Well, since our last post we have been quite busy. We left Hoi An after a very relaxing few days and scouted out a local bus to take us the six hours to Kon Tum. We arrived at the bus station (not once did we put down our bags) and we found a sixteen passenger van that said Kon Tum on it. Long story short, the van ride was miserable. There were 30 passengers crammed in, instead of 16. In America our row would have sat three, but in Vietnam it sat six. The best part was the passenger sitting on the left hand side of the driver. Also, the last half of the trip (a full three hours), three grown men were utilizing all of the barf bags provided. I think we can safely say this van ride was definitely worse than the smelly bathroom bus ride in Peru. The plus side was when we finally arrived in Kon Tum, the van dropped us off at the door of our hotel.
Once in Kon Tum we settled into our hotel and snagged a good nights rest. Our purpose for getting off the beaten track and coming to Kon Tum was to go help out at a few of the seven orphanages in the area housing over 600 kids. The large number of kids is due to several factors. Kon Tum is surrounded by numerous minority villages. The villagers, also called minority people, have a tough uphill battle throughout life. The government doesn't allow them the same education opportunities as a normal Vietnamese person. They also aren't eligible for career jobs; this forces them to continue working the fields as their ancestors have done for years. If the family grows too large or if one parent dies there is often not enough food for the entire family. The solution is to abandon the youngest as they are the furthest from being productive in the fields. We found out that just over half of the kids still have at least one parent still alive in the area but they just couldn't afford to keep them, and no, they don't come visit them. Anyways, we made our way to Vinh Son 1, the orphanage right smack dab in the middle of town that houses 230 kids (ranging in age from newborn to 18 years), and met with a man that we had been in contact with by email. We showed up Monday morning at around 8:30 and by 9 he had us in a class room teaching about 25 nine and ten year olds English. We had no idea how much they knew, or what we were doing but we did it.
So for the past ten days, we have gotten up and walked down to the orphanage. Jonathan teaches from 9 to 11 while I go to the nursery and feed, rock, hold, bathe or change the diapers of the babies.
We had also brought some school supplies with us to give out to the kids but after spending some time at Vinh Son 1 we noticed that because this orphanage is in the middle of town, they get whatever they need from tourists or the town. Multiple truck loads of food, clothes and supplies were brought to the kids in the ten days were there.
Spending time with the kids, loving on them and showing them that we care, if even for a small amount time, was very rewarding and we are so glad that we stopped in Kon Tum.
Lastly, as if teaching English to a bunch of 9 year olds every day wasn't enough, we had two very ambitious 15 year old Vietnamese girls stop us on the street one afternoon and ask us if we could help them with their English. We worked with them for two nights and couldn't believe how dedicated they were.