Edi
Last night I fell asleep to the sound of telephones ringing, little voices, the pitter patter of little feet, loud Vietnamese TV channels from the kids in our hall, and doors opening/closing really loud. But all that is ok because I would not have wanted to fall asleep to anything else. I woke up to the same to. Yesterday morning I went out with some kids to go to the beach at 4:30 AM. How often do you get to wake up that early to hang out with Vietnamese orphans? We ran out to the brown shoreline, tiptoeing, trying not to step on shells. Seeing them find so much happiness in the smallest things makes me smile.
Like this little game we play with the girls, "sing" in Vietnamese means "pretty", so we will run around pointing at girls saying sing. And then they point to themselves and say "No sing", point to us and say "Yes sing". And we just keep going back and forth. They love it. One of my favorite things we have done is painted fingernails. The little girls (and even a couple little boys) love choosing a color and painting it on their fingers or toes, or our fingers and toes. I now have rainbow toenails painted by Mai, and also learned "sparkly" in Vietnamese is "lipline". Last night after the carnival, we roasted mash mellows, and watching the kids eat the sweet, unfamiliar food is funny.
All these moments I have had the blessing to share with the kids have been priceless. It’s those kinds of things that make me smile and love being in Vietnam, and hate thinking about leaving these kids I have fallen in love with. Thank you so much to my family and friends back home for remembering us. We are completely blessed to have this amazing trip with little sickness and lots of fruitful opportunities.
Last night I fell asleep to the sound of telephones ringing, little voices, the pitter patter of little feet, loud Vietnamese TV channels from the kids in our hall, and doors opening/closing really loud. But all that is ok because I would not have wanted to fall asleep to anything else. I woke up to the same to. Yesterday morning I went out with some kids to go to the beach at 4:30 AM. How often do you get to wake up that early to hang out with Vietnamese orphans? We ran out to the brown shoreline, tiptoeing, trying not to step on shells. Seeing them find so much happiness in the smallest things makes me smile.
Like this little game we play with the girls, "sing" in Vietnamese means "pretty", so we will run around pointing at girls saying sing. And then they point to themselves and say "No sing", point to us and say "Yes sing". And we just keep going back and forth. They love it. One of my favorite things we have done is painted fingernails. The little girls (and even a couple little boys) love choosing a color and painting it on their fingers or toes, or our fingers and toes. I now have rainbow toenails painted by Mai, and also learned "sparkly" in Vietnamese is "lipline". Last night after the carnival, we roasted mash mellows, and watching the kids eat the sweet, unfamiliar food is funny.
All these moments I have had the blessing to share with the kids have been priceless. It’s those kinds of things that make me smile and love being in Vietnam, and hate thinking about leaving these kids I have fallen in love with. Thank you so much to my family and friends back home for remembering us. We are completely blessed to have this amazing trip with little sickness and lots of fruitful opportunities.
Matt
What a great three days at Do Son beach. The team has done a great job. The three days at Do Son have been filled with lots of playing, swimming, and crafts. The kids from Birla have had a great time. It is always great seeing the smiles in all the kids faces. I will always remember the Director of the orphanage saying, "For these three days the kids forget about who they are and enjoy being loved on by so many people." What a great opportunity to be the hands and feet of Father to these children.
