Testimony by Paul and Sally Battle

                                                                   Updated: Jan 2013

To: Coolum Vietnam Support Group:

In May 2010, our family comprising of Sally, myself and our 2 boys Luke 9yrs, and Wil 7yrs visited Vietnam for the first time.

We wanted to give our boys a better perspective of the world, and thought that they would begin to appreciate the different cultures, traditions, languages and lifestyles of families in other countries.

Vietnam holds an auspicious place in my heart as my 2 eldest brothers both served there in the Australian army corp. during the "American War" in the 1960’s and I had grown up knowing more than most kids my age about Viet Cong, Nui Dat, Long Tan etc.

Through Sally’s work, we had met Matt and Uli and became aware of their involvement with Vietnamese children through the Coolum Vietnam Support Group.

They showed us many captivating, unusual, funny and confronting photos that they had taken during their visits over there, and, through these, we became familiar with the Peace Orphanage in Saigon. Our boys were fascinated by what they saw in these captured moments and asked many questions about these wonderful, inspiring kids.

We ended up visiting this orphanage one day, and this was made possible through Matt and Uli’s connection with the facility, and it turned out to be an absolute highlight of our trip. 

Our boys were a bit hesitant at first, but gradually remembered the photos they had been shown, and started to realise that these were the same children they had seen in those photos back home.

Soon, they were playing hand ball, jumping and running around oblivious to the fact that some of these new playmates had no arms, or no legs, or some deformity ... all these "differences" disappeared. The facilities provided gave these children some positive base for them to be nurtured, loved and educated.

We came away believing that this orphanage gave these kids so much more opportunity than they would have had otherwise, thanks to the support provided by the Coolum team.

If you ever have the chance, please support the Coolum Vietnam Support Group, as we have seen just what a difference they are making over there.

All our thanks and love,

Paul, Sally, Luke and Wil Battle

Miss Tam, Luke, Hiep and Diep @ Peace Village

Miss Tam, little Thuy, Than and Paul @ Peace Village

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