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Published: February 1st 2005
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Hello everyone!
Sorry to bombard you with emails but following our visit to A'Loui, home of Fueng, our sponsored child, we just had to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard if you will..
We were picked up in Hue at 8 by World Vision, a driver and Huang, the female interpreter and Social Development Leader. The drive was 5 hours until a year ago when completion of 2 bridges reduced it to 2 (thank goodness - done enough 'bums on seats' already).
A'Loui is a town based in the foothills of the Loas/Vietnam boarder, site of the infamous Hamburger Hill massacer of the VN war. This area is striclty off limits to any foreigners unless accompanied by an international organisation such as W.V. Consequently we were only the 6th and 7th westerners (and only the 3rd and 4th actual sponsors) to be seen in the town, pretty much since the withdrawel of troops in '75.
We were not really sure what to expect but it certainly wasn't the full on, planned to the minute, comprehensive tour / treatment that followed.
We began with a meeting of all involved with WV projects and walked into
a room with 14 people and were promptly placed at the head of a table consisting of the village Chairman, School Headmistress, WV staff (local and City based volunteers), parents of the sponsored child and of course the little girl herself!
We've both been in public situations but instantly this was the most nervous either of us had ever felt..
The next 40 minutes was all given via Huang our interpreter and basically gave us a full overview of the situation both past and present and WV's impact on water, supplies, regeneration projects, schooling and various other aspects of A'Loui's current state.
This was a great start but somehow i think both of us had only one thing on our mind - this nervous as hell, gorgeous little 7-year old that was sat next to us, arms folded (as they are taught for politeness) wondering quite what this was all about... In this PC world we live in it was 'interesting' to hear that they had all been teasing her about the fact we were here to take her back to England! - we quickly got them to put her straight - what would she have been thinking...
It seemed that everyone had got dressed for the occasion apart from us, and in a village classed as 'mild poverty' (to you and I, 3rd world) this was a massive gesture..
We were center of attention with the village elders right down to group's of kids all gathering for a glimpse of the 'aliens' in town. Kids are taught basic English from 7or8 onwards so the chance to practice 'Hello' was too good an opportunity to miss. As soon as we'd respond they'd all have a fit of the giggles and run in all directions..!
At the end of this first hour we got to give presents to Fueng and her parents - it was just amazing, we think the other adults were as giddy as them as to what we were going to pull from our classy Tesco's carrier..
Amongst other things Rosie gave Fueng a 'Piglet' pencil case and she carried it like a new born baby for the next hour....bless..
We were taken to the school next and another 2 or 3 teachers joined us for 'green tea' (this is compulsory literally any time you sitdown anywhere in Nam!) and a
tour of the facilities. These were very basic but comprehensive for the 391 pupils and their requirements.
More kids looked on...!
We took photos of the kids and the look on their faces when we replayed the images on the camera was more priceless than any image we took all day..
Back to the comittee centre for, what in their terms was a banquet and ours come to think of it - talk about humbled..
It hit home when you looked at Fueng and her parents literally wolfing down the food - not a normality, obviously..
Then it was time for them to leave - gutting - we could have stayed with them for days. The mum was 31, with 2 kids and you could see she was desperate to talk with Rose - just not that easy.. She invited us back to their 'home' but WV rules stipulate that this is not allowed - understandable when you hear the justifications...
The group reduced to 5, we said our goodbye's to Fueng and then went off to see some of the projects and their impact on A'Loui..
Gravity fed water systems instead of wells,
taps instead of streams, vaccinations instead of herbal remedies and a increase of dependable and sustainable food and financial supplies...Fantastic.
We went to the kindergarten, set up by WV, just after their afternoon nap and spent the next 20 mins with 25 2-5 year old's staring blankley at us wondering what on earth was going on in their dream like state .. very cute.
Then our last visit was to the paddy fields where WV had set up some simple but very effective irrigation systems .. this meant an increase of produce by 25% - a massive amount when this is what they rely on to survive.
We just can't stress enough the impact the day had on both of us - Overwhelming is a good word! ..still 2 days later it's difficult to appreciate the gulf between our world's. This has without a doubt been a life changing experience.
As you can tell we could go on about this for a long time, however we will leave our experiences there... sorry to rant but this is as much for 'our' travel diary as it is an update for you!
We have added some photo's
to the last journal ('Hectic in Hanoi') if you fancy a look and thanks again for reading!!
Speak soon guys .. would love to hear your news so get those fingers working!!
Over & out... Us x x x
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