Vietnam Healing Foundation extended its helping hand to homeless street children in Saigon. Just before Vietnamese New Year 2009, VHF reached out to 50 homeless street children. Each of them was given a present consisted of a pair of new cloth, a personal hygiene kit and some sweet treats.

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 In early November 2007, one of the VHF supporters initiated a small project to help street children in Saigon.

Through VHF, our representatives in Saigon quickly organized this effort by enlisting help from local volunteers. One of the volunteers owned a shop nearby a park where street children tend to shelter. Through word of mouth, 30 homeless children came to her shop to register and have their body sizes measured so they each could get a pair of new clothes. With the money donated by VHF supporters, volunteers bought and distributed new clothes to these children. After the registration deadline passed, even more street kids came looking for help; quickly volunteers collected about 70 pairs of used clothes and gave these to the children .

Later on, in December, the same group of volunteers organized a trip for these street children, and about 25 of them, some of them handicapped, were taken to a one day trip to Suoi Tien Amusement Park near Saigon. They had a fabulous time, probably the best day of their lives.

We know that our effort is only a drop of water in a very big bucket. There are many more homeless children out there. They are products of poverty and neglect; they are one of the “forgotten people”. In every major city and town in Vietnam, they live homeless, neglected, without guidance or love. We want to help them but our resources are limited. We hope with more financial help from people like you who care about forgotten people like these children and disabled Vietnamese veterans, together we can add many more drops of water….. Thank you.

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The story of Toai

I was really concerned about his well being when I met him. Both of his legs are totally paralyzed. It seems like the only living parts of his body can be seen from his abdomen upwards — both of his shrinking tiny legs are absolutely not moveable. Although I have seen and helped many handicapped street children, I still did not how to handle his case.

Seeing his bright, lovable face, I told myself to try my best to help him to live a normal life.

I arranged a temporary place for him to live together with some street children who have the same situations. Everyday he goes to the sewing shop that I am in charge to learn sewing. He slowly adapted himself to this new life. Even being handicapped, he tried hard to learn, and he quickly learned the new job skill.

I loved him more when I learned more about his life. His mom abandoned him when he was born because he was not a normal baby. He could not walk. He must use both hands to push his body up in order to move forwards. He lived with his grandma. She was too old to take care of him. So he started to live on the streets. He did many different jobs such as selling newspapers, lottery tickets, or shining shoes for people. He did any jobs that he could do with his able hands to make the living. He determined not to be a beggar because he did not want anyone to look down on him. There were many sunny days and many rainy days - When he could not sell any newspapers he still tried and crawled through many city streets with dirt and mud all over his body. Not able to sell any newspapers meant that he and his grandma must live with their empty stomachs. These difficult days went on until I meet him.

He was officially admitted to the sewing company. The sewing shop required working overtime frequently, but he did not mind at all and continued to work hard like a working bee. He is proud that he now can take care himself and his grandma. He life is still not well off, but there are no more hungry days with the empty stomachs as in the past when he held his grandma and they cried together.

In a group meeting with the street children who have the similar situations, he handed me a small amount of money to contribute to the charity funds for street children. It made me cry because I saw in him the kind heart of people who even real poor but still love and care for someone less fortunate.

Saigon December 1st, 2007

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Our Exhilaration

My mom passed away when I was two years old, my brother was just six months old. My dad was not able to take care of us, therefore he sent us away. I was sent to Dalat where my uncle’s family lived. My childhood has been full of sadness due to the lack of love from my parent and lack of material things as well. My uncle was very nice, but he was poor and had many kids. I grew up as an extra burden to his poor family. Unfortunately, when I was sixteen years old, my uncle and his wife died in a car accident. His children were sent to an orphanage handled by a Buddhist temple in Dalat and I was sent to a Catholic school in Thu-Duc.

Then I got married later on, hoping that the new chapters of my life would be better. My husband came from a rich family. He has been a spoiled brat when he grew up and he was an alcoholic. When he got drunk, he used to beat me and our children. I almost gave up my life after so many series of beat ups and days without foods. I stayed on just for my kids, but finally I decided to run away. I took my kids and left him with my bare hands. I made my living by doing odd jobs, or labor works to get by. About my brother, because he was too young and immature, he committed a crime and was sent to jail. When he was released, I found him and we relied on each other to live. That’s the time I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and the hope for real happiness. We moved to the New Economic Zone and worked in the rubber plantation. I bought and sold junks and second hand stuffs. Those days were so difficult, but they were our real happiness.

I got very sick due to these long hard days. I had to send my kids back to my husband’s parent in Saigon because I did not want them to live in poverty with no education (my husband was remarried and had his own family at this time). After I recovered from the sickness, I returned to Saigon and joined a small sewing factory. And I learned how to work and train the handicaps and street children the sewing skills at this very small factory. The more I learned and understood their situations, the more I loved this job. Looking at these children I can see through them a part of my own childhood. Thus, I commit myself to do my best to help them.

The group that I manage consists of 20 handicapped, paralyzed, birth-defected children. Each of them has their own situations, but they all share the common theme: poor, lack of education, and have no families. Worst of all the cases, there is one paralyzed child that his living body is just the upper half.

Living far away from their relatives, these children come from everywhere. They gather here, constantly focus on learning a job new skill and determine to overcome and beat all the odds, not to surrender to their tough lives. From the simple efforts to give them love and protect them, I started to admire their strong wills and commitments. I soon realized that they have become my second family — A family was fed by the sincere compassions from the hearts of those people who never stopped trying their best. I’m proud of this second family and always wish that I could have more means in my hands to help them.

The trip on December 1st, 2007 was a festival for my second family. I cannot describe their anxieties, longings for it after they came to know about the plan to visit Suoi-Tien recreation area and participate in a festival for handicapped and street children there. They were very anxious about the trip, and even for me, I also felt the same. I woke up at 3:30 AM to prepare the foods and drinks for them. I committed myself to give them — together with all of their friends with the same situations from everywhere — a day completely filled with happiness and equality.

With the financial supports from many overseas anonymous donors and some local contributions, we were able to prepare the transportation, and gifts for each of them. Our hearts were filled with joys when we saw the glimmering and touching looks in their eyes when they received their gifts or when we witnessed them filled with laughter in the first long trip together with friends.

At Suoi-Tien recreation area, after the opening speech, all of them were actively playing their appropriate games, eating and participating in a concert with many city singers and performers. I couldn’t describe the feelings of Trinh, the most severely handicapped girl in our group. This was the verybv first time she saw her idol, singer Dan-Truong, she handed him her flower bouquet and got a hug and a kiss from him. This moment of happiness probably will stay long in her heart, and will give her the confidence to go on living.

And we, the group of people who take care of them and teach them job skills also perceive a new feeling. It completely fills our hearts when we see all of them happy in their childhood. We name it our exhilaration.

Saigon, December 1st, 2007

T. T.

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The Story About A Simple Wish

I still remembered forever that night in 2002. That was the last time that me and a group of friends went to Ben Tre town to organize the Mid-Autumn Festival for the street children. There was a young child there. She kept following me after receiving the gift — They were the Moon cakes and the Mid-Autumn lanterns for them to play. —While I discussed with my friends about her study and her family, suddenly, I asked that little girl about her wishes and she said: “I wish one thing, but I probably cannot get it”. I said to her “Just tell me that”. She was reluctant for a while and said softly “But this one is very expensive”. I just guessed that what she wanted probably a certain toy or something like that. Curiously, I asked her “So what is that?”. She said softly to my ear as the way people are secretly telling something important. “A very beautiful pencil!”.

A pencil? The wish that she was so reluctant to tell me was just a pencil? In the worst case, as I estimated, a pencil would cost about 10,000 VND. So I decided to take her to a local store and buy her that pencil. She pointed to the pencils inside the glass shelf of a vendor. I asked the lady who run that store about the price of these pencils. She answered: “It costs 2,000 VND”

Five years passed by, that story of the little girl from Ben-Tre town with the 2000 VND pencil was still in my mind every time I think about her. On the recent trip for the handicapped and street children to Suoi Tien Recreation Area on December 1st, 20007, she (her name is Loan — now is 12 years old), expressed herself to me: “Is it OK for me to dream to be a vendor when I grow up, sis?”

Is that’s all? There are many children in this country that they are so far-off to the big dreams to be engineers or doctors or even just a dream to have Barbie dolls. Their dreams or wishes that they long for are so small and simple.

And there are many donors who are not filthy rich, but full of compassions. They joined their efforts and their loves to turn these simple and small dreams into realities and helped cultivating these dreams to be fulfilled.

Looking at these street children eating the pork sandwiches before receiving their gifts, seeing the Catholic nuns who volunteered to take care of these handicapped, less fortunate children, I believed that the seeds of love in this world would never be exhausted.

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