Orphanage School in Dalat, Vietnam

I was greeted in Dalat by Phuong, a young gal who was to be my guide and helper over the next two weeks while being at the orphanage.  She was fantastic! She spoke excellent English, showed me around and helped me with anything I needed! The name of the orphanage I was at was Hoa Phong Lan School for Handicap Children.  I hadn’t initially signed up for working with handicap children and I was a bit uneasy about it, beings that I had absolutely no experience in that realm and felt I wasn’t well suited for or didn't have the right tools for. 

This picture shows you how crazy the traffic is even in a smaller place like Dalat!

The first day when Phuong took me to the school, I was very overwhelmed at all the kids coming up to me and saying hello over and over again and grabbing me, pulling my hair, hitting me, etc.  I felt I was in over my head a bit. I met with the head mistress of the orphanage and a few other staff members and teachers at the school, who decided on what my duties would be.  The decided that my 1^st responsibility would be to help in the kitchen, which I was pretty excited about. Basically what I did was to help clean and cut vegetables, set up the tables, chairs and dishes, put rice into the bowls when it was time, help serve up the food and help with washing the dishes after the meals.  The whole experience was a bit humorous because the 2 people I worked with in the kitchen were Vietnamese women who didn’t speak a lick of English! It would basically be them showing me what to do and me following along! The one way we did communicate was by saying “Sing chow!” which is hello in Vietnamese! Many times I would find them standing close to me, chatting away in Vietnamese, smiling, looking at me and laughing! I’m sure they weren’t laughing AT me!

Here are a few pictures of me working in the "kitchen!"

My time in Dalat was great.  The walk to the orphanage was about 3 miles. I could have found other transportation, but I thought this would be a good time to think and to soak up the surroundings.  I was IN LOVE with the weather there! During the day the sun would be shining but there was always a cool breeze and in the evenings it was nice and chilly! I almost always wore a light long-sleeve shirt and sometimes a scarf, which was a nice change from always being hot in Thailand! My morning walks were very refreshing and a good time to reflect.  I also had my evenings to relax, write in my journal, catch up on my blog, skype home…..it was so wonderful to remember what it is like to relax and to not have such a busy, hectic life! I feel that our society back home complicates everything….it makes things so crazy and complex. Life is so simple here. These people aren’t bothered with the crazy things that our society and lifestyle in America find itself obsessed with.

One reason I like Vietnam better than Thailand is because of the dogs…..and that being that they don’t have so many and the ones they do have aren’t mangy and gross and don’t bark constantly at you and chase after you!  (Maybe it’s because they eat dogs in Vietnam! I WISH Thailand ate dogs so that it might solve this problem!). 

After a few days I was told by the one teacher who spoke English at the school that my two lady co-workers really enjoyed me and they thought I was a very hard worker!  For dinner one night I was told to help feed one of the kids. There were about 80 children total (ages 6-16), of which about 70 stayed at the school the whole time. Only a few of the children with disabilities actually needed help eating. Unfortunately, this child would not eat for me. I figured it was because I was new and he wasn’t comfortable with me, but it still made me very sad and frustrated. After every meal there would be a few of the kids that would help me do the dishes, which was a fun experience!

Here are a few pictures of the children at the school.

I got invited to lunch or dinner so many times in the two weeks I was there. The generosity and love I felt from these people was overwhelming and wonderful.  I went over to one of the teachers’ house for dinner where I met 15 or so of her family members! Then she took me a bit down the road to another house to meet about 15 more members of her family! A rule in Vietnam is that if you invite someone out for a meal, you pay.  So all of these times I got invited for meals, I could never pay because it would be disrespectful!

The one lady I worked with, Muei, really wanted to have me over for a meal, even though she knows we can’t communicate! She said that the next time I come to Dalat she will cook me a meal! 

 Nhien, the one English speaking teacher, was very sad to see me go. Every time she talked to me she held on to my arm as if she would never let go. She told me that she really wanted me to come back and that I was the nicest and her most favorite American she’s ever met! She told me all her emotion was internal, though I could see the tears in her eyes.  Nhien told me that she really wanted to buy me something to thank me for what I’ve done. I told her that wasn’t necessary and she had done a lot already. She told me that she was very poor but wanted to get me something so she dragged me across the street (still holding on very tightly to me!) to buy me some artichoke tea, which is huge in Vietnam. 

Here is a picture with me and the head mistress at the orphanage school and a few other teachers and the 2nd is of me and Nhien.