Hi All,
Not much to report. Basically that's good. Things are going well here. Seven girls at the GFH. About 275 kids on scholarship and 118 families getting a monthly supply of rice. One new girl in the hospital getting ready for heart surgery. I will report on that later. But also, we are scheduled to receive another container of 550 wheelchairs next week. Always a big occasion in that that a number of housebound individuals will be able to become mobile. Some of these people have not been able to get around for decades.
John Waugh, and old college friend of mine and his beautiful wife Gracy passed through Ha Noi this week with several friends on a SE Asian vacation. Very nice to see them again. They visited the GFH on Saturday when all the girls were there. I think they were properly impressed. The girls are truly wonderful. Very happy and they love to meet visitors. I think a fun occasion for all.
Yesterday we had two visitors from New Zealand. They had been on a tour to northern Vietnam last year and met a guide who impressed them as being an unusually nice person. He had been an orphan and now supported an orphanage in Lao Cai. (I am almost sure I have misspelled this but am too lazy to check it out. Anyway, it is on the Chinese border.) They decided to see if they could help. The orphanage cares for 96 orphans and about a dozen indigent elderly. Janet Taylor, the lady from NZ and a friend found out what they most needed. It was shoes. (It does snow up there.) After they got back to NZ last year they raised money to buy every one of the orphans and elderly shoes; and coats. They left last night from Ha Noi for a 9 hour train ride to Lao Cai. HSCV staff member Thu Minh accompanyed them. This is not an HSCV operation but these wonderful women are helping those we are trying to help and we are just offering to provide some assistance.
So, another issue. I have passed this story on to some of you but I send out so many emails I forget whose gotten what. But anyway, about two weeks ago we accepted a young lady into the HSCV GFH. It is not important which one. She is 14. Her father was never in her life. Her mother has died. She had been living with a 17 year old aunt. Her aunt was her sole support as well as for her 12 year old sister. In addition, the aunt is supporting her own 13 year old sister and 10 year old brother. They live in a filthy room smaller than a single car garage. Much smaller. The aunt sells tea in a market place at night. She says she wants to continue to do so to keep the spot so that when her mother gets out of prison in February she will have some place to work. But, as I suspect most everybody reading this message suspected, she is selling more than tea. Truly a commendable story for what the aunt is doing to care for these children but also a tragic example of what happens with impoverished females in Vietnam. The aunt says she wants to go to hair dresser school and HSCV is looking for a sponsor.
One more little thing I would like to share with you in this update. As I have explained before, the highlight of each of my days is when I eat supper with the girls at the GFH. Two nights ago I was eating and the girls pointed out that I had a piece of rice on my chin. (I am not the most accomplished user of chop sticks.) I picked it off my face and flicked it with my finger at Phuong who was sitting next to me. It landed on her cheek and stuck. Everybody laughed, except Phuong. She is seven years old and has had a very difficult life. Much degradation. She has been a resident of the GFH for only two weeks. As said, she is seven, beautiful black hair and eyes, beautiful face, very smart, friendly, feisty and very busy. Basically, perfect. She usually tries to sit next to me at supper. (I think the house mother encourages the younger girls to do that because she thinks it makes me feel good. It does.) But I think Phuong was arranging the stools on her own to be next to me. And even "Mr. Chuck" did something that she felt was degrading. She cried. Not loudly, but a few tears came out as she ate. I felt awful and kept drying her eyes. It was a real eye opener for me. Its time for me to quit mentally patting myself on the back for starting this facility and realize that these girls have not been rescued from Ozzie and Harriet's home but have all had great trauma in their young lives. I will be more sensitive in the future. I'm certain that things will get better for the girls the longer they stay at the GFH, but they do have issues that need to be addressed.. (Sometimes a grain of rice can have significant teaching potential. I think it did for me.)
So, that's where we are. Things are generally going well. But I could really, really use a hamburger and fries.
HSCV President, Chuck Devet.
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