A goodbye

The goodbye I have been least looking forward to making officially took place last night with a small party with the kids at 'P' Centre.

I will miss them very much. Bi and I have already swapped email addresses so there will be a good chance for us to stay in contact, share photos and for me to practice writing in Vietnamese.

Thank you for the beautiful embroidery picture and the wonderful memories. Until we meet again.

 

Orphans

I'd like to bring you a bit more information about the orphanage in Vung Tau. It's actually more proper to think about these two residential centres in the context of the support network that has been created around them, and in connection with foreign adoptions of Vietnamese babies and children.

A big part of the support network, though not the only factor in it, is the Association pour les Enfants Rizieres (APER) through which the residential centres at Phan Boi Chau Street and Ngo Quyen Streets are supported by sponsorships from France, and through which the many adoptions to France are coordinated. As well monthly financial support is given to many children living in the Vung Tau and Long Hai communities.

Anne (Le My Huong), a teacher at ILA, is the representative of the association in Vietnam. Anne is half Vietnamese (Vietnamese mother, Australian father) and went to Australia to live when she was only 5, along with her brother. She has now reconnected with her Vietnamese family and much of her time is spent supporting her local village (near Can Tho) and working with APER and the orphanages. It is Anne who started the pre-school program at the Phan Boi Chau Street centre (P Centre). This program is supported by the head of Orange in Vietnam, through his company's community arm. (Here is a link to My Huong's life story.)

APER and Orange re also among the main supporters of the new Long Hai centre, which opened last Friday 23 October. This is a day centre, providing schooling and other activities for many poor children living in the Long Hai community. Many of these children have not previously been to school.

My connection with the orphanage is small, but important to me! I go with Geoff - a fellow teacher from ILA, also from Australia - on Thursday mornings for 2 hours to teach English in the pre-school program. On Monday mornings (though not all of them!) I join the kids at the swimming pool and at the park.

I also now sponsor Bi, who you can see in the photo on the left, dressed in red. Bi is about 7 years old, but is learning through the pre-school program because he is HIV+. He is a keen student, very good-natured, and has already survived a lot in his life. The boy on the right is Phuc, who has 'adopted' me! Phuc is about 5 years old, also HIV+. He now lives with two of the staff at the orphanage but comes in with them everyday and attends the pre-school as well.

Getting set up - living arrangements

Over the weekend I've looked - at no great pace - into various options available for longer term accommodation - house, apartment in a villa, apartment in a large block. Getting started in this not easy without some contacts.

The search started by riding around with Lao looking for signs on houses and for posters on walls advertising places for rent. Not the most productive way of doing it, although it did yield a $300USD per month 2 bedroom house in the Vo Thi Sau area back towards Vung Tau town from Back Beach. Currently rented by an Australian guy who came to teach English in a primary school but is now moving on to the Mekong delta. Bit too dark and dingy for my liking but is a fairly good price.

I chanced on an agent outside a 4 level, 3 bedroom house for rent in the same area . The house was $800 USD per month, plus electricity, bottle gas, etc and out of my budget. Hanh has since shown my a very large studio apartment in a villa and secured a reduction in rent from $400 to $350 USD per month, but it is still rather a lot to pay for 1 bedroom. The price reflects the mod-cons that come with the place.

Also showed me something more suitable - $400 USD for a 2 bedroom apartment in a large complex directly opposite ILA Vietnam on Nguyen Thai Hoc and above Coop Mart Supermarket. Has some great views over Vung Tau from Front Beach, across Nui Lon (Big Mountain) and the Thich Ca Phat Dai temple complex and across to the port. The only downside is that this area is a fair distance from Vung Tau town and either of the main beach areas. Besides I've lived close to work before and we all know what happens then!!

Another option in the same area is $200 USD for a 1 bedroom unit in a smaller complex.

However, knowing that I'm a teacher is getting some favourable response. Hanh's son is a student at ILA Vietnam, and she understands that our salary is comfortable rather than big-end of the expat spectrum.

The intermediate decision has been to stay on at the Lam Son Hotel for one month at 4 million dong plus electricity and take a bit more time getting settled.

PS are you bored yet? How can I dress up this story? Well, the end of the round of visits was that Hanh took me for breakfast - banh khot - and then for coffee. At both stops we were joined by Vietnamese clients of hers, including a couple from HCMC, the husband being a feng shui consultant. At one stage talk turned to the SOS Villages in Vietnam, and I was able to say that I did know what they are via my involvement with IVP because we have been sending volunteers to work in them - check the list of workcamps available through the SCI workcamp search engine.