Our team had the lucky fortune of staying in Da Nang in central Vietnam for the month. Da Nang is a beautiful city right next to the beach and is quickly becoming a vacation destination for both locals and foreigners. The city is growing and modernizing with many Western style restaurants and hotels and so needless to say, our team thoroughly enjoyed having some of the comforts of home again. Here’s a look at what our month looked like!
LIFE IN DA NANG
[The Beach] Da Nang has very much of a beach town feel to it. The people are friendly and life just seems to move at a laid back pace (at least compared to most other Asian cities). Many locals come down to the beach in the early mornings to exercise and also in the afternoons after work to relax and wind down the day. I definitely took advantage of this as well and got a few late afternoon runs in after a long day. I figured I had to do something active to combat all of the good food I was eating in Vietnam!
[The River] But Da Nang is more than just a beach city. It has a river that runs thru it that separates the beach section from the city center. So while one side of the river has the beach feel, the other is a growing metropolis. Apparently there was only one bridge that connected the city before, but in the last few years alone they’ve built five new bridges! And it is on the city side that many of the Western restaurants can be found. So let’s just say that our team made quite a few walks over those bridges in search of some good food!
[The Dragon Bridge] The most popular and recognizable of the bridges is the Dragon Bridge…because it has a dragon on it, haha. The entire city lights up at night and the Dragon Bridge stands out because it changes color throughout the night. And on Saturday and Sunday nights at 9pm, the experience is even more spectacular because the dragon breathes fire! Yes, it’s a very touristy thing to do, but hey — when in Da Nang, you do what the locals do…smartphone cameras in hand and all!
Side note: I ABSOLUTELY LOVED DA NANG. The beach, the mountains, the people, the food…I could definitely see myself living in this city. Plus…it has lots of Korean restaurants and convenience stores! Apparently there are a lot of Koreans living in Da Nang and the local people love Koreans too! When we first drove into Da Nang, I actually mentioned to a teammate that the city reminded me a lot of Seoul because of the river and its many bridges. And fun fact — both cities’ rivers are named Han River! So who knows…maybe I’ll come back to Da Nang one day!
ORPHAN VOICE
The organization that we volunteered for during our stay was called Orphan Voice (orphanvoice.org). Their mission is “to meet the needs of ‘the least of these’ in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. We work to protect orphans, children living in state institutions, special needs children including the deaf, families at risk to place their child in an orphanage, and children and youth at risk for sexual or labor trafficking.”
Because Orphan Voice is involved in so many different causes, our work varied throughout the month. We were able to do a little bit of almost everything, and it seemed like there was something new each week. So take a look at what we did!
[Promise House – Classroom Painting] Most of our time was spent helping out at Promise House, a group home run by Orphan Voice. Promise House is similar to a boarding school, where students learn and live on the compound. Most of the children there have families, but a handful of them are orphans as well.
The first and biggest project we had at Promise House was re-painting one of the classrooms. And in order to do that, we first had to scrap off the old paint, sand over the walls and then apply a new coat of paint. It took us a good two, maybe three days to finish the job, but it was well worth it — the new classroom looked so fresh and so clean!
[Promise House – Murals] Another project we did at Promise House was to clean and touch-up their outer wall mural. A previous World Race team had painted four beautiful murals by the entrance, but they had gotten dirty and started to show some wear and tear. So our team spent a few afternoons washing and re-painting them — and now they look as good as new!
And our team was also given the opportunity to paint a new mural on the inside of Promise House. So one of our teammates came up with a design that stayed true to the style of the outer murals and also paid homage to Da Nang as a beach city — and it turned out really well! Hopefully the kids will enjoy looking at the new beach mural from their kitchen!
[Promise House – Kids and Ice Cream] But it wasn’t all work at Promise House. We were able to interact with the kids there and have some fun too. One morning we took a group of the students down to the river and it turned out to be a great time of just hanging out. And at the end of it, we treated them all to some ice cream. And you know kids…none of them said no to free ice cream!
[Dai Loc Orphanage] Orphan Voice is also involved in sponsoring and assisting state (or government) institutions. Most of these institutions are orphanages and generally all of the children in them are orphans. We had the opportunity to visit a state run orphanage in the province of Dai Loc every week, where we would interact and play with the children. Some days we would do something active, like playing musical chairs or kicking around a shuttlecock (it’s what they use in badminton). And other times we would just sit around and play Uno or fill out coloring books. But on one occasion, we were able to celebrate the birthdays of a few of the children. What a special treat it was to be a part of that and to be involved in the lives of these children!
[New Beginnings School for the Deaf] In addition to orphan work, Orphan Voice is also involved in helping children with special needs. One such program that they run is the New Beginnings School for the Deaf in the countryside, a little over an hour from Da Nang. Before this school was opened, there was no deaf school or program in the area so the impact that Orphan Voice has had on the community and the lives of the children there has been tremendous to say the least. Our team didn’t have the chance to work at this school during our month, but a teammate and I were able to visit it (she was asked to make a video for Orphan Voice) and see firsthand a classroom in action — plus one of the students taught me how to sign their alphabet!
[Phu Ninh Therapy Center] And right next to the New Beginnings School is another amazing program aimed at assisting children with special needs — the Phu Ninh Therapy Center. Like the school for the deaf, this therapy center is the first in the area and has had a life-altering impact on those who have come thru it. The center is primarily a physical therapy center that takes care of children born with physical ailments (cerebral palsy is common there) and is staffed by multiple nurses. The wonderful women there nurse the children as if they were their own, with much tenderness and love. It was a privilege for me to see this center and the direct impact that Orphan Voice is having on so many children in Vietnam!
[English Club] And lastly, our team had the opportunity to work with some university students while we were in Da Nang. This was not thru Orphan Voice directly, but thru one of the staff at Orphan Voice who teaches English to these students. He asked our team if we would like to help his students practice their English in a fun, casual setting like volleyball or karaoke…so we were happy to oblige! It was a blast hanging out with them on the beach and singing some familiar American songs (although they did make me sing ‘Gangnam Style’…but the lyrics weren’t in Korean…). Plus, their English skills were really good — we had so much fun sharing about ourselves and making great conversations!
DA NANG INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP
During our stay in Da Nang, we were also given the chance to partner with a local church there — Da Nang International Fellowship (DIF) (dananginternationalfellowship.org), who “seek to serve as a spiritual haven for the English-speaking expats who live in Danang and for those who are just passing through”. Our team was able to attend their service each Sunday and also help the church with various needs during the week. See what we did!
[Prayer Tree] One of our first projects with DIF was to assist in completing their prayer tree. The concept for it was very cool — various prayer requests/goals were printed, framed and placed on a wall in the church. All unanswered prayer requests/goals were printed in black and white, and would only be changed to color if the request/goal was answered! A church member had already painted the tree, and our team assisted in finalizing the printouts, framing and hanging them on the tree. The finished project was a beautiful reminder and encouragement to the church of how God is listening and answering their prayers!
[Church Cleaning] Our team also helped do some cleaning around the church. We washed and bleached the walls in the children’s classrooms (there was a lot of mildew!) and cleaned the bathrooms as well. We had done so much cleaning for Orphan Voice and Promise House that we were able to knock out the church cleaning in one afternoon!
[Sunday School] And each Sunday, we had the joy of teaching Sunday school to the kids while their parents were participating in the service. There are two worship services each week at DIF so two different people from our team would teach each Sunday school class. Oftentimes it would involve a Bible story lesson and an arts and crafts exercise to accompany it, whether it was just coloring or playing with Play-Doh. The kids were an absolute delight to work with — sometimes it seemed like we were having more fun than they were!
