Hi All,
Yesterday was Zoo Day for the three girls at he GFH, Nguyen, our social worker, and me. 9/2 is Independence Day in Vietnam and a holiday. This celebrates driving France out of the country in 1954. (There are two other similar holidays. One celebrating the driving out of Japan in 1945 and the other driving out the US in 1975. World Powers might take note: Don't mess with these people they will kick you ass.)
To say the zoo was crowded would be a true under statement. It make Kids Day at the MN State Fair look like a barren open field. But the girls had never been before and they were thrilled. In the past they had little opportunity to experience anything remotely as exciting. The zoo grounds are huge but there must have been a gazillion people there. The animals were few and not kept in very nice pens. I think in America the officials would be arrested for cruelty to animals. But there were rides and good snack foods available. We started out with ice cream cones which the girls really loved. Nguyen and the girls went through the ghost house and got the crap scared out of them. The girls also went on a tame roller coaster ride. The last event in which they participated was something I'd never seen before. Next to the lake there were about 10 large inflatable plastic globes. About 8 ft in diameter. There were zippers on the side. On the dock 2 to 4 kids would crawl into a globe and the globes were then inflated. Then pushed into the lake. When any of the kids moved the globes would tilt and the children would fall all over each other. Absolutely crazy. In America I'm sure this would be a personal injury lawyer's dream. There must be many cracked heads and broken limbs. But our three girls had a ball. When they were done, after about 15 minutes, they could not quit smiling or talking about the experience. As we were exiting the zoo Hau, the youngest, looked at me and said "happy". The other two girls followed suit. They don't know much English yet but they fully understand what that word means.
In an incredibly unlikely occurrence as we were about to get into a taxi to go home another taxi pulled up. Out came Hoa Nguyen and her family. She is here visiting relatives. She, Linda Bui and I met at the GFH discussing HSCV stuff the day before. All three of the girls came up and gave her big hugs.
When the girls got back to the house they all took showers and changed clothes. All the clothes they have have been donated but they are like new and very cute. Made be think back on my meetings with Hien and her family. They are the morgue family I have written about in the past. I met her 3 or 4 times over 2 or 3 years. She was always wearing the same clothes. They where filthy the first time I met her and filthy the last time. As you may recall, she is the girl with the serious scabies condition. It only took a couple of weeks to clear up that problem after she moved into the GFH. Her skin is now perfectly clear.
The girls, Hien 15, Thuy 10 and Hau 9, have become incredibly close. If you see one of them you see all of them. They are well mannered, obedient and very protective of each other. Their eyes just sparkle and they seem to always have smiles on their faces. They are just absorbing the attention and the love they are receiving. They are truly precious
A little after seven Linda came back to the house. She was escorting Mai and her grandmother. Linda had gone to Hai Phong province last week to interview them. Mai is 15. Her mother died five years ago. Shortly after that her father came down with a serious lung problem and was bed ridden. He died a couple of months ago. The family did not have the money to get him adequate medical treatment. Mai had become his primary care giver and she also did most of the house work. She also assisted her grandmother working in the rice fields and collected snails from the nearby river to sell. Basically all she did was go to school, where reportedly she is a good student, and work. She really never had much of a childhood. Although she is 15 she looks to be about 10. She is very thin which is obviously the result of malnutrition. She has not yet reached puberty. Her grandmother is 72 and can no longer care for her. But she is a very lovely young lady and hopefully everything will work out where she can become GFH girl number 4.
One last thing, I want to extend kudos to Linda Bui. She has been doing amazing work with the girls. She has established a set of rules and procedures for the GFH. When to get up, when to go to bed, meal times, nap time, etc. She has even set a schedule for when the girls are to get new toothbrushes. At eight o'clock, after she got back with Mai, she advised that the English class was to start. Over the previous 24 hour period she had been on two long bus trips plus a motor bike trek into the country side to get Mai and her grandmother. She must have been exhausted. But the rule is that she teaches a class on English every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from eight to nine. And with Linda rules will be followed. Everybody participated enthusiastically in the class including Mai and her grandmother. However, even though Linda is the rule maker and the task master she is obviously the girl's favorite. Whenever she sits down their is a scramble to see who gets to sit next to her. She is truly an impressive young lady.
I know I pledged to keep my updates short this time but remember shortness is a relative term. Saturday is water park day for the girls. One last big weekend before school starts on Monday. Your trusty reporter will keep you advised.
I thank all of you for your concerns and contributions to HSCV. We are doing wonderful work here.
Chuck DeVet, President
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