushes, tooth paste, baby oil, milk bottle teats, bottle brushes,
teething rings, eucalyptus oil, shampoo, soap, children’s multivitamins. This costs $4mil VND ($242 AUD).
There is a 5 year old girl with cerebral pausey, who is stuck in her inadequate sized metal crib. Her name is Duyen. Volunteers spend at least 40 minutes with her each day to massage and exercise her. Without volunteers she’s left in the crib and lacks the social interaction she needs to simulate her. In February, we managed to raise funds amongst ourselves so she could be admitted to the disabled children’s hospital for 6 months to get the specialized care she needs. This costs $2.16mil VND per month ($130 AUD).
There is a 2 year old toddler who has hydrocephalus (fluid in the brain). He’s name is Son. At 3 months he was taken to a smaller hospital in Danang to get a CT scan. Doctors there said that he’s a hopeless case, cant be treated and he would die by the time he is 6 months. This doctor provides the same diagnosis to all the disabled orphaned children. Upon learning about Son’s history, I was very keen to get him to Saigon for a more comprehensive examination to see if there was a possibility that surgery could improve his life. For two months I was embroiled in political and government red tape and grew immensely frustrated at the lack of compassion from officials. In the first week of March, upon learning about my soon to be departure from the program, I was given the go ahead and everything was organised within 12 hours! Through the kind donation of $700 from one individual at home who knew about my plight, I was able to fund a two night medical expedition to Saigon for the toddler, a mother, the director of GVN-Vietnam and myself. We were fortunate to be seen by prominent Dr. Canh and his team of 5 other doctors at the Cho-Ray hospital in Saigon. Son had a combination PET-CT scan. This machine is the most expensive medical equipment in Vietnam. The Prime Minister went to the USA to personally get it for Dr.Canh – director of the unit. The scan showed Son has two conditions; congenital brain malfunction and holoprosencephaly. What this basically means is that his head is filled with 70% water. His brain did not develop and did not split during pregnancy and when he was born. Normal people have two sides to the brain. He only has one. And a very small one. He's brain has only formed one third of the size it should be. Even if we had surgery to insert a tube from his brain to his stomach and drain the fluid, it will eventually fill up again. He would need further surgery to replace the tube as he grows – if he survives for a longer period of time. Draining the fluid will not improve his quality of life. It will just minimise the size/weight of his head. He's brain will not develop any further. He will not develop any further. So unfortunately, that was it for this little boy. Nothing more we can do except provide him with good care and make his life as comfortable as possible. I was content with the thoroughness of the diagnosis and the rationale for not pursuing it further.
Tam Thanh Program:
Tam Thanh is a small fishing village 15 km east of Tam Ky. It is an isolated beach area where the families are very poor and the village is inaccessible during the rainy season. Many of the children leave school because their parents cannot afford the fees, plus there is a shortage of teachers in the area. Volunteers work with staff teaching English to up to 60 children aged from 10 to 16 years old. Class sizes are variable and the children are very keen to learn. The program aims to improve their English in order to assist with future job opportunities and to encourage the children to stay at school.
Economic Zone
Students at the Economic Zone are adults who are business people. They deal with foreigners in their business activities and volunteers work to improve their English pronunciation, comprehension and conversational skills. Volunteers fund the monthly electricity expense to run the classes ($38,000 VND = $2.30 AUD) English for the kids (Misa Centre) This is a centre where children aged 6-12, from more affluent families attend private English tutorials. Volunteers help with pronunciation, conversation skills and games to improve their English.
Disabled Hospital
The Disabled Hospital is a rehabilitation centre helping families with disabled children. There are around 20 children aged between 8 months to 8 years. Some of them are far away from their homes are provided with food and accommodation at the hospital. Some return home after physiotherapy, whilst others stay on at the hospital. Most of the children have cerebral pausey. Volunteers work with local therapists to provide physical and mental stimulation for children. Volunteers also assist in English lessons with staff and interns at the hospital. Volunteers fund special high protein milk for the children, disposable nappies, massage oil and also provide each family with $150,000 VND ($10 AUD) a month to assist with living expenses while at the hospital.
Accommodation
Our volunteer program fee covers accommodation in a rented house with 2 floors, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Rooms are equipped with a mattress on the floor (as a bed), pillows, mosquito nets and fans. The bathroom has a shower head on the wall, and that is the shower – the whole room turns into a shower. There is no shower basin or shower curtains. There is permanent ventilation by way of holes in the walls, which also allows all sorts of bugs into the house despite our efforts to use bug spray. We share the house with a planet of ants (as big as the size of a long grain rice!), a community of mosquitoes, a tribes of flies, heaps of geckos, and a family of mice..oh and occasionally we are startled by flying cockroaches the width of a 20 cent coin! There is a washing machine, fridge and computers with internet access. Occasionally the front door lock falls out, there’s a surge in electricity resulting in regular black outs and sometimes there’s no hot water. There is no air-conditioning and the windows don’t open. Although basic, it is close to shops (photocopying, toiletries, treats, etc.), internet cafes and local cafes.
Sometimes we have transportation to take us to our placements. But we usually ride the bicycles. Some bicycles are missing a pedal, none have reflectors, sometimes the brakes don’t work, the wheels are creaky, there’s no bell, we have no helmets and more often than not – the chain comes off. We also have 3 basic meals organized each day.
Volunteers
In January we were fortunate to have 7 volunteers in Tam Ky from all over (USA, Malaysia, Australia and Chile). We all contributed $30,721,000 VND ($1862 AUD) in funds to ensure a successful program in January. In February, there were only 2 volunteers due to the Tet festival interruptions – where the whole of Vietnam practically shuts down for 10 consecutive days. This causes huge disruptions to business and transportation. The lack of volunteers meant the possibility that we could not continue to fund the program to its fullest. But the program continued and I was able to donate $42,950,500VND ($2603 AUD) in funds, medical supplies, clothing etc. thanks to the generosity of the following people at home;
1. Nik Vorrias
2. Samantha and Con Vorrias-Tsatas
3. Leyla Swatman
4. Kelly Osborne
5. Ruth Swatman-Vo
6. Oanh from MyChemist Highpoint
7. Jenni Pham
8. Chris Pham
9. June Swatman
10. Melissa Richards and her Credit Task Force team at ASIC
11. Ngan Ngo
12. Jill Doctor
March 2010 and beyond
I am very proud of the work I have done in Tam Ky and very privileged to have met some of the happiest kids who have so little. I finished in Tam Ky on Sunday 7th March, and I leave knowing the program is left in good hands with 5 volunteers (new and experienced returning volunteers) from Canada, USA and Australia. Although I’ve left Tam Ky, my volunteering adventures are not over. I left the endless rice paddies in Tam Ky for the endless beaches in Nha Trang - where my family originally came from. Nha Trang is along the coast in the central-south region of Khanh Hoa province – population 250,000. I arrived on Monday 8th March, and am giving myself a 3 day break before commencing volunteering at the Loc Tho Pagoda Orphanage – 20 minutes by car on the outskirts of Nha Trang City in a village community. I will be here for four months. I am doing this on my own. There is no organization providing me accommodation, transportation or meals. I am in the midst of finding accommodation to call home for the next four months, and trying to figure out the most economical and safest way to get to the pagoda.
I discovered this pagoda orphanage by dining at a restaurant here in October (Lanterns Restaurant) who supported this orphanage (one of three they support). They told me this one was the poorest of the three and I visited them on my return in December with two friends. I will arrange games, sports, arts/crafts and other activities with the children on Sundays – their free day. I will teach English Monday – Thursdays. The children are all Buddhist as it’s a Buddhist pagoda, run by female monks. There are about 40 children who permanently live here aged from 4 months – 16 years. The children live, play and go to school on the grounds of the pagoda. The children have special monk hair cuts and wear monk robes as a sign that they are committed to studying Buddhism – leading them to an enlightened life of becoming a monk. During the day, the pagoda opens it’s doors to the poor children in the village so they can get some sort of education. The total number of children can top 100 during the day. There are only 2 teachers who teach about 80 children. The remaining 20 is taught by an older monk child (14 years old) who then has to teach himself at night time.
The public worshipping areas are beautiful and in pristine condition to encourage worshippers to come, pray and donate money. The money received goes to the necessities of paying for electricity, food and basic medicines. The private living areas, playing areas and some classrooms is appalling. The children don’t have
enough pencils and have to share it during class. Unfortunately these children can never be adopted as they are not part of a government organization.
This pagoda orphanage is off the beaten track. You find it in glossy brochures, or part of any tours. Few people come across this pagoda orphanage by dining at Lanterns restaurant (and reading the preface to the menu) or by word of mouth from those who have visited the pagoda. Therefore, the orphans and village children are rarely exposed to volunteers who want to help in any way they can. I would like to raise the below funds to improve the facilities and lives of these monks and the orphans they look after:
If you are able to assist in donating funds towards the above initiatives, funds can be credited direct to my Australian Bank account below:
Account Name: Tiffany Pham
Bank: National Australia Bank
BSB & Account No. 083155 – 79 093 6363
I have also established an international PayPal account to accept funds from all over the world direct to my
PayPal account and via payment from your credit card.
Please follow the link below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgibin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=lahdidadah%40hotmail%2ecom&lc=AU¤cy_code=AUD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted
Please ensure you provide your name and brief details of the initiative you’d like to contribute towards.
I will provide regular updates (and I promise it wont be as long as this one) on my adventures at Loc Tho Pagoda. I would sincerely like to thank you for taking the time to read this, as this is a sign that I’m able to raise awareness and show you another way of life through my eyes. I would also like to thank you in advance for your generous assistance.
Sincerely,
Tiffany
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