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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 20, 2014 22:48:19 GMT 7
Went to visit the Làng Tre orphanage again today. I was introduced to it by the Temple that I volunteer to teach English at during their New Years Day charity event. They gave out food-stuff to poor families in the local vicinity and then in the afternoon a bunch of people went to visit the Làng Tre orphanage in Đồng Nai province. They had invited me so I went along; I noted the address and way to get to the Làng Tre Orphanage in case I wanted to go back to it someday. The nursery there is about the same as the Diệu Pháp orphanage (another orphanage in Đồng Nai province that the CFB makes the run to). But this one has a few more babies. But what's neater about this place is that there are older women (either poor or husbands abandoned them...or old widows that sold everything and retired in this "village") who took care of the babies. These aren't workers but occupants/orphans themselves. I think I got some kind of talent/ESP/hidden aura or something for babies. Today one of the babies was crying...I picked her up and she stopped crying; just sat in my arm like a sack of potato...very quiet. Her name is Diệu My and I'm writing it down here so I won't forget. Found a YouTube video about the "bamboo village" (Làng Tre) orphanage. It gets its name because the original buildings were made from bamboo, a plentiful "grass" that grows like crazy, and therefore makes for a cheap building material. Am thinking about making a CFB run to here. I only noticed they had 4-5 cans of baby formula in the nursery and many of the diapers were wet. Anyhow, this place is a bit far from HCMC so might have to go via car or make it a whole day motorbike convoy. khanh, when will you be done with the honeymoon so I can show you this place? I bet you will be super busy once you get in-country. |
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jakejas
Học Sinh 3
Posts: 126 
I am from: the USA
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Post by jakejas on Jan 21, 2014 2:12:46 GMT 7
When do you plan on going?
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 21, 2014 6:04:23 GMT 7
This is what you do on the weekends  very impressed THD. I would love to go and help when I come over. Do you Teach English to the older children with other volunteers. Apart from formula for the babies do you take other stuff like clothing,books,pens,paper,medical ( bandages etc ). |
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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 21, 2014 14:15:58 GMT 7
When do you plan on going? This is what you do on the weekends very impressed THD. I would love to go and help when I come over. Do you Teach English to the older children with other volunteers. Apart from formula for the babies do you take other stuff like clothing,books,pens,paper,medical ( bandages etc ). Thanks for the comments guys. I hope I don't sound like I'm showing off. I post my exploits as an accountability mechanism. It comes natural for us in the West to believe when a person says they will do something, they actually do it. But in Việt Nam, not a day goes by when you hear new stories of people lying, stealing or otherwise fabricating stories for their own advantage. Many Expats have been turned off by doing charity after they hear these stories. So the legit charities get punished...or lose support. So this "blog" about the Bamboo Village gives an account of my experiences....I will probably refer to it sometime down the road when I do a CFB run or something. To answer jakejas's question, I think maybe a March CFB run will be good. It gives February for a Diệu Pháp orphanage CFB run. To respond to bluecheer. I got involved in teaching English at the Temple in BRVT province from this post on EB back in October/November. www.expat-blog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316118The poster was looking for volunteer teachers in D4 of HCMC but saw that I was in BRVT province, thought to introduce me to one that was closer. Well, we met and I found out that the BRVT Temple had nothing for an English program. The head nun at the BRVT Temple gave me free reign and I set up English classes for Saturday nights from 7PM -9:30 PM. I am the only volunteer. The first class is an open class...it revolves around teaching the 5Ws+H in conversational English. To initiate a conversation, you typically ask a question...so Who are you? What do you do for a living? When did you get here? Where do you come from? Why are you here? How did you get here? Because my students just come and go whenever they feel like it, an open class just lets them come late or pop in whenever...Kids to Adults often come to that one. I got frustrated with trying to teach the ABCs to "roaming" students since we'd be on R-S-T and I find out half the class are new students who wasn't there for the L-M-N lesson previously...and who didn't know A-B-C...so we start all over again. The other students would get bored. So a revolving 5Ws+H subject seems to work better since it doesn't require them to know anything before hand. The second class is more for the serious learners while the last class is for the 11th and 12th graders who can't afford to go get tutoring (this time period is extremely stressful for teenagers since they're EXPECTED to go to college or else the whole family's financial future and theirs will be in peril...blah blah..). There isn't many Expats in BRVT province as much so as there are in HCMC. So you can definitely help bluecheer when you're over here. They have a guesthouse that you can stay at...so think of it as a "teach for a hotel room" exchange. Haha. The head nun speaks English since I think she studied in Malaysia or something. Now that I think about it, we can probably do something like a guest teacher event where the students can try to converse with a visiting foreigner. Anyhow, on New Years Day, a group of benefactors from Malaysia came to the BRVT Temple and wanted to do some charity work. The head nun set up an event to give away gifts (rice, sauce, soap, toothpaste, clothes) to people on the "poverty list". She got the list from the local Town Hall People's committee so not just anyone claiming to be poor can take advantage of getting free stuff. They even had to bring a redemption ticket. I thought that was a very smart way of doing business. The Malaysian Benefactor was able to connect with a Korean friend who was head of a foreign company in Hà Nội and he contributed money to the charity event, including sending 4-5 staff to BRVT to distribute the goods. Now that I think about it....maybe I was invited to this event to show the Benefactor that the Temple had an English program to teach the poor?  hmm...no matter, I didn't feel being "used" in any way. After the morning doll-out, they hired a shuttle/mini-bus to take around 40 people to the Làng Tre Orphanage about 40 kilometers north in Đồng Nai province. Yesterday, for some reason I wanted to go back there. I just brought a can of formula (since you don't want to show up empty-handed) but after playing there a bit, I think they could use some diapers. Oh sorry, although it's an orphanage with a range in demographics, I just focus on the babies. It's just too overwhelming to try to help everybody, meaning I'd need to buy something for the older folks, the middle age women, the high schoolers, the middle school kids, the elementary school children, the disabled....as well as spend time with everybody....it turns out to be a giant endeavor. |
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Post by mia2013 on Jan 21, 2014 21:32:52 GMT 7
This is what you do on the weekends very impressed THD. I would love to go and help when I come over. Do you Teach English to the older children with other volunteers. Apart from formula for the babies do you take other stuff like clothing,books,pens,paper,medical ( bandages etc ). OMG!!! I LOVE YOUR PHOTO!  |
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 22, 2014 6:56:39 GMT 7
This is what you do on the weekends very impressed THD. I would love to go and help when I come over. Do you Teach English to the older children with other volunteers. Apart from formula for the babies do you take other stuff like clothing,books,pens,paper,medical ( bandages etc ). OMG!!! I LOVE YOUR PHOTO! Yes and it's all my hair and plenty of it under the hat. |
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 22, 2014 7:02:20 GMT 7
THD you do a great job. I will get in touch with you when I arrive. These are good things to do for people who need are help. As I said in a past post I volunteered in the 'Friendship Village' outside of Hanoi for about a week should of stayed longer it was a fantastic experience.
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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 22, 2014 10:19:18 GMT 7
THD you do a great job. I will get in touch with you when I arrive. These are good things to do for people who need our help. As I said in a past post I volunteered in the 'Friendship Village' outside of Hanoi for about a week should of stayed longer it was a fantastic experience. I heard of the Friendship village. Wouldn't mind checking it out if I ever make it up to Hà Nội. I applied for several jobs with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs - They're non-profit charities, like the Red Cross). |
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 22, 2014 11:02:14 GMT 7
It's a great place. vietnamfriendship.org Having fun in the classroom, and with a lovely Budhist Monk also 2 of the children who followed me around for the entire time we were there.   |
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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 22, 2014 21:22:38 GMT 7
It's a great place. vietnamfriendship.org Having fun in the classroom, and with a lovely Budhist Monk also 2 of the children who followed me around for the entire time we were there. Great photos bluecheer. And thanks for the link. I think that's just a picture of a Buddhist (as in a regular practitioner). Monks are male Buddhist followers who wear gold robes. Nuns are female Buddhist followers who also wear gold. Serious followers shave their heads but to wear the gold, you gotta go to like a Seminary. |
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 23, 2014 5:37:25 GMT 7
Yes you are quite right THD she was just a buddhist. Beautiful children, and the people who worked there. It was one of the best experiences I have had.
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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 28, 2014 23:28:09 GMT 7
Yes you are quite right THD she was just a buddhist. Beautiful children, and the people who worked there. It was one of the best experiences I have had. Went to the Làng Tre Orphanage again today and brought some diapers this time. Saw the cutest thing...the babies had their hair cut in the Chinese style like in these pictures I found on the Internet (I should remember to bring my camera next time).   This apparently is for good luck. Even the baby girls had their haircut like this. I was startled because I couldn't tell who the boys were from the girls. After a moment, I could tell because the girls were more docile and the boys were more rambunctious. |
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 29, 2014 9:11:06 GMT 7
Is there a lot of Chinese Traditions still used in Việt Nam?
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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 30, 2014 12:14:51 GMT 7
Is there a lot of Chinese Traditions still used in Việt Nam? That's kinda like asking if there's still British traditions still in effect in Australia and New Zealand. The Chinese occupied Việt Nam for thousands of years and introduced all kinda of culture, philosophy, religion...etc. The French and Americans were here for several hundred years but you can see the influence especially in the South. hELLcm is the resident expert on Chinese history. |
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Post by hELLcm on Jan 30, 2014 13:53:14 GMT 7
Historically, rural Vietnamese were basically, hill tribes with simple living. Today, they are mainly found in Sapa Highlands.
Vietnam is on the cross roads of two great and advance ancient civilisations, India and China. China being the younger and nearer predominate. The main religion practiced by Vietnamese is Taoism from China. With religion other values followed. Just as Christianity and Islam with their different morals and values.
Beisdes the religious influences, the everyday practices are very influenced by the Chinese. Ask a Vietnamese, what is the origin of Nguyen, Dung, Pham... or any of the top ten Family Names. (Check wikipedia)
One people few nations (politically)
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Post by tranhungdao on Jan 30, 2014 23:46:11 GMT 7
Historically, rural Vietnamese were basically, hill tribes with simple living. Today, they are mainly found in Sapa Highlands. Vietnam is on the cross roads of two great and advance ancient civilisations, India and China. China being the younger and nearer predominate. The main religion practiced by Vietnamese is Taoism from China. With religion other values followed. Just as Christianity and Islam with their different morals and values. Beisdes the religious influences, the everyday practices are very influenced by the Chinese. Ask a Vietnamese, what is the origin of Nguyen, Dung, Pham... or any of the top ten Family Names. (Check wikipedia) One people few nations (politically) Thanks for chiming in @hellcm . I did notice the Wikipedia article has ALL Vietnamese surnames with Chinese characters. Didn't know Lưu was mainly in central or southern regions and Trịnh is almost exclusively a northern surname, based around Thanh Hóa. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_name I think China just had closer proximity than India. Just like Thailand is closer to India and you have alot of Buddhism in Thailand. I noticed Confucianism (the society structure) is very predominant in Asian cultures and that came from China. So what do you mean by "the everyday practices are very influenced by the Chinese"...like what? Examples? |
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Post by hELLcm on Jan 31, 2014 0:15:43 GMT 7
Fashion before Western influence this centuary
Eating utensils like bowls and chopsticks.
the old Vietnamese alphabets before Romanising
Confucianism taught the family unit and values extending to social structure and practices
Taoism is the main religion in the Orient with the various gods and dieties
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Post by bluecheer on Jan 31, 2014 11:24:05 GMT 7
Is there a lot of Chinese Traditions still used in Việt Nam? That's kinda like asking if there's still British traditions still in effect in Australia and New Zealand. The Chinese occupied Việt Nam for thousands of years and introduced all kinda of culture, philosophy, religion...etc. The French and Americans were here for several hundred years but you can see the influence especially in the South. hELLcm is the resident expert on Chinese history. Not many............The British traditions in Australia are slowly disappearing since I came in 1969. There is now more American traditions being used mainly because of the influx of everything American. |
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very impressed THD. I would love to go and help when I come over. Do you Teach English to the older children with other volunteers. Apart from formula for the babies do you take other stuff like clothing,books,pens,paper,medical ( bandages etc ).
hmm...no matter, I didn't feel being "used" in any way. After the morning doll-out, they hired a shuttle/mini-bus to take around 40 people to the Làng Tre Orphanage about 40 kilometers north in Đồng Nai province. 
