Hanoi update 13-10-11

Hi All,

You will find attached profiles on the three girls currently living at the Girls Foster Home. Many of you have seen these before but those who have not I'm sure you will be interested. Incidentally, Hien, the girl in the traffic accident on her first day to school is now fine. She missed a couple of days of school but is back and doing well.

Lawrence and his wife Lillian of Seal Of Love are still in down continuing to work their magic. They are like the "good wind" from the south leaving things better after they leave. In addition to what they did previously, on Friday they went to the Ha Cau orphanage and provided each of the 54 children there with back packs. HSCV then escorted them to a nearby private orphanage which cares for physically disabled children. Last year HSCV provide blankets for all of these children and we have donated fortified rice to them. 44 disabled children live there and a couple dozen others drop in on a daily basis.

Lawrence and Lillian were immediately taken by the wonderfulness of these children and bonds of friendships were immediately formed. Lawrence learned that these children basically have nothing to do for recreation. However, they love to sing. So, in typical Seal Of Love fashion, the purchase of a Karaoke system was approved. A very much top-of-the-line system was ordered and installed on Sunday. On Monday L & L joined the children and staff there in a joyous Autumn Moon Festival celebration. A memorable event for all.

I would also like to give a shout out to Dr. Jenny Kapella. She and her husband, who works at the US Embassy, are stationed in Ha Noi for a few years. She is a pediatrician and has shown considerable interest in the GFH. In budgeting for the facility we had overlooked the expense for physical exams for the girls. Jenny has provided funding to cover these costs and reviews the results of the exams. She has also brought the home to the attention of others in Ha Noi and several people have expressed an interest in helping. I think a team of local supporters may be formed which will, of course, be wonderful for the girls.

I am also pleased to advise that HSCV has hired a house mother. She has only been on the job a couple of days but she works hard, has skills and the girls like her. She is 42 and has the background of many women in Vietnam. She was married with a son and daughter and lived in southern Vietnam. The father found a younger women and she was kicked out. Her daughter stayed with her father and Vinh and her son moved to Ha Noi where they had some relatives. However, she could not support them both and the son joined the army even though he was only 17. Vinh seems very happy at the GFH and we hope everything will work out.

Linda Bui left last Saturday to return to Vancouver to finish her last year of college. She will be missed by all but says she will be back when her college is completed. It was particularly hard on the two youngest girls, Thuy and Hau, to see her leave. We all ate lunch together on Saturday. After lunch everyone but the little girls and I left to attend to other matters. The girls asked if they could watch a Tom & Jerry video. I said sure and the girls snuggled up next to me on the couch, one on each side to watch. They laid their heads on my lap. Soon they were both asleep. I found it very touching that these two sweet and beautiful little girls trusted me so much considering they had been through so much and we had only met about a week earlier. They slept for something over a half an hour. However, after the video had recycled for about the sixth time I found myself cheering for the cat to catch that damn mouse and end the thing.

More to come.

Chuck DeVet, President