Today we woke up. We ate noodles and meat for breakfast.
After breakfast we walked over to Chu Hoang’s house. The rice was there waiting
for us when we got there. 10 bags filled with 20 glorious kilos each. We had
brought the other food to the house the day before. It was go time- time to put
the bags together. We got to work and quickly put 10 bags of food together.
Each bag consisted of oil, detergent, soy sauce, sugar, crackers, noodles and
or course the ever necessary rice. As we saw the bags stacked on the front
porch a sense of satisfaction fell.
Last night after shopping at the market we went to visit one
family that would be receiving our bag of food. This man has 10 children. His
wife died 15 months ago giving birth to their last child. He lives in a small
house that I honestly cannot describe in great detail because we visited after
dark settled in. So our time in the house was lit by a small lantern in the
middle of a rickety table that barely allowed us to see each other’s faces. I
watched as the 12 year old
boy’s face lit up talking about studying math and his father’s face dropped as
he told us he was unable to work because of needing to take care of the
children and the 8 year old girl sitting there smiling shyly the entire time.
The baby was in the other room sleeping already. I was in awe of this man and
his willingness to care for his children in the midst of much struggle.
people we know. They are friends that we have made during our 2 ½ months here.
People we have seen struggling to send their children to school and feed their
families on a daily basis. I am excited to get them one of these bags that will
help their family out even if just a
little bit.
After we assembled the bags we headed back to the house to have lunch and do
English class. The excitement is rising all day. We finally get to see this
happen. We get to see this program launched. As we go through our English words the children shout at
me “shirt”, “pants”, “shoes”, “hat”. I watched kids laugh hysterically as I
stepped out in the most ridiculous outfit to help them learn the new words. I knew that some of these
laughing faces would soon be carrying food home with their families.
As we finished up English class and passed out twizzlers to students for successfully remembering
objectives from the day’s lesson we quickly got dressed to go to Chu Hoang’s
house. As we walked over to the house we had a few of our students following
us. We are expecting to have a 2 hour window where the families could come at their convenience to get their
food. We step into the yard to find 7 of the 10 families already there. Oh wow!
We know some of these people. Those we don’t know- we get to know quickly.
There is the little old lady who smiles the whole time we talk to them. There
is the family with the 2 special needs adult children whom I love because they
speak to me like I should know Vietnamese (I have learned that
expectation is one of the most important teachers).
After a little while
of getting to know people we start passing bags of food out. As people walk
away with their food. I watch in awe. It really is not that much food- but this
food will help sustain this family for an entire month. I am so happy
that the Lord is allowing us to be a part of what He is doing in Mang Thit and
bringing about hope in these families’ lives. Thank you for all your prayers
and support in getting this endeavor going.
