Chi Oi! Chi Oi!

My time in Ben Tre has been nothing short of amazing. The first thing we did, aside from the lovely 3 hours of medicine sorting on the first night in Ham Luong Hotel, was go to a local orphanage. At first it was a bit awkward for the 30 or so kids shyly greeting our enormous 100-man group, but all it took was one game of soccer to begin the complete integration of the two groups. By lunchtime, I had met and befriended two small girls, Cam and Tien, who took my by the hands and all but dragged me to their table to eat with them. They told me all of the dishes we were eating (canh chua, rau mun, ca chien, and chom chom and mang cup for dessert) and were surprised when I told them my mom made me similar dishes back home-- I wasn't as different as they had thought. In turn, I asked them about their life at the orphanage, and what they did for fun when finished with their studies and chores. Cam told me that if I wanted, she would take me out to the back of the building to pick some special flowers, which she and her friends could make into birds and butterflies for me. They asked me to draw for them and take their pictures, and I gladly did so if only to see their faces light up with delight once I showed them the final product.

The most heartbreaking thing was when they repeatedly asked me when my friends and I would be back to visit, and I had to tell them that it wouldn't be for a very, very long time. I had been told that merely playing with these kids would be a life-changing experience for both us volunteers and the orphans, and that some people couldn't help but tear up towards the end of the trip...but I never quite expected those tears to be mine. I wish we could have given them all the luxuries we take for granted back in the states, from clean water to comfortable beds to the most basic of things: a pair of decent shoes. I hope that our time with them brightened their lives a bit, and left them with something positive, because I know that I'll remember those kids for a very long time.