Vietnam- A one week transformation

“How can I make their world a better place,
when the place I envision doesn’t exist?”

It’s amazing how my world can change in a travel span of 48 hours. We left Thailand’s easy living to arrive in Hanoi Vietnam, traveling on to the ancient town of Hoi An. It had been 5 years since we last visited and found the changes stunning. The country as a whole is an amazing progressive, resilient, beautiful place in the world, but the highlights of this trip are a different kind of story. As many of you know our focus in Vietnam, is to work with the children that have been discarded from this society. This country and this society is struggling to recover from the scars that 80 years of violent war, leave on the generations to follow.



Standing on my balcony tonight, I searched for a way to connect you with the disabled children living in the Hoi An Orphanage. I read through my first journal page, seeking a ‘soft way’ to share their stories but instead found myself crying for the fate of these children. Translating words of horrific scenes, sickening smells and heartbreaking details of their mangled bodies, and previous neglect is only disturbing. Then I noticed when I think of these children, I envision their little faces and am filled with a love and compassion that fills my days with joy. They are my inspiration and it is these stories of progress that I will share with you.

When light breaks through the window of our room, I welcome the morning knowing soon I will receive the pure sunshine that beams from the faces of our morning group. We peddle our bikes off to the orphanage and arrive to the skip and wave of Howdy* a 6 year downs syndrome boy. (*Their real names have been replaced by my nick names in effort to follow government restrictions.) A big hug is always appreciated in the morning and he gives one of the best. We greet the staff and check in with the group of 26 disabled children. We try to see most of them, but focus on those that are regarded as the most unsightly. Many have distorted legs and arms combined with autism and mental slowing. Many are trapped in contorted bodies suffering from Cerebral Palsy, others have Downs Syndrome, Hydrocephalous, enlarged malformed heads, empty eye sockets, lesions and abscesses growing from their bodies. Remembering the difficulty of enduring our first days, I recall the entire scene making me nauseous. Their eyes seemed vacant, their bodies lifeless and often we retired back to our room full of sleepless despair. Now, entering the room I feel a warm welcome from their smiles and familiarity that inspires my day and gives me strength to continue.



Jimbo is blind and where his eyes should be, there are only empty sockets and dark scars. He also suffers from cerebral palsy, autism, deformity and habitually bangs his forehead on the grass mat of his bed. When I come to greet him, he recognizes my voice, lifts his head and reaches for my hand. He loves to have his head rubbed as the lice in his hair drives him crazy. He can barely stand on his own and repeatedly makes attempts to get up, remembering that I will lift him from his bed. He backs up to me, reaches for my hands and wraps my arms around his chest. We practice jumping like a frog and his face bounds with joy, until he wears me out and I have to return him to his bed. He immediately goes back to banging his forehead on the grass mat.




Penny scowls from the back of the room. She has CP, is mentally challenged and physically disabled but a strong, able 14 year girl. Every day I sit with her trying to form a smile on her face. She is angry and for a good cause as she is shackled to her bed. All day she watches the other children being held and hugged but no one pays her attention. I think others steer clear of her as she looks intimidating and large compared to the other fragile bodies. The staff keep one or two limbs tied to her bed at all times. I have to be careful not overstep my boundaries but yesterday, I found her untied and lying on the ground. With help she can stand and now we walk around the building every day. Her progress has been incredible to watch. Today before I left, she smiled, looked to the window, pointed at her tied up arm, shook it lividly and then bowed her head. With permission, I can untie Penny and let her enjoy the outdoors and a taste of freedom. I hope to see a smile someday.



Lenny sits in a baby car seat with one leg near his head and the other twisted around his waist. His neck is immobile but he follows the room with watchful eyes surveying the fate of his roommates. As Brian passed by he spoke in perfect English, “Hello, what’s your name?” Lenny is 17 years and is trapped in a tiny body fighting his cerebral palsy but his brain is that of a normal teenager. It saddened us to see him penned up in this room with severely incapable children while his intellect is that of a normal young man. With some time, Brian shared stories and argued over which vegetables he refused to eat. We look forward to practicing English with him each day.





The morning shift ends and it’s difficult to pull ourselves away, but we know that a mental break is needed to continue this work. We head for lunch and discuss the progress, highlights and heartbreaks of the morning. In the heat of the day, we make our way back to the orphanage bringing educational support books for the staff in hopes of winning their respect. In the afternoons, we work on mobility and feed the crippled children. The temperature has risen to a hundred degrees each day and the humidity level leaves us all damp with sweat. The room we work in has windows and a few fans to keep some air moving but the children still lye motionless in their beds with their shirts sticking to their shrunken bodies.


I’m lucky to be able to spend time with Nicky most days. He also suffers from CP, but a small non government organization has donated the funds to bring physiotherapists in to teach him and a few others how to control their flailing arms and scoot themselves around on their own. Full of joy and pride he shows me how carefully he can stack my postcards, put on sunglasses, operate my camera, drink from a water bottle and today managed to feed himself a bowl of rice. Every day we share many high fives and thumbs up for his progress. Nicky’s smile and new found dignity is enough to fill my days with satisfaction.






Poor Snowy spent the first half of her life neglected in a rural home for handicapped elders. Two years of paperwork and she finally made it to this facility for children. Her skin is white as snow, and her face has the characteristics of European decent. Her body is badly malformed as a result of residual agent orange poisoning. Her light brown eyes only fluttered the first few days I worked with her, and she struggled to balance her head when we practiced sitting. Snowy shares a bed with two other motionless children and she mistakenly was ignored along with them. With the permission of the physiotherapist, she now gets her own chair every time I come to visit. She manages holding her entire body up by herself and likes to be talked to. Her eyes sparkle and a dimple forms on each cloudy white cheek when we are able to share time with her. The rewards of those dimples are priceless.

Evening sets in and we retire to our room to clean up for our night shift at a different center across town. Nightly from 7-9 we volunteer at the Cahors Center for street/disadvantaged children. This is a fantastic group of teens that we visit, study English, and work on basic life skills together. I must admit, they are more therapy for us than we are for them. At the end of our exhausting days they give us inspiration, believing that this country will rise to meet the needs of it’s fallen. Their stories and progress is truly astounding.

Only one week into the project, but a transformation that will live with us for a lifetime.

A special Thank You to contributors of B&B Relief as your donation will employ a physiotherapist for one more year and train the current staff to help the children advance out of their beds. Your donation will also supplement their basic rice diet with meat, vegetables and egg increasing their chance of survival and giving them the strength to make a better life for themselves.
Note: Much appreciation to The KIANH Foundation for recognising the needs of the children and working with the Hoi An Orphanage renovating its facilities, introducing special needs therapists, and bringing a light of hope for the disabled children of Hoi An. You can learn more about this UK registered charity at: http://www.kianh.org.uk/
or their USA partner at www.hoianfoundation.org