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School Scholarships
Without the school scholarships provided by HSCV these wonderful children would be forced to stop attending school. For only $50 you can sponsor an at risk child with a year of school fees. In return you will receive a photo, biography, and have the opportunity to exchange letters, pictures and drawings with the child. Donate $50 now, using paypal's safe and secure network For an additional $100 a year you can sponsor the child's family with a monthly donation of rice. This donation will provide the family with a much needed opportunity to purchase other necessities, such as vegetables, meat and personal items such as clothing and shoes. Donate $150 now, using paypal's safe and secure network. |
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April 2004 Find all of Annetta's updates from Hanoi in April 2004. Click a date to go to that weeks update.
My first week in Hanoi has been a very eventful one. I started the week by acclimating myself to the 11 hour time difference and the humidity. But by the second day I was more worried about learning how to ride a motorbike and maneuvering in Hanoi traffic. It's more than a little intimidating driving among 3 million people. I'm finally starting to feel comfortable behind the wheel, now it's time to figure out how to get from one side of the city to the other. On Wednesday Chuck and I visited the orphanage with five girls from Singapore. These girls have spent the last week playing with the children, teaching them games, and creating huge smiles on their faces. It was obvious that the children love the girls. Starting the second week in April I will be visiting this orphanage to teach English to the children. How good of a teacher and how much the children learn from me is yet to be determined. The Vietnamese place a high value on education, I just hope they aren't disappointed when they learn that my class will mostly be for fun. The rest of the week was divided between, meetings, a BBQ at The American Club, walking around the neighbor hood, enjoying wonderful meals at our landlords, and creating a home for me a 145e Pho Yen Phu #8. We have appointments set-up at a few schools and a hospital next week. Chuck leaves on Thursday and there are a lot of loose ends to tie before he leaves.
Our first stop this week was at Soc Son Secondary School. Soc Son is a poor district about an hour north of Hanoi. The students at Oakridge Middle school in Prior Lake, MN are their Sister School. A few weeks ago Chuck presented the teachers letters and drawings from Oakridge Elementary school. We returned this week to Soc Son to pick-up additional letters for the students at Oakridge. We also presented the staff with some bandages, topical antiseptic, and gauze. This was to repay the school for the use of their first-aid, after my father fell during our visit last November. He was playing with the children tripped on the cobblestone courtyard and hit his head. He was carefully treated with, antiseptic, fanning, and massages. Chuck joked that he should get hurt more often in Vietnam, because the care and attention he received was better than he had ever received his whole life. Our gesture of replenishing their first-aid was received with huge smiles and great humor. However, I don't foresee any of the supplies going to waste. After the warm reception, we were allowed to sit-in during a ninth grade English class. They were learning past and present participles. The lesson was quite advanced. Despite the obvious distraction of having my father and me in their classroom the students remained on task. I've volunteered to go back to the school a few times to help the students with their pronunciation. I'm happy to say that a generation of children in Soc Son, with be speaking with a Minnesotan accent. You know. Thursday was Chuck’s last day in Vietnam and it was also perhaps his most exciting. We were able to get two severely handicapped girls into the National Institute of Pediatrics (NIP), Anh who is 15 and Ha who is 11. The NIP is the best pediatrics hospital in Hanoi. Anh has an enlarged heart and is missing her ACLs so her knees bend the wrong way. When she stands she is only about three feet tall. We have been told that both of these issues are correctable. It has been decided that her heart will be the first obstacle tackled. She received a sonogram of her heart last week and on Tuesday the Doctors and Surgeons will meet to determine whether or not her heart is operable. Keep your fingers crossed for Anh. Ha has many developmental problems. Dr. has diagnosed her with Cerebral Palsy. She is slightly mentally impaired, has some issues with her muscles, and has a hard time standing up and walking long distances. It has also been determined Ha has some hearing loss in both of her ears. On Monday she will receive more extensive testing. If she can be helped with hearing aids, HSCV provide them. Her legs will require braces and physical therapy. Each girl saw between two and five different specialists. Let me try and draw you a picture of the hospital. There are 500 beds, our girls were the 800th being admitted. It’s full of long halls and waiting rooms full of sick children and nervous parents. The paint on the walls is chipping off, the elevators work only on occasion, and lights flicker on and off from time to time. Despite this, the staff at the hospital are the most dedicated you will meet. They use the limited time they have with each patient to its fullest. Most patients wait all day just to see a doctor, nurse, or student. Dr. Ha is an incredible woman. She is a head Doctor at the NIP, runs a center for children with autism and cerebral palsy out of her home, and teaches speech therapy and early behavior modification. This is a short list of the many tasks she performs on a daily basis. Her husband is the director for Hope Center No. 1. They were kind enough to invite me, Kim Wagaman, and Sandra Taylor to visit the center. Kim and Sandra are from California, and have been visiting Hanoi for the past two weeks, they found HSCV on the internet and wanted to see our work in Hanoi. They have both been an incredible help to us. Sandra is the middle of her residency as a surgeon. She was a great source during the evaluations of Ha and Anh. Kim is a specialist working with children with Autism. After a short visit at Hope Center No.1, Dr. Ha invited Kim to give a lecture for the staff and parents at the center. She spoke on creating motivation and positive reinforcement. The staff, parents, and I gained a lot knowledge. That’s where this week has led me. It looks to be a very exciting week ahead of me. One more very important thing, I would like to welcome my new nephew, Antonio Charles Stage, to this world. He was born Saturday the 10th at 4:15 pm. He weighs in at almost 7lbs and is 20 inches long. Good luck little guy. I can’t wait to meet you.
Monday started the week with Ha’s hearing tests. She did very well at performing the tasks asked of her. However, due to her mental challenges she will have to have more in-depth testing in the coming up weeks. HSCV has agreed to pay for her tuition to attend Hope Center No. 1. At this center she will receive speech therapy, physical therapy, as well as schooling. On Tuesday I taught my first English lessons to the children at the Hai Ba Trung Orphanage. I think it went as well as it could of. They learned how to say words such as; book bag, pencil, and table, red, yellow and black. The age of the children varies from five to nineteen, so it is a little difficult to tailor a lesson for them all. Mostly it’s about having fun. I’m looking forward to teaching them again next week. It has also been determined that Anh's VSD is correctable with heart surgery. This surgery will be preformed at a local hospital by local doctors. The cost of the surgery is around $1,150. Anh’s family is very poor and it would take a lifetime for them to save enough to pay for this much needed surgery, HSCV has agreed to provide the funding for the procedure. I am very excited about this development. It would have been heart breaking if I had to tell Anh and her father that I couldn’t help her. She is a very pretty and quiet young lady. Many of the examinations have been frightening for her, and I really don’t know if she knows what to expect with her surgery to come. I will do my best to comfort her and her family. On Monday I will make her next appointment. Nha Trang has been my interrupter for the past few weeks. She is very nice, and loves children. I don’t know what I would have done without her help. She has introduced me to many of her friends and they are all very nice. Unfortunately she will be moving to China at the end of the month. On Thursday I attended an informational meeting about the aloe products that she sells. It was very interesting, and aloe can do many things, but it was in Vietnamese, and I had a hard time following along. On my way home it started to rain, and rain. It’s very challenging to drive a motorbike when the rain is hitting you in the face. It didn’t stop until early Saturday. On Friday I was supposed to visit a few of the Sister Schools with Cargill, but it was raining so hard we decided to postpone it for a week. I hope the weather is a little more corporative. So as I sit here eating fresh pineapple, which is getting better with each passing week, it’s hard for me to believe that three weeks have already passed. My landlord Hai is busy cleaning my floors, stairs, and entryway. I’m just happy that I don’t have any dishes waiting to be washed. Hai, his wife Tanh, and daughter Linh, have quickly become my surrogate family. They cook me the most wonderful meals, of prawn or spring rolls. Last night they invited me to dinner for some Pho Bo (Beef Soup). We took our motorbikes across the Red River. Once across the river we took the side roads that lead to smaller roads, which lead to a system of narrow unlit alleyways. At this point I had no idea where we were going or what I had gotten myself into this time. Each time we stopped to ask for directions the croaking of the frogs grew louder and more intense. It was apparent that we were close to water. Finally after several left turns and a few right turns we pulled into the most amazing restaurant. To the left was a body of water, with docks leading to floating platforms. The restaurant itself was a system of large stilled rooms. Upon walking in they took our order and pulled a large fish from the fish pond in front of us. We sat on the ground around the six inch high tables. Cold Tiger Beer was poured, which was followed by a feast. We enjoyed a number of dishes: cold cumber salad, fish balls, mushrooms with fish stomachs (a little chewy, but good), and a large fish that was pulled apart and rolled in rice paper with rice noodles, pineapple and fresh herbs. It was a night filled with many pleasant surprises and not the pho bo I was expecting.
And finally, here is a photo of my nephew Antonio Charles Stage, with his Mother Linda, Brother Ricardo Reece, and Sister Sabreena Marie.
This
past week I spent many hours waiting, riding in cars, visiting children
and meeting Americans. It was emotionally challenging, frustrating, and
stressful, yet at times it was encouraging. I’ve learned that Ha’s name is really Hang and Ha is her family name. Anyway Hang is doing great at Hope Center No. 1. She has been going there for a week and a half. She has been placed in kindergarten. Hang has already learned how to write the number 1, 2, 3 and the letters b an e. They are having some difficulty teaching her because of her hearing impairment. But it is my hope that by the end of this week she will be fitted with a hearing aid. Hang’s physical therapy is focusing on her legs. The muscles in her legs are not strong enough to support her. They have been working on stretching the muscles. There is already a noticeable difference in her flexibility. Hope Center No. 1 creates an environment where Hang will thrive. HSCV is also supporting another child at Hope Center No. 1. Nga is a child with many physical and mental issues. Her parents have fallen on some hard times, and have requested some support. We have agreed to help her for a limited time. The fee for each child to attend Hope Center No. 1 is approximately $75 a month. On Wednesday I spent the day with Anh of Cargill. We visited two sister schools. In the morning we visited Thanh Khuong Primary School, in Bac Ninh Province. I was greeted by the Headmaster and a few of the teachers. I presented them with the letters and drawings from the students at Five Hawks Elementary. They were very pleased by the work of the students. Although, they did comment that their students had much better handwriting. After flipping through the drawing several times they asked my why the students colored the sun yellow. In Vietnam the sun is always depicted as being red. I told them that as a child I colored my suns yellow too, and that the sun looks different in different parts of the world. In the afternoon we headed due south for an hour and a half and ended up at Trung Luong Primary School in Ha Nam Province. This school has four locations and I was a happy to see we visited a school that I had not previously been to. This time I was greeted by the Vice Headmaster as well as some teachers. I presented them with the letters and drawings from the students at St. Michaels Catholic School. They quickly looked through the pile of letters. They were very happy to see that although their students working conditions are very poor their hand writing was superior. The faculty stressed that their students are very excited to build a friendship with the students in America. They hope to have a long friendship with St. Michaels. This weekend I was introduced to a few Americans who are living in Hanoi. We went out for dinner and enjoyed long conversations in English. It was very refreshing. I was due for a night of live music and cold beer. Tonight Hai is preparing me dinner, and he said it is American food. Like usual, I’m not really sure what to expect, but I’m sure whatever it is it will be delicious. |
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Humanitarian
Services for Children of Vietnam was incorporated in September 2001. The
organization was granted 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service
in April 2002. All donations to the organization are fully tax deductible.
HSCV is a non-sectarian organization, unaffiliated with any other organization. |
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