October 2012
Reflections on CVSG projects in Vietnam
By Ashlee Planck, Brisbane
In August 2012, I spent an amazing 5 weeks in Vietnam; of which one was
spent volunteering at The Company of Grace in Sai Gon, a fantastic
organisation offering young people with
disabilities opportunities for vocational training. While I was there, Matt and
Uli came to the centre along with their friend Wayne, to visit Hoa, the
organisation’s director, and join in on one of my English lessons. We
discovered that I grew up in the same town as where they now live – Coolum –
and that I had also spent quite a bit of time in Germany and a friendship was
sealed!
On one of my free days in Sai Gon, I was privileged to be able to visit 2 of
the projects supported by Matt and Uli and their organisation the Coolum
Vietnam Support Group. The first stop was The Hope School, a school for hearing
impaired children. The Hope School was just that; hopeful! The students were
engaged in the classroom and excited about the future and the teachers were
kind and compassionate, encouraging the students to learn. The school felt like
a safe haven in amidst the chaos of Sai Gon, where children with differing
abilities, were valued and respected. We visited a few of the classrooms. The
classrooms were well furnished, with small numbers. The students were so
excited to see Matt and Uli again. Such big smiles and lots of giggles! They
spoke English to varying degrees and were quite keen to fire all sorts of
questions at me; the most popular being ‘How old are you?’ and ‘Are you married?!’. The principle and vice-principle were also
very accommodating, eager to show us around and demonstrate how they had used
the money donated by the Coolum Vietnam Support Group. Al l in all, it was a
wonderful experience!
The second project I visited with Matt and Uli was called the Peace
Village. Matt and Uli warned me it would be tough. The Peace Village is an
orphanage for children with moderate to severe disabilities. It is situated out
the back of one of Sai Gon’s main hospitals. There are several rooms,
with 5 to 10 cots each, and the children seemed to be divided by age. Although
there were some play materials, there wasn’t much room to play and the children
shuffled up and down the corridor.
The disabilities were diverse; there were children with Down Syndrome, others missing limbs, and others with skin disorders and hydro encephalitis. The nurses caring for the children were doing their very best but it was obvious that they were under staffed and under resourced. Indeed, being there was not only tough, it was heartbreaking. It felt as though many of the children’s potential would be lost, due to inadequate care.To me, this was such an incredible shame.
Being there demonstrated to me how people with disabilities are often undervalued in Vietnamese society, and that change is as much to do about resourcing as it is about hearts and minds. This reinforced to me again just how important places like the Hope School and the Company of Grace are!
The disabilities were diverse; there were children with Down Syndrome, others missing limbs, and others with skin disorders and hydro encephalitis. The nurses caring for the children were doing their very best but it was obvious that they were under staffed and under resourced. Indeed, being there was not only tough, it was heartbreaking. It felt as though many of the children’s potential would be lost, due to inadequate care.To me, this was such an incredible shame.
Being there demonstrated to me how people with disabilities are often undervalued in Vietnamese society, and that change is as much to do about resourcing as it is about hearts and minds. This reinforced to me again just how important places like the Hope School and the Company of Grace are!
Visiting these two projects with Matt
and Uli was a fantastic, yet heart-wrenching experience. I admire Matt and
Uli’s passion and commitment for what they do and look forward to staying in
touch and being involved in the future.
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| Ashlee at Peace Village |
