Today, I was picked up at the Green Hotel by My Huong, who is the vice director of the Vung Tau orphanage and the Long Hai Centre. My Huong has an interesting history. She was airlifted out of Vietnam before Saigon fell as an "orphan" and was adopted by an Australian couple. She later returned to Vietnam to find her birth mother and live in Vietnam. Her story has been the subject of six documentaries, one of which can be found Here.
My Huong very graciously gave me a tour of the Long Hai vocational centre. This centre serves poor kids, generally with family in the area. I was interested in seeing the centre as several years ago I had paid for classroom furniture through TDH. When I arrived, a team of Australian dentists in an air-conditioned van full of dental equipment arrived waiting to assess the children's teeth. My Huong showed us the classrooms and various skills being taught to the kids, including hair dressing, auto mechanics and basic computer literacy. The centre was very clean and well kept. It was clearly getting a lot of funding from APER and various Australian organizations.
After visiting the Long Hai Centre, I picked up a few gifts and travelled by taxi to Ba Ria City to visit Maya's old orphanage. Talk about a contrast to the Long Hai Centre.The Ba Ria orphanage was very run down and depressing and quite deserted. It may be because it was lunchtime.I found only one nounou, named Hoang that I recognized but I'm not sure she remembered Maya. Many of the older children were napping and there did not seem to be much stimulation. The playground was in disrepair. I left my gifts and didn't stay too long as no one seemed to remember Maya or spoke English and I returned to Vung Tau.
Long Hai Centre front gate
My Huong (right) talking to one of the dental professionals about the new library
Hair salon training
Motorbike mechanics training
Typical classroom
Front gate Ba Ria orphanage (VT3)
Generally depressing and run down
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