Another interesting trip to down South of Vietnam visiting VCF’s school By Lan Vien
August 29 2006
29/8/2006
Left Hanoi at 5 pm for the evening flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
30/8/2006
Woke up at 4 am to catch the 6 am flight from Ho Chi Minh city to Ca Mau. Arrived at Ca Mau at 7 am. One hour after arriving we got in a taxi heading to Kien Giang to see new location for VCF’s school. It was pretty dangerous to drive through country side because farmer use the road as the yard to dry their rice. In many areas the car drove over the rice.
When we were about 500m to the school location the car stopped working. Sam (my director) and one of the local official had to push the car. The car started and ran for 100m then stopped again. We had to wait for another car to come to pick us up. It is never a dull moment in Vietnam.
31/8/2006
Woke up at 5 am to go to Ba Lieu. As we didn’t know how to get to the school we decided to go with Mr. Viet/project’s contractor. I couldn’t believe in my eyes when we arrived at Viet’s house as I saw two guys were loading a huge roasted pig into the car. They told me that was for school dedication party. The pig set right on top of two boxes of present we bought for the school. We all hopped in Viet’s car and head to Ganh Hao town for boat trip to the school. I set in the car but felt like at the restaurant as the “smell” from roasted pork was so strong. I have tried not laughing with what I saw.
The boat trip took 30 minutes. The school appeared in front of our boat so nice. It was so wonderful seeing the happiness on everybody faces. It shows how this school means to them. The land to build the school was donation from the family leaving cross the school. The lady in the photos on the left had built the bridge cross the canal for the kids to go to school. We left school right after the dedication and arrived at Ca Mau at 3 pm. We were so tired because we didn’t have neither breakfast nor lunch but we were so happy with what we did to the children at Long Dien Tay District, Bac Lieu Province.
1/9/2006
Left Ca Mau at 7: 30 am for Ho Chi Minh City. Right after checking-in the hotel I took a long….nap as there was no tomorrow. It was great to have two days off as the 2nd of September is the National Day. We decided to treat our self a nice lunch buffet at Sheraton hotel. We had so much fun eating “cotton candy” (the way Vietnamese call the candy). In the afternoon we spent most of time shopping. We shop till to drop. 
4/9/2006
Woke up early again. We left Ho Chi Minh City at 6 am for Ben Tre to dedicate An Hiep school at Chau Thanh District. It was a wonderful ceremony. This is the 35th school built by us/Vietnam Children’s Fund USA (VCF). Another good project with help of Coca Cola. It is appreciated by so many. It was so hard to say goodbye to everybody here. We finally left school at 2 pm to go back to Ho Chi Minh City to prepare for another trip the next day.
5/9/2006
Woke up at 5 am and left Ho Chi Minh City at 5:30 for Dong Nai to dedicate Thua Duc school at Cam My District. When our car turned into the rubber forest near the school we reached to a very muddy road and absolutely no way the car can pass. We all got off the car to inspect the road closer to fine solution. Sam came up with a brilliant idea that was hiring a tractor. Sam, Thanh/local officer got on the tractor with 10 boxes of present. Another local officer took me by his motorbike by different way.
There were many time we almost fell off the bike as the road was so slippery. Only the local can drive on this road. We made our way to the school. The whole school neighbourhood and the children were so happy to see us showing up on the tractor. Specially a foreigner/ “Ong Tay” dressed up on the muddy tractor. I felt like seeing Santa came to very remote area in the world.
It was another great day, great moment sharing the happiness. We had to leave the school earlier than we wanted to avoided the coming heavy rain which will strap us in the rubber forest for at least a day.
Instead of going back to Ho Chi Minh City we went to Mui Ne/Phan Thiet province for a night as it was closer to the school we had to visit the next day. Mui Ne Beach was very nice but to me it wasn’t as attract as a bed. I woke up at 5 pm after a long nap and jumped into the pool. That was the best relax moment I have had since the beginning of this trip.
6/9/2006
We didn’t have to wake up early as the school wasn’t far and we went there to inspect the steel work only. That is the Tan Ha primary school in Ham Tan District, Binh Thuan Province, our the 38th school. We were so glad that the project was in good progress and in two months we could open it for the children of the commune.
Left Tan Ha school in the afternoon we went back to Ho Chi Minh City. It was rush hour when we got to the City. The driver had to snicked by narrow and dusty roads to avoid traffic jam. We went straight to Tan Son Nhat airport to catch our flight and arrived the airport at 5 pm. Once again, the flight to Da Nang was delay. Sam and I had to hang at the airport for two hours. We arrived the hotel in Da Nang at 9 pm.
7/9/2006
We hired a taxi to go to the school at Dien Phuong to inspect finishing work. The project was almost completed. I was so happy to see another school going to open in a poor area of Vietnam.
8/9/2006
We spend half day resting in Da Nang before returning to Hanoi. Our fight at 2 pm was delay too. But this time the airline agent informed us in advance so we didn’t have to hang out at the airport. I got home at 6 pm.
This was a long business trip but I was surprise that I didn’t feel too tired during the trip. I only feel that at the end of my journey. Thought what I have did for the children of my country helps me strong to carry out my work load. The happy smile of everybody I met where I came were my happiness. I love working with Vietnam Children’s Fund. It is great Organization.