From Hanoi, we flew southeast wards to Hue Province.
In Hue, we had established
connection with 2 orphanage homes. On our first day, we visited Kim Long
Orphanage (St Paul’s). This orphanage is run by a group of nuns in Hue. Sister
Chantal is in charge of the orphanage and takes care of the children from the streets, children abandoned by their
families because of their disability and children of destitute families in
order to allow their parents to work, the same for poor and isolated young
girls. This orphanage only takes in girls and provides them with proper food, shelter and education.
When we arrived at the home, we were
welcomed by one of the nun who showed us around the kindergarten area operated
by the Kim Long Orphanage. We were only allowed to visit the orphanage home
after 6pm when all of the girls return from their school. We made full
use of the time to pack all the donation items into party packs in one of the
empty room. As we were packing, one of the children from the kindergarten walked in curiously and eyed at the arrays of gift packs. I handed over one of the
pack to him and his smile upon receiving the gift really warms my heart. We
took a few photos with the child and her mother before they went home in a
small scooter. What a simple way of life.
At 6pm, one of the orphanage girls
returned from her university lesson. She greeted us and walked us to their
orphanage home where the rest of the orphanages stay. It was a rather well
built 4 storey building with ample space for the children to move around.
At the lobby, Sister Chantal greeted
us with a very heart-warming smile and expressed her gratitude for Love &
Hope to visit her home. Even though she is in her 70s, she does not seem to be having
signs of tiredness.
“On behalf of St Paul’s Orphanage, we
would like to thank you for coming to meet the children and give them these
gifts.” - Sister Chantal
Soon after, a group of 50 girls made
their way to our proximity and each of them received a gift from our hands.
Each gift pack consists of a pencil case, pencils, some biscuits and a toy.
This maybe just a simple gift but to them, it is sufficient for them to feel
the LOVE & HOPE from the people back in Singapore. Thanks to those who have
contributed in one way or another.
After gift distribution, we were
brought for a tour around the orphanage and glad that the place is equipped with
decent classrooms and beds for the orphans. The youngest girl in the home is a 5
months old baby who was abandoned by her parent because of some unknown reason.
Sister Chantal reminded me of Mother Teresa who really has a big heart for the
less fortunate.
On our way out, the children sang us a
song before they bid us goodbye.
On the following day, we travelled
almost 1 hour to the next home, Duc Son Orphanage. This orphanage is managed by
a group of Buddhist nuns. They depend very much on the income from the public
and one of the vegetarian restaurants operated by their own orphanage children.
One of the nuns who was able to speak very
fluent English, showed us around the home. The children were very excited to
receive us and some of them held onto our hands as we tour the vicinity.
One of the more memorable moments was
when I saw a 16 years old boy that has history of violence; his hands were chained
onto the metal grills on his bed. For the safety of the rest of the orphans in
the home, this is the only solution available. I felt sad to see the boy going
through all these and suffer in silence. As we walked further, there is a boy
who is partially blind. He has to depend very much on another girl who
is autistic to move around the place. Somehow, I moved forward and tapped my
hands gently on the girl's hair signal to her that she is doing well.
Over at the dining hall, there was
already a group of children enjoying their meals happily at the table. The
bigger boys played the role of their elder brother for their junior. Not only
taking care of the juniors but also correcting the junior behavioural issues
when the need arise.
We were led to a common space where we
carried out our distribution session. The kids queued up in an orderly fashion
to collect their gifts. From the joyful faces of these orphans, we realised
that happiness does not need to has a price tag but rather things to
make them feel appreciated by the society matter most.
With the visit to the 2 orphanage
home, it marks the end of our Love & Hope journey in
Vietnam. It is really a life enriching
experience and being able to be on site to help these less fortunate people is
something we will remember for life.
No matter how poor they are, their
optimistic value of life is something worth learning from. Everyday is a
struggle for them, why not try to make their life better by giving them a share of your LOVE & HOPE ?
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