Back Glance & BIG THANK YOU

Amasing five weeks in Viet Nam ... 
so many positive outcomes for the children and people with disabilities we support. 
 
Back home ... Yes it's good to back home, but ...
we miss:
our friends, the circle of friends is constantly growing ... which is fantastic,
the Sunday morning church service,
the friendly people, 
the smiles of the kids,
the beautiful food, Ban Xeo ... Uli's favorite,
the noise and the traffic ... It's all part of it !!!

Yes it is bitter sweet to be back home. This time it was not always easy for both of us after Matt's camera was robbed of him. Praise the LORD he was not injured.
Right now we are still in-between chairs ... the mind is still in Viet Nam, body in Australia.

We would like to express our deep appreciation and say a big THANK YOU to all our our supporters, individual and corporate sponsors. Because of their contribution we were able to commit to add 11 children in Hoa Dinh to our educational support group.  We had a wonderful time seeing all the children again, plus 11 new kids.

Please page down and read about our mission on our blog. 

We added some highlight snap shots for your perusal. 

English lesson at Company of Grace

Opening of new school year, Hope school for hearing impaired children, Sai Gon

Teachers at Hope School in traditional Ao Dai

Thanh Tra received a pre-loved lap top. Tras father died, his mother is blind. Tra's marks last school year were 9.6 out of 10, he deserved a lap top.

Hien is in her last year at school, she took Uli by her hand when it was time to go !!!

Group photo at My Trung

Tuesday 9:30

Tuesday, 1. Oct 

9:30 we had an appointment for Tram at the family medical centre at Diamond Plaza.
When we arrived, Tram was already waiting ... for her dad to carry her.

A wheel char was provided ... it's like a medical centre at home ...

Saw the orthopedic specialist this morning ... 3/4 of an hour ... He checked Tram very thoroughly and looked at Xrays and MRI.
From his point of view there is very little that can be done ... at very young age the chances of improving her live would have been a lot better. She will never be able to walk ... but movement of the left hand can be improved which means she will be able to control a wheel chair a lot better than now.

Happy to be able to hear first hand was important to us. Sơn Mark Pham and Brent- Stacy Wuensche Tarr both came. Brent arranged that we could see Dr Claudio.

Dr. Claudio from Argentina examining Tram

We waited downstairs at the family clinic, then the receptionist told us ... NO CHARGE !!! What can I say ... Praise the LORD !!! 

Went to a coffee shop and spent 2 hours chatting with those wonderful people. We not only chatted, we CONNECTED !!! We got so much in common ... It's hard to express how blessed we are to have met these wonderful people ... Rain Hail or Shine we will stay in contact and let or fellowship and friendship grow in the name of the LORD.

PS:  Should you ever need medical in Sai Gon ... talk to us !!!

The Tarr family in true Vietnamese style ... 4 kids on 2 motor bikes

In true Texan fashion we hugged and prayed on the street in front of the coffee shop before we parted company !!! What an amasing couple ... Brent n Stacy. Stacy is expecting her fourth child any day now ... but still riding on the motorbike.

We love you guys ... so special meeting you ... words just fail to describe how we feel ! ! !  

Church on Sunday

Sunday, 29. Sep

Went to church this morning ... talking to expats from all over the world afterwards having a cup of tea ... just like at home.
Then we went for lunch with a group of locals and expats. Always interesting to meet new people.
Most people had already left, but I had an urge to talk to the big Texan, his name is Brent. I grabbed a chair and sat right next to him. Brent is a deacon at the church in district 2. We got talking and I was very interested what him and his wife are doing in Viet Nam.
To cut a long story short, I discussed our case of Tram, the girl who suffers from cerebral palsies. Brent is very well connected in the medical fraternity. He knows the top orthopedic surgeon ... from Argentina. We will have an appointment for her either tomorrow or on Tuesday. Praise the LORD ! ! !

 

Guess what ... we DO HAVE and appointment for Tram at 9AM tomorrow (Tuesday, 1st of October) at the orthopedic surgeon ! ! ! It's not what you know ... It's who you know!!! Praise GOD !!! And please pray for a good outcome tomorrow, thank you.

Friday on my mind ...

Friday, 27th Sep

Busy morning, but in the afternoon we went to the Company of Grace to meet with Peter / Hoa to discuss support for four girls. The girls live and work at CoG, but they need to study ... accounting, business management, child care management finish schooling for Hang.

We took photos of the girls ... discussed opportunities and general business.

Here are the profile photos of the girls:

Miss Hien

Suong was born healthy, her foot has turned about 90 degrees over time. This particular illness runs in her family, her sisters had operations but later the problem reoccurred and walking in painful and more difficult.

Miss Suong

Miss Hang

Miss Tien

Later on we were sitting in on English class at CoG. It's an interesting mixture of students, some with disabilities, age wise from 15 to 30. 

Our friend Hoan

 

Visting Tram

Thursday, 27 Sep

Mark Pham from Company of Grace is helping us, working out school fees for Tram and her brother Dung.
We also wanted to see how Tram is going after Patti Lien was working with her in March/April. Tram has got cerebral palsies and is severely disabled. We were surprised to see Tram sitting up. Before she was unable to sit without support.

13 year old Tram

Today we visited the family; with us came Mark and our friend Hoan Candy. Hoan is severely disabled, she has two short legs and only one hand but she is an inspiration to anyone ... she rides a motor bike with support wheels, plays badminton, she has a job and studies English and IT at night. For young people in Viet Nam that is leading a normal life.
The reason of our visit was to convince Tram's parents that some changes around the house are necessary for her to become more independent. 
Hoan spoke about her disability and what obstacles she had to overcome to be independent.  

Our friend Hoan who lived 19 years at the Peace Village in Sai Gon

Wheelchair access to the toilet in Tram's house is impossible right now. We made suggestions how simple changes could easily be achieved. It looks like the message has not hit home. They argued it would cost money ...
Later in the taxi Mark suggested we have to let them know that the supporters in Australia want to see progress ... otherwise they might not be willing to support the family ... If supporters are not happy ...  To tell you the truth, we were thinking somewhere down that line ... but this coming from a local ... and he will also be the messenger ... I think we have to go with his idea.

Trams dad and her two brothers

Mark ... does not like the attitude of Trams parents

Not happy either ...

In 2008 we bought a commercial sewing machine for the parents. This enables them to work from home and have a steady income. Currently assembling leather wallets.

 

Micro economics at work

Wednesday 25. Sep 

Visiting a Hope school student's mum at her new business. In April we were able to support little Nhu's mother by setting her up financially  to open a store in front of her uncles house to sell pork. 
When we first heard it we were critical about it. Miss Diep drove with Matt on the motor bike to have a look where Miss Mai would run her business.

Now six months later we hopped in a taxi to see for ourselfs. Please page down to see for yourself.

Pork anyone ???

Chop chop ...

Cash register the Vietnamese way

Us checking it all out ...

Fresh pork ...

 After we saw the trade and how well it all went, we decided to pay for a fridge so Miss Mai can keep the pork at her house instead of driving to her aunt's house to store it over night.  WIN ~ WIN situation !!!

Wednesday just won't go ...

Wednesday just won't go ...  Wednesday 25. Sep - still Easy Beats ~ Friday on my mind

Another day ... a feeling a little better. 8:30 sharp we had to be at the Hope School for Hearing Impaired children in Binh Thanh district.

Here we met the four additional students. We took on two girls and replaced Ha and Hue who left school earlier this year. Again ... we had to tell the story about the camera ... (see Monday ... below), then we were introduced to the children. As usual, some shy and others very outgoing. We had some little presents from Australia and the kids had fun with the little koalas.
 

Nguyen, Thi Ngoc Ha

Nguyen, Huynh Cat Tuong (left)

Phu, Chi Hung

Tran, Van Tuan

Group photo of four students who now receive CVSG scholarship

   

... comin' Tuesday I feel better ...

 ... to start with an Aussie hit from the Easy Beats ! ! ! 
Tuesday, 24, Sep

It was not the best night sleep, we slept so so ... Our mood was still low, it takes time, but with prayers and loving and caring hugs and messages from our friends we slowly got there.
Now when I hear a motorbike going fast I immediately make sure we are both safe. We went through our wallets and put all the credit cards, atm cards and drivers licenses in our room safe.

Well, we had to rethink ... how do we cover the rest of our trip without photos. Impossible ... but luck we got a one year old smart phone, but we never downloaded photos we took. Now was the time to do it. And surprise surprise the photos are not too bad.
We had an appointment with Claude and Bao who run shelters for pregnant women and orphans. Claude picked up a giant bag full of baby clothes and soft toys. This year her took us the the shelter for pregnant women, taxi ride VND 280.000 from our hotel.

Claude playing with children

This young woman is one of the carers for the children

Kids are having lunch

Downstairs three new babies and their mother

Preparing lunch for the mothers and care givers 

The doctor who provides accommodation for the pregnant woman