Visiting the Orphanage

On Sunday we went with Fr. Quoc and the Spiritan seminarians to an orphanage. The Spiritan priests periodically go there to say mass for the children and bring them treats. The orphanage is about 20 minutes away by motorbike (scooters, not actual motorcycles). There will be another blog post about riding motorbikes, its quite terrifying. Stay tuned for that adventure... 

The orphanage has about 50 children ranging from 1 week old babies to 15 year old teenagers. Most of the children are here because they were abandoned at birth or their families couldn't support the cost of a child. It was fun to visit and get to play with the children - especially the babies! All of the children were very interested in Chris' beard; all of them reached out and touched it as soon as he picked them up. 

A few of the babies we got to hold and play with while visiting.

After spending some time with the younger children downstairs we joined the 7-10 year olds on the top floor of the building for mass. During mass the children sang all of the hymns. During the homily Fr. Quoc did a question and answer session with the children and gave them a piece of candy after they answered. The more talkative children ended up with 2 and 3 pieces of candy at the end of mass. The mass was in Vietnamese, so we didn't really understand anything other than Amen, sign of Peace, and Alleluia. Fr. did give an English introduction and Gospel highlights for us, so we weren't completely lost. 

As an aside, in Vietnam the Sign of Peace is not commonly a handshake, its a simple bow; one to those on your left and one to those on your the right. After mass ended Chris handed out milk and cereal to each of the children in attendance; which was followed by several fist-bumps and high-fives. The boys were very eager to show off their fist-bumping skills.

After mass with all the kids

The children at the orphanage go to local Vietnamese schools each day. The Vietnamese constitution states that "Primary education is compulsory and tuition-free", however each school still requires the students purchase their own textbooks and wear uniforms. These costs are relatively low, by American standards (around $100 per academic year), but still enough to keep poor families from sending their children to school. Luckily the orphanage here is sponsored by the Spiritans as well as private donors who help fund these children's education.

The top floor of the orphanage where we celebrated mass.

While we were at the orphanage there was also a group of high school students visiting. They don't have a regular schedule, but they come occasionally in their free time to play with the children.

We may in the future have more involvement with the orphanage depending on schedules and availability of transportation.  It was lovely to play with the children, but we are also very aware that interactions with children in that setting can be detrimental if not facilitated properly and continued consistently. We shall see. Mostly we are just trying to do as much good as possible in our year in Vietnam. 

Thanks for reading!

-Chris and Kim

Stay tuned for more tails from the other side of the world!

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