Vietnam Day 3 – Around Vinh Long

Posted on Dec 4, 2012 in photography, Travel

Good morning Vietnam. I am still in Vinh Long which is located about 3 hours south of Saigon and right on the Mekong Delta. You know the Mekong Delta is the long river like the Amazon that flows through most of the south of Vietnam. The river is a source of transportation, food and livihood for the people of Vietnam. In fact Tu’s parents own a large construction supply company and they use the river and barges to transport their goods. The river branches in so many directions here in Southern Vietnam you can practically get anywhere that you want by River. The second choice of course is scooters and there are millions of scooters virtually everywhere on the streets. You don’t see cars but you see millions of people riding scooters – in fact the whole family will jump on the scooter and head out to dinner just like we would jump in our cars with the family to go out for a nice dinner.

This kid looks a little sleepy. It isn’t unusual to see passengers on the scooters so comfortable that they actually fall asleep while the scooter rumbles down the road.

The other way people get around here is by bike. You will see people dressed up in their Sunday best on their bikes. I have noticed the roads are so dusty that my clothes actually get quite dusty by the end of the day. Thank God that Tu has a laundry machine in her house or I would be looking pretty dingy.

The Mekong Delta can be very pretty but everything here is so green. When you are traveling along the river the jungle is so dense and green and tropical. You can pick fruits off trees and eat them if you want. I don’t but Tu always does.

Vietnamese food is really good and fresh and pretty low calorie. For lunch today we had hot soup that was boiled fresh over wood. This is the equivalent of a Vietnamese hot plate done the old fashioned way with burning wood. So great.

The Vietnamese kids are very cute. Tu has a ton of nieces, nephews and kids running around. We took some pictures of some of the girls at her mom’s workplace.

Here she is again being funny.

And another little girl that works with her mother.

Here is another black and white portrait of her.

I took this picture at Tu’s factory. The guy was toiling away carrying loads of bricks on his back off a boat into the warehouse.

I always wonder why everyone stares at me here and then I realize that they have a big camera pointed at them.

Vietnam Day 2 – Vistor to the Home

Posted on Dec 4, 2012 in Family

Day 2 in Vietnam and we had another great time today. Tu is planning a Christmas party for the kids at the orphanage this next Sunday so we are busy getting clothes and planning the party. There are about 50 kids so that is a lot of planning that has to take place.

We were taking pictures in Tu’s house when a familiar face came around. This man is mentally handicapped but he comes to the house every morning to collect $2 for his food that day. Tu’s parents have been giving him money for many years. Sometimes when they aren’t there Tu’s mom gives them instructions to give him the $2 so he can eat that day. Sometimes the staff working at the house give him less. He is always sure to come back and tell Tu’s mom that he was short changed the day before.

He is a quite happy guy. The vietnamese take care of people even if they are homeless or can’t take care of themselves.

Vietnam Day 1 – A visit to the orphanage

Posted on Dec 2, 2012 in Travel

Arrived in Vietnam and spent the first day at an orphanage and living facility. It was quite sad to see the faces of the children, the mentally ill and physically disabled that called this place home. They live beyond poverty in some of the saddest and most barren places you could imagine. The place used to be a jail but now it houses babies, kids, mentally and phyiscally handicapped people. The only thing they have to look forward to are infrequent meals and the occasional visitor.

This little boy has aids. He is kept alone. He cannot play with other little boys or girls but he is always very happy and smiling. We gave him this candy and he did not know what to do with it.

This little boy sits behind the steel bars in his crib. The walls are white and there are no toys here. Just the cribs, a little food. Many of the babies sleep right on the floor.

This cute little girl is the youngest in a family of four. All the kids are left here in the orphanage but they were so cute and happy.

Happy faces. Happy times in a very poor place.

This was the oldest brother of the family of four that was left abandoned. You could tell he was the oldest brother because he kept taking care of his brothers and sisters.

Here they are. They are all so cute. I wonder if anyone will adopt all of them. I hope they don’t get split up.

Sometimes it is hard to tell the little boys from the girls because they give them all the same hair cuts. They just shave off all of their hair.

There are three parts of the facility – one for the mentally instable, one for the physically disabled and one for the kids and babies. As we drive up we saw the mentally disabled jail that they put the mentally instable people in. This guy was intently staring at us. He was very nice and waved and was very happy with the very little we gave him. It’s sad that he must live like a prisoner everyday for the rest of his life and he did nothing wrong.

This is a lady. She sits on the hard cement everyday. The only thing she has to look forward to is meals that come all too infrequently.

This was the happiest boy there. He came up to us immediately and smiled the whole time. He could not walk but dragged himself along the ground. When we left he dragged himself across the building to thank us and wave goodbye,

She asked me to take a picture of her. When I showed it to her, she asked me to give her a copy of it. I need to make sure I do that. In fact I should give them all the pictures. They probably have no pictures of themselves in their lives. Imagine how that must feel like.

Overcome with grief, or perhaps because a respite in it this lady broke down in tears when she received her small gift which was just a little bit of candy. She will never leave this place. There is no where else for her to go.