so i've returned to Viet Nam.
after three awesome weeks in northern Laos, three stunning weeks in northern Thailand and then three even more wonderful and amazing and fun weeks in Malaysia and southern Thailand with my boy i'm ready to get back into it. i think..!
it's been a manic week already, with a couple of networking meetings and all new volunteers and trying to catch up on everything that's going on, i've been hit with a horrible cold and sore throat to boot so that's not making things any easier. plus, as you can see from my previous post, some of the volunteers have had a rollercoaster of a week and a half with poor little baby Tam, may she rest in peace.
but i'm happy to be back. it's exciting already.
while i was in chiang mai i met a guy who insisted on completely disecting my personality (a little uncomfortable it's got to be said..) he wanted to know WHY i would want to volunteer. was it a previous wrongdoing i was trying to make up for? stereotypical catholic guilt? oh and the list went on...
"eh, no, no, no, no, i don't think so, no no no, definately not...." " well, why then?"
when i really thought about it and boiled it down, it came down to everything i'm learning here. and when i told my mum about this conversation she reminded me that she did a lot of voluntary work herself back when she was a shiny young lady. and that was in her home country! (yeah, i know, i'll work on that when i get home again!) so maybe some people just want to do stuff like that. and some people like him want to hoard all their money and not give a cent to anyone. which is also perfectly fine, i didn't give him a hard time for that...grrrr!
but anyway, now that i'm here as 'assistant operations manager' or whatever it turns out to be, i'm gonna be learning heaps more than i ever thought i would!
so i reckon it's like travelling without the hassle of having to move around. and guess what, while i'm here, i'm doing some pretty good work too for kids, young adults and families that need the help.
happy days.
oh, PS - i need to give a shout out to my friend Joanne, who i do believe is currently hosting a raffle for the benefit of my work here. she's responding to the email i sent out a few weeks back about needing a bit of support. so thanks so much Jo, you're on the list for big hugs when i get home!
and i guess i might as well take the time now to mention my folks, the fabaliss Pat and Kathleen and my bud from all the way back in junior infants, Ems who have already helped out so much with getting my fundraising together while i was still at home, and they're being roped in again in the near future i hope too!
i have a plan!
and hey, if anyone else would like to help? your small efforts would help me reap massive rewards but i need your help at home. let me know if you think you can spare a few hours for me babies, would ya?!
thanks again, to everyone
ead
Friday, 7 November 2008
part of the family
we have all grieved for people we didn't know very well;
for the things they could have been and for the people they leave behind.
today i am grieving for a child i never even met, with a family i'm not related to.
when i arrived back into Da Nang on thursday afternoon, she was already in Saigon. while we were busy holding orientation for the new volunteers on saturday, she was going into surgery.
baby Tam lived at the Red Cross baby orphanage just outside the city. GVN doesn't work there anymore, but some volunteers went to hold a birthday party for another child. when they got there they realised that one of the babies desperately needed help.
Tam had blue baby syndrome, she was not getting enough oxygen into her blood and as a result her lips, fingers and toes were blue and the rest of her a skin very pale. she needed surgery but there was no one to get it for her. no one to care enough to fight for her or find the money.
GVN fought for her though. emails were sent out and money asked for from all directions. the surgery itself cost US$3,250, the total cost of her care would come to roughly $6,500. a very, very small price to pay for such an enormous operation but the money came in by and by.
GVN's biggest problem was getting permission to take her to the hospital to have the surgery - for some reason unknown to us volunteers, negotiations had to be made.
but after a few days, two of our volunteers accompanied the baby, our physiotherapist and a carer for Tam down to Saigon to have an assessment and then surgery. the surgery went perfectly and by the end of the weekend we were all celebrating a job well done by everyone.
but this morning we were told that 18 month old baby Tam passed away due to a lung infection. because she didn't get surgery months and months ago when she needed it first, she was simply too weak to fight off the infection. she tried her very best to hang on all those months but the struggle proved too much in the end.
so this morning as Herdis wept for the baby she had found and tried to save, as Anne, Mark and Phuc felt the overwhelming disappointment for the baby they had journeyed with and celebrated for, as we all experienced the sadness in the air, we grieved in frustration for what could have been done sooner, for who Tam will never be and for our friends who's hearts are broken today.
for the things they could have been and for the people they leave behind.
today i am grieving for a child i never even met, with a family i'm not related to.
when i arrived back into Da Nang on thursday afternoon, she was already in Saigon. while we were busy holding orientation for the new volunteers on saturday, she was going into surgery.
baby Tam lived at the Red Cross baby orphanage just outside the city. GVN doesn't work there anymore, but some volunteers went to hold a birthday party for another child. when they got there they realised that one of the babies desperately needed help.
Tam had blue baby syndrome, she was not getting enough oxygen into her blood and as a result her lips, fingers and toes were blue and the rest of her a skin very pale. she needed surgery but there was no one to get it for her. no one to care enough to fight for her or find the money.
GVN fought for her though. emails were sent out and money asked for from all directions. the surgery itself cost US$3,250, the total cost of her care would come to roughly $6,500. a very, very small price to pay for such an enormous operation but the money came in by and by.
GVN's biggest problem was getting permission to take her to the hospital to have the surgery - for some reason unknown to us volunteers, negotiations had to be made.
but after a few days, two of our volunteers accompanied the baby, our physiotherapist and a carer for Tam down to Saigon to have an assessment and then surgery. the surgery went perfectly and by the end of the weekend we were all celebrating a job well done by everyone.
but this morning we were told that 18 month old baby Tam passed away due to a lung infection. because she didn't get surgery months and months ago when she needed it first, she was simply too weak to fight off the infection. she tried her very best to hang on all those months but the struggle proved too much in the end.
so this morning as Herdis wept for the baby she had found and tried to save, as Anne, Mark and Phuc felt the overwhelming disappointment for the baby they had journeyed with and celebrated for, as we all experienced the sadness in the air, we grieved in frustration for what could have been done sooner, for who Tam will never be and for our friends who's hearts are broken today.
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