Vietnam Trip

Liz strikes a pose next to some of the statues outside Emperor Khai Dinh's mausoleum near Hue. She always seems to fit in quite well with the surroundings. :)

Instead of "Where's Waldo?", it's "There's Liz!"

Looks like she's in good company. :)

The view from Emperor Khai Dinh's mausoleum. Looks real nice to me. Especially with the lady in red! :)

Standing in the doorway of a bullet-scarred wall at the old Citadel in the Imperial City of Hue. When Vietnamese Communists holed up inside the Citadel during the Tet Offensive of 1968, it took U.S. Marines 25 days to root them out. In the process, much of this treasure of antiquity was seriously damaged or completely destroyed. However, restoration is underway and inside we could see many roofs, walls and walkways being rebuilt.

Outside Mom and Dad's beach bungalow at the Sandy Beach Resort on China Beach (near Danang).

Mom and Dad enjoy a nice stroll on China Beach.

Liz poses in one of the traditional Vietnamese round basket boats. Mom and Dad walk on China Beach in the background.

Liz and Mom in front of the Thien Mu Pagoda near Hue.

Dad stands next to the back of the Thien Mu Pagoda.

Dad takes a stroll down the old streets of Hoi An, a charming seaside town with lots of interesting shops.

Here's Liz enjoying afternoon tea at one of the cafe balconies in Hoi An.

With a little friend in Hoi An.

In Hoi An as well as other parts of Vietnam, there's no shortage of cute kids. It seems they're everywhere. Can't I just take one home?!

Mom really enjoyed the shopping in Hoi An. So much so that Dad threatened to take the credit card away from her. :) In this picture, she poses next to the local handbag vendor.

Liz is fast developing a penchant for traditional Vietnamese women's attire, specifically ao dais. Here she is with her favorite tailor on this trip, Lien. If you're ever going to Central Vietnam (Danang - Hoi An area) and interested in such traditional clothing, just talk to Liz. She'll be glad to hook you up with this skilled young lady. And if you're up north, she'll be glad to recommend a tailor in Hanoi too.

We still haven't made it to HCM City (Saigon) in the south yet. But I'm sure that'll be coming in the near future.

At Fisher's SuperKids English Center in Danang, a school run by our friends, Hai Huynh and his wife, Teresa. They are Christians and Teresa's maiden name is Fisher. You can then figure out the double-meaning behind the school's name.

Inside the lobby of the school. Notice the fish symbol as well as the slogan "Teaching With A Heart".

There's no shortage of kids, the main challenge is recruiting enough teachers for them here. So, if you or any qualified Christian you know would be interested in teaching in Vietnam (for one year), contact Hai and Teresa at: fishersuperkids@gmail.com

Liz with Hai and Teresa at their school.

Liz plays with Hai and Teresa's three-year old daughter, Sarah. Their oldest of three, Sarah combines Eastern and Western features in a way that reminds me of some cute Japanese anime characters.

Dad along with Vietnam veterans Chuck Ward from Newberry, S.C. and Bob Peragallo of Vancouver, B.C. (wearing USMC tee). They now head a Christian relief and development group known as Vets With A Mission (VWAM). The local Vietnamese lady standing between them is glad that VWAM helped fix the roof on her house after it was damaged by the recent typhoon.

To learn more about VWAM's humanitarian and medical projects in Vietnam, visit their homepage at: http://www.vwam.com/

Chuck Ward's wife, Joette. She was so nice to be our expert tour guide in Hoi An.

Thank you, Joette! You were very different from Chuck's "travel agent" friends :) (inside joke)

Part of the VWAM disaster relief team that we worked with. At a home site, Joette and other team members sort and clean up bricks which may be re-used. Curious locals gather round to watch. Since many people's homes were damaged in the typhoon, some were probably hoping we could help them too. Unfortunately, you can't meet all the needs that are there. So, hopefully, there can be more volunteers on such projects in the future. Maybe you too could join such an effort. Like the ladies you see here, you don't have to be a veteran or handyman.

Plaque put up at one of the area health clinics established by VWAM and All Nations Fellowship of Vancouver, B.C. Former U.S. Marine, Bob Peragallo (pictured above) is now the pastor of this Vancouver congregation. Like the disaster relief team we worked with, many VWAM teams have included members from his church.

I love the VWAM logo which has American flag on the left, Vietnam flag on the right, with country map in the middle all linked together by the cross. The theme slogan is "Reconciliation" and the key Bible verse (printed on ribbon below) is 2 Corinthians 5:18. To me that sums it all up so well.

Standing next to the girl with a white hat is Chuck Ward, director of VWAM. He took us on a visit to Danang's no. 2 hospital. In the middle, Dad talks with some of the local school kids outside.

Touring local medical facilities - Dad shaking hands with the director, Dr. Vinh at Danang's no. 2 hospital. The man in the middle is his associate who served as interpreter during our visit. As a pediatrician and church mission council president, Dad is looking at ways to help them out in the future.

I can't remember the man in the middle's name. I'll have to find out from Chuck Ward so we can pray for him and be in touch. (Chuck, if you read this, please let me know.) This man displayed such a gentle spirit of hospitality (no play on words intended) in showing us around. His English was pretty good too. And this is largely because he'd served alongside the Americans with the South Vietnamese Army.

We met this cute girl in the hallway of the pediatric ward at Danang's no. 2 hospital.

With the hospital's dentist and Dr. Vinh's associate - the wonderful man I already mentioned above. Much of the equipment here is old and below standard. So Dad (along with VWAM) hopes to raise money to help them buy newer equipment.

Posing with kids from the school across from Danang's no. 2 hospital.

Final Statement: As you can see from this post, I absolutely love Vietnamese kids, but this, however, is no indication that either I or Liz are ready to become parents at this point. And yet, who knows, maybe someday if we're able, we can adopt one of them. :)