VIETNAM…
(August)
Probably my favorite country yet! At NO time was Vietnam on my radar of places I wanted to go to but it’s INCREDIBLE! I got to be with an amazing all-girls team in Da Nang which was both a blast AND beautiful! We lived about 5 min from the beach, which, I’m not usually a beach person but I LOVED the beaches there! One of my favorite times to be in the water was in the evening when the sun was setting. The light would shine on the waves and you could see the little fish swimming everywhere, then it would cast reflection on the clouds making them change to a beautiful pink color. We’d then turn around and watch as the sun started going down on the other side of the mountains, again leaving the sky many different colors. So many days we’d sit in awe and left speechless because of the beauty!
Photo credit: January Sun Kim
On our first day working with Orphan Voice, we were told we were going to aid in transporting a little 4-year-old boy and his mother to a different hospital, as he would be having surgery for his cleft pallet. He had been denied surgery a couple times before due to infection in his body. He wasn’t ever able to stay well long enough for them to be able to perform the surgery safely, however he was well now and needed to be taken to the other hospital. When we got to meet him I think we all fell in love with him. His mother went to fill out all the forms necessary to get him transferred and we all sat with him, doting over and talking to him. He couldn’t understand anything we were saying but just sat there as we prayed over and spoke truth over him. He had this little guitar toy that played music when you hit different buttons; he would hold it against his face every time he’d hit the button, feeling its vibrations… We decided to change up the music a bit so we put on Gateway Church’s children’s album, wanting truth to be spoken into the room and into him as we sat there for about an hour. He grabbed ahold of the iPhone and held it to his face and then lowered himself to the bed so he could lay his head on it.
After he was discharged we all piled into the van and headed out to the next hospital. Thinking it was just across town, we were all very surprised when we were driving out of the city and continued for about 3 hours. We drove through many hills and valleys and then drove through one of the longest tunnels I’ve ever been in… As we emerged from the other side it was like we’d entered another world… The sun reflected off the surrounding water and glistened like thousands of diamonds on the ground. Around the bodies of water were flowers and beautiful trees and mountains. It was legitimately breathtaking. It was like we were driving through a very long resort, miles and miles long…it was beautiful.
We finally got to the hospital and walked in to what looked like an abandoned area of the building. There were places where a counter used to be and marks on the walls where items once hung. There was no one around but this was where we were supposed to be. We sat on the floor with our new little friend while his mother rested in a side room (she had gotten car sick on the ride through the mountains). Our contact for the day went down the hall and disappeared into one of the many doors that lined the wall. When she came back she reported that it was still rest time so we would have to wait until 2 for someone to see us. This was when we found out that every day there is a rest period of about 2 hours right after lunch, when everyone would do just that, rest…everyone, including nurses apparently. We waited patiently and soon we would be able to get him checked in. The process ended up being a little bit harder than we anticipated and we ended up being there all afternoon. With his mother still resting we had to step in and play mommy for him. We all held him as the nurses checked him out and then we found out we were going to have to hold him while they drew his blood. (Mother, I know exactly where your mind just went…LOL) For those of you who don’t know, I had a little incident when I was little where it took 7 nurses and doctors to hold me down for one TINY little shot… Anyway, Christel and I looked at each other and braced ourselves… As we sat there waiting for the nurses I couldn’t help but look around and question the sanitation of the room… There were dried blood drops on the seat from the previous patient and rust/mold on the walls and counter… I watched as they took cotton balls out of rusted metal containers and place them on the tray as they prepped and yet sat thankful that there was a hospital that was able to help our little friend. Right before they drew his blood they decided he needed to be checked by the pediatrician to make sure he was really well enough for the surgery. We carried him to another building a few blocks over and waited for the doctor to see him. The entire time this is happening he has ahold of my iPhone listening to the songs that had now been playing since about 9 this morning. He was much more at peace when the volume was up and he could hear words he didn’t understand, words that breathed truth into his little life. The pediatrician cleared him for surgery and we were headed back to the building we’d just spent hours waiting in. As soon as we walked in we saw him mother standing in the hallway, ready to take over. The feeling of relief flooded both Christel and I, as we knew he was now going to really have to get his blood drawn. She took over and we waited for him to be checked in to a room, which consisted of 3 rusted metals beds and 3 bedside tables. There were no mattresses or curtains to divide the beds, just a small open room with straw mats covering the bed frames. As soon as he was checked in we all piled into the room to say goodbye. Again, not being able to understand any of us or probably anything that was happening to him, he looked at us with tears in his eyes from the traumatic process he’d just gone through and listened as we spoke truth over and prayed for him.
The procedure was successful and he was able to go home at the end of the month. We were not able to see him again before we left for Malaysia but we all still see his sweet little face when we think back to this amazing experience on our first day.
There is so much more from Vietnam that I could share however I will save it for when I see you all in person! 🙂 Below is a little video that January put together of our month. Enjoy!
Video credit: January Sun Kim
