Bicycles and Sandals - Viet Nam - July 2009

Dami

It is as if we were going on some adventurous safari ride, bouncing around in the car - huts, wild pigs, goats appearing along sides of the roads.  The roads to Dami was rough, filled with "elephant" pot-holes (much larger than "chicken" pot-holes").  Dami is a rural area, occupied by minority people living in the mountains, about 2 hours away from Phan Thiet by car.  This is my first bicycle-delivery trip to this remote area of Viet Nam.

Bishop Paul Nguyen Thanh Hoan of Phan Thiet had tasked a couple of nuns to reside in Dami, among other rural areas in the Vietnam, to help the villagers with their needs.  Unlike other missionaries who distributed bibles and preached endlessly about their religions, the Community's (Community of Charity and Social Services founded by Bishop Hoan) nuns and brothers'  main purpose in life is to serve the poor and the needy unconditionally.  They do not preach religion to the villagers.  Most nuns majored in a health-related field, such as nutrition, Eastern medicine, pharmacy, social working...with this purpose in mind. A non-threat to the local government (who frowns upon teaching other than its own government's teaching) the nuns and brothers are left alone to tend the poor and the sick in Dami.  The nuns learn Dami's dialect (which is not the same as the Vietnamese speaking language) to communicate with the people.  They set up a small clinic and administer medicine and acupuncture.  The people of Dami respect and are thankful for the presence of the nuns and brothers.

The sisters and the people in Dami knew the paper work to file to get the local government's approval for transporting and distributing the bicycles to the village students.  We have 50 bikes to deliver.  Our bus was guided by one of these nuns, Sister Chi. 

The children lined up to receive their bikes.  It was pouring down at times, some children could not make the event due to bad weather and slippery roads, their parents came with motorcycle and transport the bikes instead.  The local government's people showed up briefly to overlook the activity, offering assistance.

Prior to this trip I've never heard of Dami.  Brother Thanh, my trusted Brother who purchased all the bikes, explained to me what Da Mi meant.
Da (Many) Mi (Dreams).  A dreamy place for sure, with clouds weaving between mountains.   Perhaps he was just making this up to impress guests, but I find it very fitting.  So much of Vietnam I haven't seen and Dami dreamy scenery and the children's happiness that day left a sweet memory.

Dami's huts.  Animals stayed cool underneath huts.

A Dami's wild baby potbelly pig, it is smaller than a chicken.

Fifty bicycles to be delivered to students, the children have to walk 5-7km to school.

Children lined up to receive their bikes.  Some children live too far away,
their parents came to receive their bikes instead.

Distributing bikes: Sister Chi (in black) goes to Dami frequently to help the villagers.

Dami's children & parents with their new bikes

Littering is common in VN.  The street was littered with plastic covering the new bikes' seats.
A donor of bicycles, Son Nguyen, picked up trash as the children were leaving. 
His action prompted the parents and students to do the same.

Nghe An

Children waiting at Phi Loc's church courtyard for guests to deliver bicycles and sandals.

The children of Phi Loc, a small parish in Nghe An,  have been rehearsing their acts for a variety show to welcome guests.  "Honest...honest one should be, honest in actions, honest in words, if yes then say yes, if no then say no..."  The second graders memorized their song and the dance accompanying it.  With flower wreaths and pretty dresses, the fourth and fifth graders also rehearsed for more elaborate dances, to contribute to this Bike & Sandals festival.  Banner "Welcome Guests" have already been stretched and hung on the pillars, just outside the church. The  bicycles have been placed neatly in a row with the big sacks of sandals placed nearby.  Curiously the children from the other villages came early, they perched on a wall a few yards away from the church, looking and waiting for the excitement to arrive. 

Chilren gathered for bicycles and sandals event.

Perched on a wall and tree, children overlooked Phi Loc's activities.

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This time I decided to stay in the village rather than in the hotel, I wanted to taste that country living.  The house I stayed in belongs to Brother Tiep's family, a quaint antique country home, with pictures of Jesus and Mary pasted all over their paint-peeled light blue wall.  The family had gone out of their way to make things comfortable for us, they made a bed with pink mosquitoes net, as if it was for newlyweds.

Having a peanut bladder, I had to get up at night to find a restroom.  I wandered like a ghost in the unfamiliar house looking for a light switch and restroom, during which the mosquitoes happily feasted on new blood.  In the country, the restroom is outside the house, and the door was locked. Fiddling with the lock in the dark, I wondered if I would last until morning.

Between the cocks crowing, dogs barking and mosquitoes biting, and an exploding bladder,  it wasn't difficult to get up at 4:00 in the morning.
 

Brother Tiep's house in Phi-Loc, Nghe An, where I spent the night to deliver bicycles the next day.

Here at  Phi Loc, a parish in Nghe An, mass starts at 4:30 am, with a full choir singing.  People get up early and tried to get their chores done early in the morning, to avoid the scorching heat, which settles around 9 am.  So when the sun wasn't out yet, I was up and about with my camera, breathing in that fresh country air. I love it here, palm trees, rice fields, dirt roads...such a peaceful place, total contrast with Saigon, where roads are covered with motorcycles.  This is my second time delivering bicycles and sandals at Phi Loc, I had such a memorable time last year that I had to come back. 

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It was inevitable for all the "thank-you's" from parents, teachers, students... I wanted to quickly deliver the bikes and sandals, seeing the children not only anxious, but they were tired in the merciless heat.  Sister Cecilia was one hot nun, in her thick dark brown habit. 
 

Nghe-An bicycles & sandals team:  Sister Cecilia, Brother Thanh, Kham Nguyen, Que-Huong, Son Nguyen

Fifty bikes and numerous sandals were delivered and the children were happy as they rode off with a new bike!  Dreams come true for them, who have to walk so far in the heat & rain to go to school.   Sister Cecilia invited them to come back later that evening, for yet another surprise event. 

While Sister Cecilia and Brother Thanh did some serious shopping for the evening event:  Candies, ice cream and cookies, for 500 children and adults,  I prepared a slide show for the children, with pictures I took of them throughout the day.  The organizers hung a sheet from the pillars of the church so I can project the slides.  Perhaps these people have never been to a movie theater, for the church yard was filled with children and adults’ laughter when they saw their images appeared on the big screen!  A priceless Kodak and Memory moment!

Sister Cecilia surrounded by children at Nghe An. 07/09

 The church yard was also filled with trash!  (I notice that people just throw trash on the ground!)  I felt dizzy looking at all the wrappers littered, it would take someone a few hours to sweep all this!   Before the evening ended and the children started to leave, Sister Cecilia did something quite remarkable. 

- "I will close my eyes, and give you 20 seconds, when I open my eyes I'd like to see no trash on the ground.  If you pick them up and put away the trash, I will come back next year with gifts.  Even if I can't come back I'll be sure to give you gifts, but only if you clean up or else... no gifts!"

Then she turned her back to them and started counting.

-  "1...2..." The children dashed to pick up trash.  "7...8...."

More children picked up trash...

- "15...16"

The adults helped too, it was like a game to see who can pick the most trash. 

- "20!"

Sister turned around and the place was CLEAN!  The pastor sat in astonishment, he'd never seen such cool trick before, and better yet,  from a nun!

Rach Gia

Behind the child is an excitement of receiving a bicycle.  Behind the parents are hopes and dreams for their children to lead the good life and be  successful.  Believing an education would give children a bridge to a better future, even in remote places like Rach Gia, where people live and work off the river, making a living out fishing, farming... there are so much desire to build schools and provide good education for these children.

It took 9 hours to drive from Saigon to Rach Gia by car.  We took a ferry to cross a big river, and got on a smaller boat to go further into the village.  Most bicycles have already been purchased and assembled waiting at a church yard to be delivered.  It rained and we hurried to deliver the bicycles so the children could go home. 

We stayed overnight at one of the villagers home.  So peaceful here in the morning, walking along the river, beautiful lush green country scenery.  We checked out the few bridges that Sister Cecilia had built for the villagers.  Before there were monkey bridges, very unstable to cross over, now people can safely cross over without so much fear of falling in the water and drown. 

 School conditions were not good and the villagers asked for money to build school. 

A little at a time, a child at a time, I hope our trip motivate a child to study harder and make a little difference in a child's life. 

People live along the river, using the water for washing, cleaning, cooking...

Rach Gia - distributing bicycles. 7/2009 
Lush green trees, including coconut and banana along the river provide a peaceful and beautiful scenery for this trip.



Donna Shipley, an American nurse visiting VN and Rach Gia for the first time.  7/2009

Distributing bicycles at one of the village's churches with Donna Shipley, Sister Cecilia and Theresa

Standing on one of the bridges built by Sister Cecilia. 
This bridge replaced the old monkey-bridge, unstable to cross over. 7/2009

This school in Rach Gia needs to be rebuilt.

Campaigning

From July 2008 until July 2009, 261 bicycles and 735  pairs of sandals were delivered to poor and needy children in VN.  100 bicycles were given at Christmas 2008.  The rest were delivered in July 2009.

To prepare for this bicycle-and-sandals trip, Sister Cecilia had made a goal of 150 bicycles ($50/bike) and anything over is for sandals ($2/pair) to be delivered to Nghe An, Dami, and Rach Gia's children.  These children have to walk so far in sultry heat or pouring rain, 5 to 7 km, to attend school.  Their worn-out sandals are used for school and rice field work, and church.  The bikes are also given to students with good grades, as an incentive for them to study harder.  Scholarships (tuition, room & board) are given to needy students who get accepted at a college.


We started campaigning for bicycles and sandals and it was amazing (and fun!) how we came up with the money. Sister Cecilia  with her grant letters, our no-name band played numerous fund raising gigs, my brother with his Century bicycle ride for more...bicycles, people donating to Fr. Nguyen Khac Hy's retreats and lectures (his lecture CD's are hot items!), advertisement from VisualGui.com and Light Of Good News radio station, and word of mouth to anyone and everyone.  Even with the bad economy, we managed to give:

April 2008                     10 bikes
July 2008                       40 bikes
December 2008             50 bikes

By Dec 2008: 100 bikes  & 375 pairs of sandals were delivered
By July 2009: 161 bikes & 400 pairs of sandals were delivered

It goes to show our community here really supports the needy children of VN.  As I was packing for VN this past July 1st, a few donors called/sent emailed to donate more.  Once I got to VN, another donor placed more money in the Paypal "Donation" account  set up on the Community's website.  It brought tears to my eyes knowing friends, colleagues, family, band, have worked together to give the children this joy!

Brother Thanh received the money and dutifully shopped and put together the best looking bikes - pink, green, blue, metallic gray... - every color to suit the anxiously awaiting children.   He was proud and happy with the new selections this year. 

My part was the best:  Hand-delivered the bikes, sandals and scholarships to the students, took ample photos and write more articles, all of which are my hobbies!  A true priceless joy-ride I'd never want to miss!  

Thank you everyone for your kindness!  God bless!

August 2009 Pool party.  Proceeds from playing music went to CCSS for bicycles, sandals & scholarships.

Please visit vietnamdreamforsuccess.org and bacaixahoi.org to learn more about their charity and social work works to help the poor.  Donations are tax deductible.

Theresa Le
July 2009