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Published: April 24th 2006
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Meet HOA (pronounced HWAH)
Hoa is 16 years and comes from a poor background (his is the house with blue plastic bags). As if this wasn’t enough of a challenge, Hoa had been labeled by the town as “crazy” because of his severe mental “tantrums”. Last year, when Karen found him she had taken him to a doctor, where they learned immediately that Hoa was not mentally disabled, but rather had epilepsy, and simply never diagnosed. The correct medicine was prescribed for Hoa and he has not had a seizure since. The problem now is that he had already been stereotyped, so unfortunately, it has been difficult to convince the town to be more socially acceptable. To find a good solution for Hoa’s future would not be easy. He has no education, and needless to say, he did not get along with his peers, nor does he prefer social settings. After spending time with Hoa, Karen learned that one thing he would like to do is to become a wood carver. I met Hoa on my first day in Hoi An, and Karen had just worked out an agreement to start him with a 9 month apprenticeship with a local
woodcarver. A Lifestart sponsor makes this opportunity possible. A $450 contribution will pay for 3 years of training, and his own bike. I see Hoa often on my walk to school, riding his new bike to work and waving with a big smile. (Karen, I saw him yesterday while I was with Tam who translated for me, he says to tell you he is VERY happy!)
Meet THANH (pronounced TUN)
Thanh is 21 years old and received a generous sponsorship for unlimited funding to pull her out of an exploited working condition. Thanh’s sponsors agreed to pay for all living expenses while Thanh trained for her dream job, a masseuse. Thanh is now working at a 5 star hotel and has come a long way from the pool hall where she once worked endless hours, slept on the floor, and could fit all her belongings in a plastic bag.
The hotel is extremely pleased with Thanh’s performance, we believe she works so hard because she is not used to such a short 8-hour shift. She is finished her 6 months training in 4 months and just signed a 12 month contract with Victoria
Thanh
Thanh in uniform at the spa Hotel Hoi An.
Meet DAO (pronounced DOW)
Dao is 18 years old, and comes from a village outside Hoi An. She is 1 of 7 children. Her mother passed away when she was 1, and her father is sick. Dao had completed up to year 9 in her education, then quit school to work in Hoi An and send money back to the family. She has had the same job at a nearby coffee shop for the past 4 years, working 7 days a week from 6am - 10pm (2am on game nights) for 500,000VND/month, conversion: $31.25USD/month. She has no place to live and sleeps on the coffee shop floor at night.
Karen hopes to have Dao a sponsor for when she returns in September. For the meantime, Karen gets her a dormitory room to share with a fellow girlfriend from her village who already is in the Lifestart program. We take Dao to the market so she can buy things like her own pillow and blanket, and rice cooker. Dao was also given some wheels to get her back and forth to her new home.
Dao is one of the happiest girls
Fresh Wheels
Dao and her new bike I have met here. I can’t understand a word she says but she is very excitable and jumps and giggles like many teenage girls do. When she sees me walking down the street she runs, sometimes skips towards me and interlocks her right arm to my left arm so that we can walk together. The only sad experience I had with Dao was when Karen asked her what she would like to do in her life, what would be her dream job? When translated to her, Dao just stared, as if we asked her who was the Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback in 2004. It was a question so foreign to her. She obviously never dared to have a dream, and I doubt that anyone ever bothered to ask her. So different than the States, a land of endless opportunities and CHOICES and where the #1 question for a 5 year old is “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Dao shares the same birthday as Larry Solitrin.
Meet HA & Dr. Quy (pronounced QWEE)
I met both Ha (16 yrs. old) and with Dr. Quy (29 yrs. old) in Hue this
past weekend (a city 4 hours North of Hoi An). Both come from the same poor village where any education is rare and attending University is unheard of, but this is another good example of the effects of a sponsorship.
Quy had already left school to become a laborer at 11 years old in order to help his family earn money. In a moment of lost hope he left home and jumped himself on a tiny bamboo boat with 26 others traveling to Hong Kong. After the long and hard journey, the British Authorities sank their boat and sent them to a refugee camp on a nearby island, where he lived with only some bare necessities (cloth for a tent, and bisquits and condensed milk for food). There was, however, a school on the island that was run by volunteers. It was here where Quy met his sponsor father, Peter, a volunteer from Australia. Peter was caught by Quy’s eagerness to learn. Quy says that one of the most exciting days in his life was when he received his own notebook. Peter soon sponsored Quy to go to University where he graduated at the top of his class and is now a doctor. Because Dr. Quy was given a chance, he now only wants to do the same for other kids. He helps to find sponsors for teens that would otherwise not have the opportunity for an education. He provides accomodations in his own home so they can have a suitable place to eat, work and study while they complete their education. Some of Dr. Quy’s students and potential students are from Karen’s Lifestart program.
Ha is one of 5 students living with Dr. Quy. Recently Ha’s sponsor had cut her funding, so she is now in need of someone who can help her finish her education. Like all the students Dr. Quy carefully chooses, she is intelligent and ambitious with outstanding grades and attendance in school. Her goal is to become a doctor as well. To sponsor Ha for University and other living costs is $500 for one year.
HOW TO HELP:
http://lifestartfoundation.org.au/
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Victoria
non-member comment
Good thoughts
Sherry, I'm being sent your blogs by Lisa and it's so great that you're encountering these wonderful children and people. In my travels, I'm always made acutely aware of how rich our own country is and how much we take for granted, including all our opportunities. I hope you continue to write about this, maybe a book could be in the works... For those of your readers who might not know, child poverty is still extreme in the US. 29 million children live in low-income families. That's 40% of our country's children who are living on the edge. While it may not compare to the extremes you're finding in SE Asia, there is still a lot of work to be done here too. This site is helping educate and help: http://www.nccp.org/cat_8.html Keep up your good works! Victoria Webb West Chester, PA