A scene from the play "An Khe Tra Vang" at Hoi Tu Thien

The video below is one of the beginning scenes of the play put on at Hoi Tu Thien on the last day of the program. The name of the play is "An Khe Tra Vang" which translates into English as "The Golden Starfruit Tree." In brief, the story is about two brothers--the older brother is rich and greedy while the younger brother is poor and kind. The moral of the story is that greed can get you into trouble. To read a translated version of the full story, visit http://www.vietnam-culture.com/articles-15-4/The-Golden-star-fruit-tree.aspx.

In this scene, the wife of the older brother (in yellow) orders the wife of the younger brother to give her a massage, while the older brother orders his younger brother to sweep up the banana peels he intentionally throws on the floor. Bravo to these young, aspiring actors!

Meet "Little Thao"... An big inspiration to all!

Another fantastic college student who helped to lead and shape the summer program is Vo Thi Thanh Thao, also known as "Little Thao." (That's Little Thao on the left with me in the picture). But don't let her nickname fool you. Trust me, there's nothing little about Thao's talent in the arts, her care and encouragement of the children, and her dedication to the program!

Thao took on the directorial duties of organizing and putting on a play at Hoi Tu Thien for the last day of the program. She did an absolutely AMAZING job! The play and the children's performances were incredible! She is truly an inspiration to everyone. Here are some of her thoughts on her experience being part of the leadership team this summer...

Raoul Wallenberg youth summer program finally has gone to its end. To me, however, everything has just happened yesterday. It seems clear to me that the day Thao Le gave me the program plan and called for me to apply. At that time I wondered if I should join or not because there were many things I got confused. What was Raoul Wallenberg? Everything was too great for me to do. Dance? Sing? Or draw? How can I teach them while my skills are not good at? Yet, it was love to children that urged me to apply this program.

At the first day at HTT: I started to get to know with all children, and try to remember their name and hometown as much as possible. Most of them were very enthusiastic to talk with me. One of them is Loc (lucky) who is both very lovely and polite. She told me a lot of things about her family. "My hometown is Ca Mau. However, her parents and two brothers are living in Ho Chi Minh City now?" Why so? I asked. "Because my family is so poor that they have to leave my younger sister and myself here and go to HCM City for earning living". Ohh! Poor them!

How about the others? They were very active, energetic to join all activities we suggested. On the other hand, some were not willing to talk. They just focused on their knitting. Surprisingly, both girls and boys can make sweaters, children's sock, or hat professionally.

Some days later I continued to come there to help them perform a play (a fairy tale called "An Khe Tra Vang"). Although it was not an easy job, it helps me find out some ways to approach as well as calling their attention. Happily, the more we worked together, the more we laughed and got closely. At that time, I wish I could work with them like Phung and Loan.

Whenever I came, they were so exciting to welcome me. They hugged me as if they haven't seen me for a long time. How warm it was! They all looked very good and innocent. I wondered if love is so wonderful.

Each child in this orphanage has different situations. The child that made deep impression on me is Ly Dai [see picture on right] who played the role of ambitious and cruel older brother in the play An Khe Tra Vang successfully. He is about 14 years old and one of the most intelligent students in Loan's class. Both his mother and father remarriage, noone want to take care of him. When someone asks him" where is your father? : "They all have already died," he answers. Why could his parents leave him alone to find their own happiness? A simple question seems easy to answer but….

The other child that I would like to talk about is Huong, a little girl [see picture below]. She was the wife of younger brother in the play. She is so shy, timid and usually shaked her body whenever she act, which made me laugh into tears. Her situation is not like to anyone in this orphanage. Her father had a motorbike accident last year, so his legs were injured seriously. Moreover, he has been put in prison for a year because her family was too poor to compensate money to the patient. This is also the reason why her mother becomes mad. I am sure that when someone being in this situation, they can understand all feelings Huong has to suffer for a long time. If you were Huong, what would you do...?

Dahn An and Huong practicing their lines in rehearsal.

To me, I have grown up so much after this project. I have learnt many things from all people around me. They are valuable experiences that aren't written by any books. Thanks to children, my attitude to life is more optimistic. Whenever I fail in doing something before like failing in the exam… I myself felt that I am the poorest girl in the world. How embarrassed I am? Moreover I really respect enthusiasm in working of Kate, Jack, and Thao Candy, Lam and the others. I would never forget everything and everyone in this program and believe that there is always a Raoul Wallenberg in all of us.

--Little Thao

The play's incredible cast with their certificates after the play.
They were led beautifully by Loan (on the left) and Little Thao (in front).

End of Summer Compilation Videos by Lâm and Canh

We will be posting more details, including pix and stories, about the last day of the program soon, but in the meantime, enjoy these amazing videos compiled by "Volunteer Extraordinaire" Lâm and Canh, one of the older boys living at Buu Tri pagoda whom Lâm taught how to turn digital pictures into videos this summer. (Pretty cool, eh?!) Check them out--they're great!

Lam's End of Summer Compilation Video


Canh's video featuring the children and staff at Buu Tri pagoda.

Tapping into the Raoul Wallenberg in Yourself and Others

I wrote this blog last night and only got a chance to post it now. Enjoy.

We just finished preparing for tomorrow’s end-of-program celebration at Buu Tri Pagoda and Hoi Tu Thien orphanages. There was much work to do, but the team pulled together beautifully to get it all done! I have truly enjoyed working with everyone this summer. Everyone has such a good heart and warm spirit.

When we started this project a while back, the motto we came up with was short and simple: “Learning and Having Fun Together.” We laughed then (and still laugh now) about how simple it is, but we also recognized tonight how perfectly it sums up what this summer program has come to mean for everyone—the kids, the staff at the orphanages, and us, the leadership team. We have all learned a lot and have certainly had such a blast having fun together, too.

Here are some shots of us in our new, nifty program T-shirts.

Over the course of planning and implementing this summer program, I have obviously thought quite a bit about Raoul Wallenberg, the man whom we named this summer program after. Because of the generous travel grant I received from the Wallenberg Endowment at the University of Michigan, I was able to come here to Vietnam and get this program off the ground and running. Raoul Wallenberg, who was born in Sweden and was a University of Michigan alumnus, was a consummate and courageous humanitarian. He is best known for saving the lives of upwards of 100,000 Jews during the Holocaust when he led a rescue mission on behalf of the Swedish government.

Even though Wallenberg’s life story casts him as superhuman and as a man who would be difficult to emulate, there was something so pure and simple in him that led him to dedicate and sacrifice his life for others: He loved people. During his summers in college, he traveled all around the United States, exploring the cities and countryside, meeting new people, seeking to learn about them and learn from them. I think everyone involved with this project—from the leadership team to the orphanage staff and to the kids we work with—has that kind of philanthropic urge to explore, to learn, and to love.

In short, there is a Raoul Wallenberg in all of us, in you, in everyone we meet in life! And if we continue to seek to “learn and have fun together” in all that we do, if we continue to tap into the Raoul Wallenberg in ourselves and others, this world would certainly be a better place. I’d like to think that this summer program touched a few lives here in Can Tho in that regard (I know my life has been touched), and maybe we have inspired in each other to be more like Raoul Wallenberg, to serve, to explore, to learn about and from others, to live life to the fullest and make the world a better place (even if it’s just one game, one arts-and-crafts activity, one group song at a time)—together.

Meet Thảo Le, an exceptional and compassionate leader

Thảo Le is another Cần Thơ University student who has devoted her summer to this program. She is exceptional! She is great with the kids and is a natural leader. Here she is leading a group of the kids through a fun arts-and-crafts activity (picture on left).

Thảo wanted to share some of her experiences and reflections with you via this blog...

What should I write in this blog? Too many feeling and too many things I want to say. So it would take a long long long blog. So, I just want to tell a story I’ve seen at Buu Tri Pagoda. It is what I really mean. Otherwise, my friends told lots of things before I do, so a real story sketches another image of what we are doing and why we do this.

It just happened last week, when I came to the pagoda at dinner time. I saw Quy (the one Thao Candy has talked about) crying, I didn’t know why so I asked Van Anh (the older girl) for the reason. Van Anh said that Quy was said because his father was going to leave after visiting him. I had a little surprise because I thought all the kids here were orphans but I didn’t ask more. I didn’t want to hurt them. And Van Anh continued saying, she pointed to Xuan Anh (a 6 years old kid, picture below) and told me that Xuan Anh’s father used to visited her but he was old and he died, so now, Xuan Anh had no one.

One more surprise to me because Xuan Anh was a 6 years old kid, so why her father was old and died. A voice stopped my thinking, that was of Xuan Anh, “ I am an orphan”. At that time, I felt embarrassing about my unintentional careless to let her recall her sad story. I was wrong. Because she repeated again, “I am an orphan” with a normal tone like “ I am Xuan Anh” with no sadness, no sorrow. I surprised by her normal tone so I asked her why she said that. And she showed me the board in front of the house, written by Su Co, “I am Budhist nun named Tam Niem, thanks for all the helpers to build this house for orphans…”. So I knew the reason why. She lived in this house and this house is for orphans so she was an orphan. So logical! At that time, I was touched by that simple thinking of Xuan Anh. She was too innocent to understand the whole meaning of the word “orphan”. I wondered when she grow up, can she say this sentence “I am an orphan” as easy and normal as she told me on that day?

And about Quy, a day after, I saw Quy was happy again. He said to me happily, “ Only three days more, my father would come to visit me again. (that days was the celebrated day in middle of July in Lunar Calendar). I slept one night and only two days more. And one more night, there was only one day left. And after that day, my Dad would come to visit me! I would sleep well so my Dad would come earlier.”

Several days after, I asked the nannies here and I knew that all the kids here are actually orphans. Some of visitors arrived and they liked the kids so they took the roles of God-fathers or God-mothers for some of them. The kids believe they are their real fathers and mothers so they are really happy when they come and of course, feeling sad when they leave. Some of them don’t have the one to visit or take them home in weekends like others. Quy and Xuan Anh are also these cases.

Thảo Le, Nhi, and Jack learning and having fun.

When I saw all the kids at HTT and Buu Tri Pagoda and all the things we shared together recently, especially impressed with the story I told you. I knew more clearly the reason why I am there and why I joined in this program. The program is going to end, but I am just in the beginning. Thanks to Kate and this program I got the chance to connect to these kids. It’s not only for the kids, it’s for me. And I learned from them a lot.

An update on the pagoda's littlest girl

Some of you may be interested to hear an update about the newborn who arrived at Buu Tri Pagoda the same day our program kicked off. I wrote about her in one of our first posts.

She does not have a name yet, but I'm guessing she will get one soon. She is doing quite well health-wise, although there is worry that she might be blind. Both of her parents were supposedly blind and she has not shown much response to light or much ability to follow movement with her eyes.

However, when I snapped this picture of her, I swear I saw her squirm a bit, as if to say, "Hey, lady! Can't you see I'm trying to get some sleep right now! Bug off!"

Despite how raucous the "baby hangout" is where her many new siblings live, she sleeps a lot and is eating well. Her first day at the pagoda was my first day, so I feel a special connection with her. She is absolutely adorable, isn't she?

Sights and sounds along the Mekong

I wasn't able to fit this in the last post... Here is a video capturing the sights and sounds of our river boat trip along the Mekong. (Apologies for the amateur videography!)

A special day for everyone at the pagoda

The last post talked about the typical, routine day for the children at the pagoda. But every rare once-in-a-while, the children get to experience something very special...

Yesterday, a large group from the pagoda went on a special field trip to the countryside to commemorate the death anniversary of Su Co's mother. In Vietnamese tradition, the death anniversary is a festive occasion when many family members and close friends get together to reconnect, eat good food, and remember their loved one together. Alice, Julia, and I were honored to join the group to Hau Giang, a three-hour boat ride down beautiful branches of the Mekong River from Can Tho. Here are some pictures from this special trip.


Alice and Khiem, one of the little guys, eating dragon fruit on the boat en route to Hau Giang.


We made a pitstop at a park where we stretched our legs, saw many animals (including alligators and pigs), and enjoyed a horse-driven buggy ride. This is Su Co with some of the kids on the buggy.


We enjoyed a delicious lunch of catfish (freshly caught that day), vegetable soup, and sticky rice desserts that are specially served on death anniversary occasions. This is a group of us with Su Co's uncle posing for a picture after indulging in the great food.


The graves of Su Co's parents are located in a beautiful garden behind their family's house.

Everyday life at the pagoda

Lâm was inspired by the many comments on his last post, so he decided to write another about his experience living at the pagoda full-time during the program. Read on and be inspired yourself! (The picture on the left is of Lâm and a few of the core pagoda crew: Vu, Nhi, Phoung, Van Anh, Vy, and Quy.)

I worked and lived together with the children here over ten days. Many things need to be considered and contemplated. Sometimes, I wonder: what happens if I were a child here? I could not imagine and do not dare to do it.

These children probably do not lack in food as they are getting full care from Nun Su Co, but they are hungry for affection and education. They are certain getting love from Su Co and some foster sisters but it is really not enough. Observing these kids, I experience that I am very happy because of what I have: My parents, sister and brother, care of many friends...

To see it more clearly, I can tell you an everyday life of them: They get up at 6 o'clock. The small (6-10 years old) eat something for breakfast, the older get up earlier to clean baby bottle and make the formula. Then, they play together and have a class at 8. Some go to school. They eat lunch around 11 and have a rest. In the afternoon, playing with another until having dinner at 5:30. Next, taking a bath and going to sleep at 7:30. If we do not have some games for them, it maybe is the everyday fixed timetable. No television, no going to somewhere at weekend or visiting relatives. I recognized the love they gave to Brother Phong (John)--a benefactor of the pagoda--when he said goodbye to return to his hometown in Europe. Many hugged him tightly and cried.

However, it is also lucky that the pagoda is building [renovating], so they are going to be in modern new clean house. The new house is quite spacious. Thus, Su Co does not worry about the accommodation but a big problem is how to teach and lecture them to become good children?

While living with them, I realize they have quite enough material but lack in love, fondness, and care. Therefore, the program we are performing is really meaningful to these kids. I hope there are more and more volunteers come to play, to frolic, and also teach them knowledge.

To me, this is really a wonderful summer with many joys and much work.

-Lâm

Meet “Thao Candy”… A Super Sweetheart

Another VietHope USP student who would like to share some of her reflections about her experience this summer is Nguyen Phuong Thao, also known by the group as “Thao Candy.” She got her nickname at the start of the program because “thaocandy” happens to be part of her email address alias, but it just so happens that it’s a perfect nickname for her because she’s the sweetest sweetheart ever! The love and care she gives to the children is always above and beyond, and so sweet and true! It’s only matched by the love she receives from the children in return. They absolutely adore her. Read on below for her reflections about her experience working with the children this summer.

I wanted to volunteer for this program because during the period from high school to university, I have been given some scholarships and I really appreciate them. I have been encouraged a lot in my studying, so I want to do something to “give back to life.” Helping the children at BTP [Buu Tri Pagoda] and HTT [Hoi To Thien] is a very good answer for me this summer. I think I can understand children. To some extent, I can help these children and also, help with the program… Some people may say I’m too sentimental but I really think that it’s very wonderful if there are more happy people each day in my city, in my country. I don’t want to just sit back and wait, and hope, so I have begun with some programs like this. Although the number of programs I have volunteered for is small and in comparison to others’ work, my work is nothing but I still believe that I have done something, not nothing! This time will also be like those times.

I found that the children are very lovely and well-behaved. Some of them are very intelligent. Some are very clever at arts. If they have enough teaching and instructions in the field they’re good at, I think they will succeed in that field.

The children loved us to talk with them, they want to be noticed and loved to be held and hugged…I also love to talk with them. Talking with them, I feel I’m younger and think everything in a simpler way, which may be a bless in such a complicated world, right?

The most meaningful thing I’ve got [from the program so far] is that, when returning home, I realise that I love my family more than before, I feel happier than before and easier to sympathize with others than before...

The oldest child in Buu Tri Pagoda may be Van Anh, grade 8. At school, Van Anh is a good student. At the pagoda, she is a well-behaved child. Especially, Van Anh sings very beautifully. Van Anh has sung me some songs: Đứa bé (The child), Em là bông hồng nhỏ (I’m a little rose), etc. That’s not the end, she can write many stories. Her stories are often about children meeting some difficulties in life but good and diligent and therefore, those children will be helped by Fairies (In Viet Nam, we often call “Bụt”). At last, they have a better future. Maybe what she writes in her stories is what she hopes…Van Anh wishes to be a writer in the future and I think that if there really are fairies, her dream will come true… [Picture on left is of Thao Candy, Van Anh, and Kim Phuong.]

Another child that makes a deep impression on me is Quy’, grade 3 [see picture on the right]. Quy’ doesn’t speak much but I am really struck by his behaviors. After each activity, he usually helps me with clean-up. Whenever I talks to him, he just smiles and says nothing! Last Sunday, while other children were happy with their sandwiches, Quy’ went to find me a sandwich and mineral water. I was totally touched! After eating, he also helped with clean-up. In most activities, Quy’ usually stand next to me, he like that. Last Monday, Quy’ was sad and he cried a lot because his father from far came to visit him but just for a short time…On that day, it rained a lot, which might make him sadder, I think…

After 2 weeks of this program, I have experienced different emotions in myself. At first, to be honest, I took part in this program, in part (big part), because I knew that I would have a chance to work with foreigners. You know, I, like my many friends, are students majoring in English, so we often try to take the chance of working with foreigners as much as possible. Everything changed when I met the children. They were so lovely and innocent. I made friends with them and realised that they were the main reason why I joined in this program. Sometimes I asked myself: If this program were of a Vietnamese, would I join? This was not an important question and of course I could forget it and just did what I needed to do for this program. However, I don’t know why whenever I came home after playing with the children, this question kept on being in my head. I felt how ordinary I was! It took me 2 days to find an answer for myself: Strong yes! I’m happy with that answer I found. At least, I knew that I really loved and sympathized with the children and I wouldn’t lose respect for myself.

Now I’m very happy. Although sometimes it’s hard to instruct the children in activities because they are too small and somehow naughty like any other children at that age; sometimes I feel tired, I know that they are all like any other children: need love, need care, know that I will miss them so much at the end of this program, when I have to return to Sai Gon... I will return to my studying, my lifestyle as before: University, friends, music, books, precious alone time and so on, but I know that there will be memories of the children at Hoi Tu Thien, at Buu Tri Pagoda, of Kate, of Thao Le, of Little Thao, of Hue, of Jack and of other volunteers in my life.

Thanks to The Summer Youth Program in Cantho 2008, I get so many things: more friends, more experiences working in a program, more thoughts about life, about human beings and a chance to discover myself. I also plan to do something for the children when returning to my university and I’m waiting for that day…

I think that I will come back!

- Thao Candy

More pictures

Here are a few more pictures from both Hoi Tu Thien (HTT) and the pagoda. Enjoy!

Kids at HTT having fun with arts-n-crafts.

Me and Danh An, one of the amazing children whom I wrote about when I applied for the Raoul Wallenberg summer travel grant, the grant that helped to make this summer youth program in Cần Thơ possible.


Julia and Alice, the two new Princeton-in-Asia fellows who will be teaching at Cần Thơ University this academic year, and three of their new friends (from left to right) Vù, the little guy I call "The Orange Terror/Hug Machine," and Qúy.


The centipede crawl game!


The entire group at HTT

Duck-Duck-Goose, Math Games, Eating Candy

We had just finished a vigorous game of duck-duck-goose. By the end the fun couldn't be contained by the rules and four kids were chasing each other all around the room. And I don't just mean the children living at Buu Tri Pagoda, but also a few of our USP student volunteers were giddily running about.

I was sitting exhausted, covered in sweat and dumbfounded about what to do next. We'd run through a list of activities planned ahead of time. Some worked well, others crumpled when the kids lost interest or got too interested in something else. Now we had a bunch of excited kids but no real plan as to what to do next.

But, luckily, we've got great USP volunteers and big sister Kate, ring-leader extraordinaire. Kate settled the troops and then Thao started up the "Releasing Birds" game that kind of works like musical chairs. Then Lam, a true superhero, put together a math lesson/game that also included drawing pictures of the beach. He so entranced the kids that the hall fell silent, something that hasn't happened too often. It's pretty neat to see the USP volunteers be able to connect with the kids in the sheer giddiness of games and then, in the next moment, enthrall them in quiet work.

At the end of the evening, I was slumped against a column in the center of the room. We had passed out candy at the end of the activities and kid after kid came over and gave me a piece of what we'd given. I turned them down, passed the gifts along to other kids, and finally succumbed happily to eating candy along with Vu and Vy, both of whom were thankfully taking a break from using me as a jungle gym.

It was a happy night and I felt extremely glad to be there, but I also felt sad to be going back to the States and away from this project (at least in body) in just three weeks.

More child and USP volunteer profiles, project highlights, pictures and more videos coming soon!


Our "Releasing Birds" game--in action!

Meet Lâm, Volunteer Extraordinaire

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been working with some awesome college students who have taken an active leadership role throughout the design and delivery of our program. One of these students is Lâm. Going into his sophomore year as an information technology major at the National University of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, Lâm is a VietHope University Scholarship Program (USP) student and the only male among the five USP students I'm working with. He is also the only volunteer living at the pagoda full-time this summer.

Lâm's application to be a part of the program was one of the first I received, and one of the best. His eagerness to join the program and desire to devote his summer to community service was clear as could be. The kids absolutely ADORE him; he's already proven himself to be a special role model in their lives. Below is a reflection Lâm wrote about his experiences so far. He wanted to share it with you via this blog.

The August this year happens to me like an accident. Everything seems to be a favor. This is not the time period of rest but service.

It is the first time I have been here--a western province. I was amazed by the beautiful, peace and modern Can Tho City. The center area is not different from HCM (Ho Chi Minh) City. Riding bicycle around the city, I discovered many its beauties. Many things look like secrets and need exploring.

I am here in a youth program to help the orphans in Buu Tri Pagoda have a nice summer. Buu Tri Pagoda is the home of nearly 50 orphans. They are here because of many reasons; most of them were abandoned by their parents when they were born. Nun "Su Co" and some others take care of them. They also get helps from benefactor and benefactress in foreign country.

Some days ago, I was quite fortunate to have a trip to Phan Thiet with them. On our way to Phan Thiet, I'm very admired to see the older sisters looking after all the kids. They love and care for the children so much. They work so hard and sacrifice much to care for them, including cleaning the children's smelly messes. Maybe a mother who do this for her child might feel sad on a trip. The more I observed them, the more I admired. It's very difficult for women to care the kids if they don't love them. Therefore, I can realize a warm heart inside these women.

The trip ended and I began to follow our schedule. I hope to do something for these kids to bring them funs during the time I live here. I also wish these children will get more and more assistance from the social organizations and government.

Everything will be nice!

- Lâm

Kien: He may be a small guy, but he's got a huge heart!

Let me introduce you to Kien. He's can't be anymore than 3.5 or 4 feet tall, but don't let his size fool you. He's a wild man, and he's got a heart of gold! Always full of smiles and generous with his hugs, he did a great job following along when we learned how to make paper airplanes the other day at HTT. Within the next week, we plan to feature profiles of some of the remarkable kids we are working with this summer, like Kien. Check back soon to learn more!

Kien from HTT


The guys at HTT all say: "Peace, blog readers!"

The Nuts and Bolts and the Nitty Gritty: Boring but Very Good

New post from Jack...
Working with these kids provides many a great photo op and endearing, wonderful tale of small but life-altering inspiration. It also requires a lot of mundane, perhaps boring work. From sharing our successful classroom experiences to rethinking failed lesson plans to finding the kinds of games that both instruct and entertain, we’re always trying to do the little things that will hopefully, over the long-run, really make a difference in these kids’ lives.

The biggest challenge thus far has been meshing the schedules of our busy volunteers and their busy students at Hoi Tu Thien and Chua Buu Tri. To steal a line from Julie Ginsberg’s article about Dan, a lot of our project operates as “semi-organized havoc.” We’ve spent a decent amount of time and effort organizing our schedule and planning the activities, doing planning meetings at Can Tho University’s Learning Resources Center, and running around getting the materials we need (for a city of more than a million, it’s really hard to find cardboard boxes in Can Tho) for various activities, but the key is to always be ready to adapt. Schedules that were set months ago often have to be re-adjusted on the fly; activities that seemed good at the planning meeting have to get thrown out the window when the pressures of organizing or coercing kids into following your instructions get to be too overwhelming. This all works thanks to the commitment of our student-workers and student-volunteers. That and text messaging. I send out lots and lots of group text messages to coordinate and alert our troops.

To go ahead with the goal of having the USP student-volunteers and our year-round student-workers plan and organize most of the summer project’s activities, we’ve also set up an activity planning process. The vols and workers were at first not too excited to hear that they’d have to do something that looks and smells a lot like homework, but I think they’re starting to see the light. Organizing activities as best you can before hand lets others give input. It also makes you really be prepared so that you can adjust on the fly when necessary. We’ve also built in an activity reflection assignment that lets our vols and workers re-evaluate what went well and what didn’t go well in their activities. The goal is just to make sure we keep doing a better job each time we head into Chua Buu Tri or Hoi Tu Thien.

So, that’s all to say that there’s a lot of boring work that we and our student vols and workers are doing. Lots of folks can come and play fun games with kids. I really respect the people we’re working with because their compassion for the kids at Chua Buu Tri and Hoi Tu Thien motivates them to do the boring stuff, too. That’s a characteristic that Dan really embodied that still motivates our project. It's humble and it's real compassion. I’m usually the one who just plays with the kids then gets to go back to Rach Gia; our workers are the ones who show up everyday to do the nitty-gritty that really makes a difference.

My favorite thing about our project is being able to see how the kids at Chua Buu Tri and Hoi Tu Thien look at our student-workers. (My second favorite is playing indoor soccer with hordes of children hanging off me.) These kids crave routine and dependability and that’s what Minh, Nhat, Thao, Phung, Loan, and Hue give them. They’re great role-models and I just really love seeing how the kids respect them. And it's also been great this past week to see the USP students stepping up into that role, too. Of all the things the project gives the kids, I think these dependable role models are the best.

So that's a kind of preachy, mushy take on the project. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures about what we've been doing. Yay!

Pictures from Hoi Tu Thien orphanage

Here are some pictures from arts-and-crafts hour at Hoi Tu Thien (HTT) yesterday.


Jack and some of his buddies. "Peace!"


Me teaching how to make basic paper airplanes...


But afterward, some of girls taught me how to make something much cooler... A paper rose!

We have a variety of activities scheduled for the children at Buu Tri pagoda this afternoon. An update with more pictures coming soon.

Meet the team

As part of this program, I am working with some fantastic college students (and a couple very recent graduates) who will help lead activities for the children. Most of the students study (or studied) at Can Tho University here in town. Two students study in Ho Chi Minh City and have come down to Can Tho just to be involved with the program.

One group of students I'm working with is from the VietHope University Scholarship Program (USP). Their names are: Tien Nguyen, Thảo Lê, "Little" Thảo Vo, Thảo "Candy" Nguyen, and Lâm Lê. (Yes, three of the five students are named Thảo, hence the nicknames!) I received a number of exceptional applications from USP students across Vietnam, but these guys were the cream of the crop.

Another group of students helping to lead the program is the current Can Tho Youth Empowerment staff, all of whom have been teaching English or computers to the children at Hoi Tu Thien (another orphange in town) and the pagoda for the past two years. They are incredibly gifted and dedicated teachers; it has been so fun and inspirational to get to know each of them! Their names are: Minh, Thảo "#1", Phụng, Huế, Loan, and Nhật.

Needless-to-say, both groups of students are AWESOME! They all have such fantastic ideas for the program. A few of them have already led activities for the children and did a great job! I know already we will all learn a lot and have a lot of fun from working with each other as a team.

Last but not least, I also have to mention another person who has already done SO MUCH for orphans in Can Tho and for this program as well... My brother, Jack Thirolf! For the past two years, Jack has been a Princeton-in-Asia fellow teaching English at a community college in Rach Gia, Vietnam, about 120 kilometers from Can Tho. He got involved in leading the Can Tho Youth Empowerment Project through fellow PiA fellow and friend, Dan White (read more about Dan in the first blog post). It is because of Jack that this extra summer program is happening right now. I (and the orphanages) truly can't thank him enough!

Maybe its because of his freakish height (his nickname in Vietnam is hai met, or "two meters") or his all around fun, loving nature, but the kids at the pagoda and Hoi Tu Thien LOVE LOVE LOVE Jack! They climb on him like jungle gym equipment and all it takes is a big Jack smile to spark laughs and giggles from all the kids for minutes on end. It's quite a sight. Pictures of Jack and the kids coming soon.

This morning we had a super successful Game Day at Hoi Tu Thien. The kids were great! Full of energy and eager to have fun, even at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. Pictures coming soon.

In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from our first day at the pagoda and from one of our team brainstorm meetings when we discussed the activities and the schedule. Enjoy!

That's Jack, Me, and Quang (from VietHope) hanging out with the kids at the pagoda.

On the left, that's Little Thảo, Loan, and Thảo "#1" contributing their ideas at the meeting. On the right, that's Lâm, Phụng, and me.

Interviewing the children at the pagoda

Check out this video of a. Phong, one of the representatives from VietHope, asking questions of the children at the pagoda about how old they are and what they want to be when they grow up. The little girl at the beginning is Vy. She is eight years old and wants to be a teacher.

First day at the pagoda

My first visit to the Buu Tri pagoda orphanage was on Tuesday. Simply put, it is an incredible place with some incredible people. The pagoda is run by a Buddhist nun called Su Co (see picture to the right). She's absolutely amazing. When I first met her, I basically stood there speechless, in awe. She has an aura about her that emanates generosity, goodwill, empathy, and kindness, plus incredible smarts and strong, influential leadership. She's the kind of person you just want to be around... And I'm not the only one who feels that way. The 30 or so orphans at the pagoda feel that way, too!

The children range in age from newborns to 25 years old. (For the summer program, most of the children we will work with will range between six and 20 years old.) They are full of energy, curiosity, and life. In the few days I have gotten to know them, I have already learned so much from them and am so inspired by them. I hope we can return the favor by the end of the month! As part of the program, we will be posting bios of a handful of the children and posting them to this blog... Coming soon!

The first floor of the pagoda is a great space for convening and learning--it's very large and open. In one corner, it has a couple blackboards and tables and chairs that can seat about 20 people. We will hold most of our classes there. The third floor is also large. We will hold most of the other activities there, such as sports, arts, and team games. The second floor is quite a sight: It's what I call the "baby hangout." Buu Tri is the home of about 12-15 babies under the age of three. Absolutely adorable and crazy chaotic at the same time.

In the middle of our first visit on Tuesday, a nurse from the nearby hospital came running into the pagoda with a little baby... It turned out that the baby was only 15 days old; her mother left her at the hospital a week prior. She put her in Su Co's arms and Su Co came over to show her to me... Wow, so beautiful and precious! What a sight; what an experience. Su Co took the newborn upstairs with the other babies and the 15-day year old instantly became part of the Buu Tri family. Incredible.

Tomorrow, I will meet with a few more of the college students who will teach and help out with the program. Can't wait! More to come soon.