HOPE

Not yet exist

At Two thirty on Tuesday 11/11/2008 in a little cold weather at hilly Dien Bien’s local isolated Airport, in front of 51 members of HOPE – AVHWA (Australian Vietnamese Health &Welfare Association) and Saigon Eyes’ Hospital, Viratour Logistics and Asia Pacific (Vietnamese liaison officer), Rev. Fr. J. Bui Duc Tien, Leader of the 2008 Trip raised his voice: “Consummatum est!” – Our mission has been completed!

Everyone happily put their hands together. There were a few hands wiping off tears on their faces … That were a special feature of those who involve in charitable works. The charity rooted in their hearts: Setting tears on seeing the poor and the sick and the handicapped fellow human and also setting tears after helping them for …

Reverend J. Bui Duc Tien did not fail to say thanks to the donors from Australia or other places around the country and the world (especially from Victoria, Australia) and those who did not only financially supported but also pray for the success of the Trip and those who actually attend. Without them, this Trip has never been done. Eight days of hard work and of tiring transport. The 2008 has been successfully completed.

Leading by HOPE AVHWA from Victoria – South Australia, Australia with 31 members, Saigon Eyes Hospital (13 members), Viratour (5 members) and our liaison officer from Asia Pacific in Vietnam and a few interpreters. The Group was 51 in total. The Group was mainly divided into four Teams namely: Logistics Team; Medical Team; Dental Team and Social Team.

Since May 2008, HOPE AVHWA decided to carry out a Trip for this year at Thanh Hoa and Dien Bien Provinces in the North of Vietnam from 5/11 to 11/11/2008.

Started in Hanoi on the 5th of November, the Group (Social Team) spent the morning to visit Bo De HIV Positive Orphan Village (65 orphans tested HIV Positive gathered from around Hanoi and nearby suburbs) and the local Children Hospital. At each place, the Group met most of the children and gave them gifts. At each place, 320kgs of milk (fresh and condensed) and instant noodle were given.

At Eleven o’clock on the same morning, the Group boarded a bus heading south to Thanh Hoa Province. Four hours on the rough road for only 160 kms, members of the Group were tired and needed a rest preparing for the next long working day at the local hospital. The Group spent the night at Sao Mai Hotel in Thanh Hoa.

Thanh Hoa is the second largest province of the country (after Nghe An Province) and has the third crowded population (after Saigon and Hanoi). Nearly 4 million people spread on a large piece of land with 200 kms of beach (there was a well known beach called Sam Son Beach and an interested place called Legend Fish, and 192 kms of borders with Laos.

The population are located in 27 Districts (the farthest District is about 250 kms from the heart of the Province). For the work of this year of HOPE AVHWA, those who have cataracts are from only four nearby Districts. There would be about one hundred thousand people with cataracts from the whole province.

The Leading Team of the 2008 Trip consists 3 members, with other working Teams such as GP Team (3); Optom. Team (2); Dental Team (2); Opthal. Team and assistants (12) and Pharmacist cum Financial Team (3).

In Thanh Hoa, with two long days of hard work, HOPE AVHWA has done 197 cataracts operations and 91 cases of dental services.

These blinds are from all walks of life. A few cases should be noticed: both eyes (with cataracts) of a 25 months old baby have been successfully operated (the cataracts was formed when the baby was still in her mother womb) and two elderly at the age of 98.

The Group left Thanh Hoa for Noi Bai Airport on its way to Dien Bien Province early on 8th November. The only flight from Hanoi to Dien Bien departed at 1.30pm. Dien Bien Province is about 600 kms by road and 300 kms by air from Hanoi.

Dien Bien Province is one of the two Provinces in Vietnam which have a local air field within the city (Da Nang and Dien Bien)

Dien Bien and Thanh Hoa are two very different provinces: Thank Hoa has a long and well known history since the 15th Century; and Dien Bien has been formed only in the year 2002 (divided from Lai Chau Province in 2002) with 75% of its population are ethnic groups mainly Hmong, “Black” Thai and “White” Thai. Many of those who can not properly speak Vietnamese, therefore, these people needed to have interpreters. HOPE AVHWA in Dien Bien needed to have Vietnamese-English Interpreters and other interpreters as well. In Dien Bien, the Group stayed at Him Lam Hotel.

In order to reach 200 patients as planned, the local hospital had to cope with a great challenge. From the up hill places far away from the city without roads as far as the borders of Vietnam-China or Vietnam-Laos, patients had been carried back to the city by horses. However, HOPE AVHWA had successfully done 162 cataracts and 69 dental cases.

On the 9th of November, while the other Teams work at the local hospital, the Social Team lead by Reverend J Bui Duc Tien went to visit Nam Yin Lepers’ Camp which located deep up 130 kms in the mountain from the city. Six members of the Social Team and gifts (620 kgs of fresh and condensed milk and boxes of instant noodles) were in two jeeps (four wheels drive). It took about 4 hours to reach the “village” by some means of roads which the local people called “the way of the cross”. The jeeps had two “crosses” to pass: one was a rock-slide and one of a “river of mud”.

Over 30 years ago, those lepers were sent to this place. They have “freedom” to move around in an isolated area of 8 hectares of bushes.

Within these 8 hectares of bushes, the lepers have been living with non-leper local people. They got married and have children. Some families have 3 or 4 children.

Ten years ago, an organization called Blessed Damien from the Catholic Church (Damien was a Catholic Priest who offered his life to serve the lepers in Molokai Island near Hawaii and he himself died as a leper) helped them to build 10 huts. Two other organizations from Germany and Holland also helped them to build a “school” (somehow, the “architect” had forgotten to have a toilet system in his plan; therefore, the students and teacher have had to use the bushes behind and around the classes!). There is only one teacher for three classes and she, herself, is also a leper.

HOPE AVHWA handed them 620 kgs of milk (fresh and condensed) and boxes of instant noodle. HOPE AVHWA also offered the school an amount of money to set up a toilet and water which run to this toilet facilities (It costs 25 million Vietnamese dong – AU$2,500.00). These gifts were donations to HOPE AVHWA by many generous donors from Melbourne and around the world mainly at Ringwood, Springvale, Richmond and Ascot Vale only a few weeks prior to the Trip.

Looking at the innocent children playing around the bushes and helping their leper parents collecting harvest, tears were running down on our cheeks.

Reverend J Bui Duc Tien and other members from Social Team happily and “hesitantly” joined them for lunch…
Three o’clock, the Team left Nam Yin Leper area to be back on “the way of the cross” heading Dien Bien leaving behind those whom have been destined an unfortunate fate.

There is the same beautiful world, the same beautiful mountain, the same quiet river… but in there, there are many unfortunate people who have patiently carried on their backs an unexplainably hard fate.

HOPE AVHWA has successfully carried out its plan as promised to their generous donors at many different Fundraising events. The collections have been spent reasonably and purposely with a great human manner.

On behalf of HOPE AVHWA and also on behalf of those who have received the benefit of the money collected through 2008 Trip. Reverend J Bui Duc Tien would like to send to all donors his grateful thanks.

May God bless you always wherever you may be.

Reverend Father Joe Bui Duc Tien,
President of HOPE – AVHWA

Notes:
Trip 2008:
* 359 blind people with cataracts have seen again after operations.
* 154 people received dental services.
* One Children Hospital was visited and children received Gifts.
* One HIV Positive Orphans’ Village was visited and received Gifts.
* Nam Yin Leper Area, 130 kms from Dien Bien Province was visited and received Gifts.
* 1000 kgs of fresh and condensed milk and 200 boxes of instant Noodle were handed into the hands of the poor and abandoned children and adults and Lepers.

In 2009 HOPE AVHWA will have its 2009 Trip on November.

If you want to join this Trip or to enroll as members of HOPE AVHWA, please contact Rev. Fr. J. Bui Duc Tien, 14 Bedford Road, Ringwood, Vic 3134, Tel. (03) 9870 6056 (business hours)

All donations could be sent to the above address or directly deposited to:

Bank ANZ
Name of Account: HOPE AVHWA (Australian Vietnamese Health &Welfare Association)
BSB: 013-481
Account number: 48769 5237
(If you want to receive Tax Deductible Receipts, please give note)