tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317360628163165582012-02-16T22:26:33.612+07:00All about the 2008 Raoul Wallenberg Summer Youth Program for orphans in Can Tho, Vietnam.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-36535006606847867792008-09-07T06:25:00.011+07:002008-09-15T04:14:03.152+07:00

Here are some pictures from our last day at Hoi Tu Thien. Enjoy!Our end-of-the-summer celebration started with a fantastic play that eight of the children starred in. It was great! Here's a scene from the play. (For video clip of this scene and more information about the play, check out one of the recent posts below.)The kids put a lot of work into designing and making their costumes. Here is

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-88508350460979464222008-09-06T03:19:00.018+07:002008-09-06T04:18:55.187+07:00

Here are some pictures from the last day of the summer program in Can Tho. This first set is from the pagoda. HTT pictures coming soon. Enjoy! Ly and Quy (left) and Van Ahn and Vy (right) playing the "balloon game." Teams of two tried to move a balloon from one end of the room to the other--no hands allowed! Will they make it?! (Left) Little Nhi with the balloons, and doing her own impression of

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-83877043836235620792008-08-28T20:53:00.006+07:002008-08-28T22:22:45.985+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-69192699315045904322008-08-28T10:15:00.012+07:002008-08-28T22:31:24.056+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-49312836715445853012008-08-26T06:39:00.008+07:002008-08-26T07:36:01.605+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-35691474403622606862008-08-23T11:46:00.003+07:002008-08-28T20:51:43.782+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-63732172659621941182008-08-20T12:39:00.012+07:002008-08-21T01:22:56.755+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-48098316919881308832008-08-19T01:57:00.012+07:002008-08-19T23:28:39.276+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-33056177304849500912008-08-18T13:51:00.004+07:002008-08-18T14:11:11.933+07:00

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!)

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-15895367865015549142008-08-18T12:16:00.013+07:002008-08-19T01:17:10.680+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-45195896289737511592008-08-18T12:08:00.003+07:002008-08-18T12:13:58.360+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-63524736753079999262008-08-17T00:36:00.007+07:002008-08-17T01:02:51.233+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-11163058810173083272008-08-12T09:22:00.008+07:002008-08-13T01:18:54.013+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-28274403001156217002008-08-11T00:16:00.006+07:002008-08-13T01:35:12.806+07:00

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

Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03797972285018161278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-35860700129291860432008-08-08T15:36:00.005+07:002008-08-08T16:05:44.260+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-34363372828716737472008-08-06T22:15:00.000+07:002008-08-06T22:39:35.053+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-71220824033609208422008-08-05T18:35:00.000+07:002008-08-05T23:22:34.281+07:00

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

Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03797972285018161278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-67403169832569970942008-08-05T12:21:00.000+07:002008-12-11T17:48:17.563+07:00

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.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-28906199568571555382008-08-03T16:57:00.002+07:002008-12-11T17:48:18.271+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-9837788168787688352008-08-02T08:42:00.000+07:002008-08-05T23:23:50.583+07:00

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.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-48432585708050662712008-08-01T22:45:00.001+07:002008-08-08T16:10:04.101+07:00

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

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031736062816316558.post-64044060948661879862008-07-31T17:51:00.000+07:002008-08-04T18:16:41.818+07:00

Welcome to the Raoul Wallenberg Summer Youth Program blog!We are a group of college students and professionals from Vietnam and the United States. This summer, we are coordinating a youth program for the children who are living as orphans at the Buu Tri pagoda and Hoi Tu Thien orphanage in Can Tho, Vietnam. This blog will capture some of the adventures we will have this summer.My name is Kate

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08222850039262140430noreply@blogger.com0