Volunteering: Pediatric Hospital of Hanoi

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Well the last 2 weeks in Vietnam have come and gone...here I am sitting writing about the 2 weeks at the Children's hospital when it seems like I just finished at the orphanage. I must say that I am ready to move on, back to Thailand where I meet up with my sister and some friends from Two Hills in about 10 more days...so I am pretty stoked to see some familiar faces again!

Arriving back in Hanoi was good, although our living conditions were less than ideal in Hanoi. They crammed about 30 people into a house that only has beds (beds being a relative term!) for 20, so 10 people had to sleep on the floor and/or on the roof top terrace (when it wasn't raining that is) and there were only 2 bathrooms to share, a small fridge that didn't work at all (all the food rotted all the time because of the heat), cockroahces, spiders, mosquitoes, a family of ants, and even a few rats in the kitchen at night (I never saw them thankfully...but someone did and they were in our wok...ew ew ew ew ew!). So needless to say, we lived in a bit of squalor for the last 2 weeks, so another volunteer and myself who both fly out at similar times tomorrow have come into the old quarter of Hanoi to a hotel room for the night, and you should have seen the smile on our faces when we arrived. A house full of 30 people wears on you after a while...no privacy of course, and getting into the bathroom was always a waiting game. However, we are trying to be positive about the experience, and are telling ourselves that it builds character...we shall see! Oh and sometimes there was no running water...try using a toilet then...There were actually 3 different work projects going on at the same time, so we had 7 international volunteers in our group. 2 girls from Korea, one from Holland, one from Ireland, and 2 from Denmark. They were a great group of people to work with and get to know.
Anyway, we had a decent enough experience but I am glad that I fly tomorrow to Chiang Mai.

But the hospital was a good experience. The healthcare system sure is different than what we are privaledged to have in Canada. There were sometimes 3 children sharing a bed...bed again being a relative term. No mattresses, just the same wood beds with straw mats that we slept on at the orphanage and they lay them across the bed. The nurses do not tend to the children, the parents must bathe, feed, and tend to their ill children, so there are so many people in a room of about 6 beds, but about 16 children and then their parents...crowded to say the least. I did not take many photos of the rooms (actually only 1) because it would have been rather invasive I felt so I just looked and apprciated where I come from and the conditions under which I work. Our system isn't perfect, but it certainly could be a lot worse.

Our daily schedule was breakfast at around 8am (breakfast was white bread with jam and condensed milk...they use condensed milk on everything!); then 1/2 our group would clean our part of the house, and the other 1/2 would go to the market to buy our food to cook for lunch. Cooking was great...we sure got creative in the kitchen when it comes to using basically the same ingredients for every meal! Hats off to the Danish girls for sure...it never tasted the same. And to Ellie and Marthe my cooking mates, we rocked out the peanut, pineapple, and beansprout stirfry!! And fruit and Creameo's for dessert of course (cheapo version of Oreo's!)mmmmm

Then we would head off to the hospital about 1 pm. It took a 10 minute walk, 30 min bus ride, then 20 min walk to finally arrive at the hospital. We tried to have activities arranged for that day such as mask making, party hats, balloon day, etc. Oh a great big thanks to Jelene and Lies from Belgium who gave me a whole lot of their donated balloons for me to take to the hospital...the kids LOVED them! The kids did a lot of coloring, drawing, BINGO, tic tac toe, number games, and such that didn't require as much communication. A few of the kids spoke a bit of english as did a few parents, but we relied heavily on the local volunteers for translation...although their english was a tad sketchy at times so we really weren't all too sure what what being said!!! We only got 2 hours a day at the hospital, and when we are not there, all the toys and games get locked up...which sucks for the kids but read on to see why.

The cultural differences sure become apparent when you spend a lot of time not only with the parents and children, but with the local volunteers. Their culture of "take whatever you can get" sure becomes apparent when you bring out a bag of balloons and you thought it was money in the bag the way the parents grabbed and hoarded the balloons. It was a bit shocking to be honest...they were just balloons...but they take whatever they can get which is why the try to rip off tourists all the time. I have come to accept it for the most part, but it sure is different. But some of the children didn't even get one and some took like 5 or 6 and stashed them away...quite interesting. Many of our supplies also grew legs and walked away during the play session.

Anyway, we also had the chance to do a lot of sightseeing in the mornings as well which was great. The local volunteers would come over at 8am and take us all around the city showing off their city with pride. It was great to get to know the locals, although communication was at times a bit of an issue, we did get by. Waiting in lines is also not something they really do...people bud in line, push, shove, etc to get to the front. The rule of " Might is Right" applies here for sure...pedestrians are the lowest on the list so you better watch your step. Truly I am not sure how I survived 7 weeks unscathed...however many near misses were recorded!

Last weekend I went to Sapa which is about a 10 hour train ride away with 5 other volunteers. It was so so great! It was beautiful and we had perfect weather. It was an amazing break from the humidity, pollution, and traffic of Hanoi. It was just what I needed to recharge my battery for the last week in Hanoi. But here it is at an end already.

I am working on posting pictures on facebook so won't even bother trying on the blog so check it out!

The last night in Hanoi Nichola from England and I went and got a hotel and enjoyed it so so so much! We shopped for our last bit of souvenirs, had a scrumptous dinner of burgers and fries, a COLD beer, a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, Fanny's icecream and a stay in an airconditioned room! Then we shared a taxi to the airport and we were off in our seperate directions. Thanks Nichola for a fab last night in Vietnam!!

Well I am actually now in Thailand (i started writing this last week) and am so happy and relaxed. I am off for a 3 day meditation retreat tomorrow...no talking for 3 days...we shall see!!

Much love...
still livin' the dream....everyone should live the dream....
car

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