6 Weeks Later.....

I've been back in Vietnam for 6 weeks now and I've been fortunate to have participated in: Christmas, My Birthday, New Years and the Tet Holiday commonly known as the Chinese New Year. Whew - it's been lots of fun and lots of work. The fun part was being inviting to local homes for a meal or a beer, celebrating Vietnamese style. They truely are warm people who treat us like family.

As for work - we've been busy - as normal. Loads of new infants have arrived from the hospital - no idea why they are left at orphanages.....I'm trying to get the government to help us spread the kids out over several places so the mothers have a chance at keeping an eye on them all. Viet and I will meet with officials who might help us next week.

Orientation for Feb is tomorrow. We'll have 7 volunteers in Danang, 5 in Tamky and 6 in Tuy Hoa. There are so many plans in the works now - both large and small. Several volunteers around the globe are either returning to help out or fund raising and brainstorming from home. The support is fantastic. I'll need to prioritize and continue to delegate and seek help in order to keep up with everything. Seems like Viet and I are busy weekly with day-to-day issues and rarely have time to discuss larger plans for funding or maybe even building a foster home.

On a personal note, I'm doing really well. Although I feel like it's a transient (sic?) lifestlye with my little room, small amount of personal possessions and volunteers who become friends only to leave after a month or two - I'm still feeling like this is where I am meant to be for now. I often think about 'what's next' only to realize ' this is it' the here and now. And it's perfect, just the way it is. I worry less and less about 'retirement plans', owning another house, keeping up with the Joneses and my favorite TV shows. I'm appreciateing more of 'being in the moment' - enjoying riding a motorbike on a sunny day, through miles and miles of rice fields with mountains in the background and farmers in the fields. I also enjoy the neighbor kids who are never far from our front door - who call out to me, 'Miss Jen!', as they walk past. They come by with their siblings and we give them a carton of milk and let them play with our stash of toys, paints and books. They range in age from 2 to 8 and they're some of the most beautiful kids, inside and out.

The hard part about being in Vietnam (aside from missing my family and friends) is knowing that so much can be done to improve the lives of kids and families, yet we have so little resources. It's not just money. It's manpower, government cooperation, out of the box thinking and getting a society to believe in more than just day to day survival. The impact that several recent wars (in just the last 60 years) has had on Vietnam and it's people is still clearly evident. They tend not to plan for the future much - not surprisingly after reading so many books and listening to stories - everything can all be taken away in an instant. Bank accounts, homes, possessions, even loved ones can be gone tomorrow. So in our program, we deal with loads of pre teen and teenage kids who don't see much of a future for themselves beyond the orphanage or being a motorbike mechanic or tailor. They are surrounded by short term mentality and lack of self worth. Rarely do they have someone - especially who can speak their own language - who inspires them to go beyond themselves as they currently know themselves to be.

I so wish I could insert a disk in to my brain and learn this language overnight! I would use all my past training in the military, my careers, Landmark, life experiences and how I was brought up to inspire these kids to be powerful, compassionate contributors to their country and the world! Boy do I need to learn Vietnamese. The kids love me - they respect me and trust me. But we cannot communicate beyond the basics and that's what they need from me. More than being able to say 'hello' or 'how are you?', they need inspiration in their own language. They need adults to tell them about the world to encourage them to dream and to finish high school or college.

So, I'll close for now. I must go study my Vietnamese.