Day 4: First Day at the Pagoda

Full Disclaimer: The following block of text isn't all that interesting. I write it down for my own future reference. If you want to do the sensible thing, just scroll down to the tl;dr and you can look at some pictures of the the pagoda and the kids that live there.

The children at the pagoda are orphans, many of them left at the temple as babies. I like to reserve judgement on the parents. With little social programs or government help, can an average family in Vietnam afford to provide care for a disabled child? Conditions at the pagoda may not be up to "western standards", but I'm certainly happy that there is a place where these kids are taken in, and taken care of.

A boy came right up to us as we entered the gated playroom and was ready to go for a walk. He grabbed my hand and pushed me towards the gate. He then grabbed Jackie's hand and pushed her towards the gate. You can tell he's used to having volunteers around. I call him the boss, due to the nature in which he got us to take him out: like a boss. Jackie ended up going with him. She later informed me his name is Su.

One of the nurses brought over a boy and signalled for me to take him out for a walk around the temple. I don't think he can speak, but he definitely understood the nurses when they spoke to him. He knew some english though, and he happily spouted it to me: "Allo!" and I was glad to say it back.

Allo is blind but he led me out of the gate of the playroom. Using my hand and the wall as a guide, we went down the hall and out to the courtyard. Much happier to run than walk, Allo led me around the temple, feeling various statues, plants, benches and trees along the way. Out in the courtyard, there are locals here and there, most of them ignoring the presence of the foreigner and the disabled child. I assume if you go there often enough, this is a common site. There are there occasional stares, with one particular lady who was uncomfortable enough with Allo to get up from her seat and relocate as we approached her bench. This would happen again later, on one of our several passes through the courtyard.

We came up to a skinny tree, and I gave it a shake for Allo to hear the rustling leaves above us. This gave him much joy as we spent the next half hour shaking the trees. This could have gone on for much longer, but it was lunch time.

10 o clock was feeding time, so we made our way back to the playroom. Back there, I watched the boss work on a matching puzzle. There are rectangular pieces with either the front end or the back end of various animals. He took great care to match these up. I picked up a piece to help, but he would have none of that and knocked my hand away. At this time a kid I call Uppercut for good reason was having an altercation with someone else The nurse came and broke it up, and I took Uppercut aside. "Hey what's up, don't do that." She was obviously not in the mood, as I was met with a kick which I blocked, and a connecting left to my head. This one will be trouble.

At feeding time, I was feeding Mickey, who has cerebral palsy (I believe). He was not very happy with having someone unfamiliar feeding him at first, thrashing about, but as we continued, he accepted me and calmed down. He could not speak, but found his own ways to communicate with me. When I drifted off into a daydream while waiting for him to finish his previous mouthful, he would give me a nudge with his leg, telling me "Hey guy, get this show on the road." Another time, he vocalized his displeasure when he was ready for the next mouthful and the spoon was nowhere to be seen.

Mickey's chair was next to Ca Rot's. Carrot is a rambunctious little girl who refuses to be fed and gets angry with you when you're doing something wrong like putting a kid in the wrong spot, or if you're not feeding someone the right way. She was helpful to Jackie and I in this way, as we would definitely know if we weren't doing something the right way.

It was nap time after lunch, and Jackie picked up one of the kids to place them on the sleeping pads. Jackie was about to place her down beside Carrot. With her gestures, Carrot told Jackie "no no, she doesn't sleep here, she sleeps over there!"

And when the kids are in place, we go home for our 2 hour lunch break.

Coming back out after lunch is definitely a chore. The heat just makes me want to sleep in front of a fan, and the bus ride is a stuffy one. Once you get to the destination though, you forget about that part, and it's all worth it. The afternoon is a similar routine to the morning. You arrive at the pagoda at around 14:30, and you have until 15:30 to take a kid or two outside. Its hard to have to choose one kid when you get approached by 4 to take them out every time you arrive. And those are just the ones outgoing / functional enough to come to you. You end up taking the same kids out because they're the ones that come up to you. You want to take some of the other kids out and start wondering if they would also enjoy some fresh air. but its so damn hard to turn your back and say no to the ones that ask you to take them. Dilemma

Some of the kids:

Su Boss

Qin Mickey

 

Ca Rot

Allo

Uppercut

Cho Coc

B'tan

Monkey boy

Chim Sau

Straw boy

Bird Watcher

Ba Ba

Either Jackie or I will write a bit about the kids in the next day or two. It's getting late and I'ma getting sleepy.

tl;dr I encourage everybody to go volunteer and give some of your time for children, elders, people in need. Guarantee you won't regret it.

I lied about the pictures too, they'll come later.