stories from the other side

the bio's of two of the children i have been working with for the last fortnight that i wrote for the website.


Luong (aka "Chuckles") is three years old. She has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Her right side is most affected, causing blindness, deafness and very limited mobility in her leg and arm. Volunteers believe she may also suffer from a blood disorder due to unexplained bruising on her torso and legs.
She lives at the Social Protection Centre in Tuy Hoa and has spent the vast majority of her life on her back so far.
Currently, volunteers are helping her to learn how to swallow, doing daily physical therapy on her on her ragdoll-like limbs and providing mental and sensory stimulus.
Luong, along with her fellow SPC residents, is in need of paedeatric care, nutritious food, physical therapy and mental stimulation and also, the attention and affection provided by GVN volunteers which she is unlikely to recieve from the overworked and understaffed* SPC employees.
(*note: i used those euphamisms for the website only, there are stories i'm still contemplating whether to broadcast..)




The 'street kids' in Tuy Hoa number up to 1,000. Their families all live in daily hardship with most of them outside the normal 'family unit'. Most of them have never attended school and many cannot read, write or even draw a picture. They have been working to earn their keep and maintain their place in the family since they were very young. To do this, they take jobs as tin can collectors (30 tins = USD$0.50), selling flowers on the street and at the graveyards, tending to graves and selling gum and cigarettes, while some just beg on the streets. Their working day has no end.
Tron is one of these children. He has a mother and sister, his father is unknown. He is about 12 years old and has been attending GVN's program at Home of Affection since July '08. He never misses a class and is one of the brightest students there, always eager to learn and entertain!
GVN's program at Home of Affection provides meals and English lessons to 35 children and young adults three nights a week.

Just two out of too too many