Houston, 18th April 2010.

Dear Benefactors of the “Abandoned Little Angels”,

Living in Vietnam and being a missionary in that country, I joined the Abandoned Little Angels (ALA) in their trip to visit the orphanages in all the regions of Vietnam for the last three years. Every time, it has been a touching experience when encountering the poor children, mainly in the countryside. This year, I was invited by the ALA to come to Houston to share my experiences with the benefactors of the ALA at their fund raising banquet. It has been a wonderful experience for many reasons. People were so welcoming. I visited so many people and I can tell you, I even spoke more Vietnamese here than in Vietnam!

I was also interested in discovering the life of the Vietnamese community abroad. In three years since my arrival in Vietnam, I met many Vietnamese who are in the process of migrating to the United States, Australia, or Europe. Before leaving Vietnam, these people had mixed feelings. They were excited to go to “the promised land” but also sad to leave their country. I also shared their sentiments, and I sometimes worry for them because I too am an immigrant. How would they adapt in a so different society?

Being originally from a western country (Belgium), I knew they would have to cope with the cold climate, another food, another culture, the language–so many challenges to face and so many mysteries to solve. For example, they take a flight (often for the first time in their lives) and suddenly in less than 24 hours, they find themselves in a brand new world

For sure, immigration was and is still a challenging experience but during the four weeks I spent among the Vietnamese community in USA, I discovered how immigration can change the life of a family for good. I was indeed deeply impressed by the vitality of the Vietnamese community in USA. Here, many Vietnamese are highly educated. They have prosperous businesses. Their children speak English fluently with an American accent. Many of them speak Vietnamese fluently, while others do not. You can see that the Vietnamese community assimilated many of the good values of American culture. They like to be efficient, they respect the environment (Houston is so clean, my goodness!), they believe in their own capacity to achieve their goals (the American optimism). But they also remain faithful to their original background. In many places, the second and the third generation of the Vietnamese migrants go to study Vietnamese at school ! One can say that the American dream has been fulfilled. Mission accomplished!

Having left Vietnam in tragic events or simply in search of a better life, the Vietnamese community in USA didn’t forget that most of their relatives and friends or simply compatriots in Vietnam are still struggling for a better life. This is also a great value of the Americans, and especially of the Vietnamese ; although many are well-off, they are willing to support their families and the poor in Vietnam. It is a kind of moral duty. When you have money, you have to share it with those who are in need.

I am impressed by the amount of money the ALA is able to raise every year in America. Because of this funding, every year the orphaned and handicapped children living in over 60 loving shelters continue to receive assistance. After having met many Vietnamese-American immigrants, I recognize one unifying disposition, an ongoing attachment to their native country. The majority of Vietnamese-Americans either do not want to or have not had the opportunity to return to Vietnam. The first generation immigrants left their native land over thirty years ago and because of that, it is difficult for them to imagine what the daily events in Vietnam are currently like. The large cities have underwent a transformation. Saigon, especially because so many immigrants are familiar with this city, have become overcrowded as work demands have dictated the population explosion. The roads could not expand to keep up with the ever growing mass of people, making a simple task such as crossing the street a hazard during traffic hours.
If one could imagine a past population of under 3 million now expanded to over 8 million; one can see sanitation problems and labor issues arising. On the surface, the urban areas in Vietnam seem to have advanced in the realms of technology and wealth. The night life teems with activities. A closer examination, with focus on the impoverish, the handicapped, the beggars, and the vagrants who immerse themselves in the work force at such a young age, reveals a different picture. Many of the same people who participate in the night life are the ones living only for the moment, or to forget a difficulties in life. Any person who has a chance to visit the rural areas like I did with ALA, will find that life there is much much worse

A desirable quality of the Vietnamese people is their compassion for their relatives and their countrymen. For example, despite having just arrived to a new country as well as having difficulty assimilating to a new lifestyle, many immigrants were able to find means to send a portion of their hard-earned income to their relatives in Vietnam. Although they realize that a portion of the money sent will likely benefit the government, familial ties spur them onward. The deeply caring nature and magnanimous benevolence shown by the Vietnamese people are virtues worthy of many praises. A well-off person giving from his excess is not as highly regarded as one who shares from his daily livelihood. The impoverish, the ill-fated, and the handicapped need and deserve our assistance. They are appreciative of your help, and on their behalf, I am grateful for your humanitarianism and your generosity.

May God bless you all and repay your kindness many folds. Amen.

Saigon, February 2008.

Dear Benefactors of the “Abandoned Little Angels” Association,

My name is Father Frédéric Rossignol (in Vietnamese, Trần Sỹ Hòa); I am from Belgium and have lived in Vietnam for several months now. Along with a number of other priests and Sisters, I was invited by Mr. and Mrs. Toan to join the team of “Abandoned Little Angels” to visit 60 orphanages throughout the length and breadth of Vietnam. It took us about three weeks to achieve this goal. This was an extraordinary experience that I would like to share some of it with you. The motto for this year is “Give a child a smile!” Smiling is a very natural attitude in Vietnam. Perhaps, it has to do with the fact that Vietnamese society is incredibly young. Very often, I see children or teenagers, two on the same bike, talking to each other and smiling! As a foreigner, I attract attention and as I am able to speak a little Vietnamese, (I have been studying it for ten months now), my way of speaking makes people smile and laugh! The people of Vietnam are well able to smile and laugh but actually the smile of many people and especially of the children is in danger, for many reasons that I would like to explain.

- “Dýng mắc cỡ!” “Don’t be ashamed!” Many times, we met children who didn’t smile immediately when we approached them, because of ‘mắc cỡ’. Vietnam is very diversified from a sociological point of view. Many regions are very isolated for several reasons. For example, if you go to the Mekong Delta (Miền Tây), you have to take a boat to reach some orphanages. There, every block of houses is surrounded by water. Or if you go in the center of Vietnam, in the mountains, access to the villages is also difficult. There are only a few dirt roads. You are surrounded by the forests and the minorities speak their native languages! Finally, when you go to the countryside, you meet people who are working in the rice fields. Some use buffalos to plough! In all these regions (Mien Tay, region of the mountains, countryside), people very rarely see foreigners. They can hardly imagine how the life of other people is in big cities like Hanoi or Saigon or the life of people from abroad. Usually, a child doesn’t smile at strangers but only at those whom he knows. It happened to me many times that when I met children, they were ‘mắc cỡ’ or even afraid of me, an ‘Ông Tây’.  For our group, to reach the several regions of Vietnam and to enter in contact with the isolated people is a way to tell them: “Don’t be afraid. We are different but we are friends and we can get to know one another”.  To give a smile to children is to help them to discover that people from other regions of Vietnam and people from outside Vietnam are willing and happy to meet and spend some time with them.

- “Con bị cảm lạnh không? Vâng, lạnh quá!” “Are you cold? Yes very cold!” When you feel cold, it is not easy to smile! During our trip, we didn’t need to look at the map. It was enough to feel the temperature outside and to see the dress of the people to realize that we were heading to the North. What a difference between Saigon (30 degrees) and Hanoi (15 degrees). In Western countries, most of the people don’t feel so uncomfortable with the cold weather. You just turn the heater on and the problem is solved! But in Vietnam, although the temperature is very low, we saw people working in the rice fields, in the cold water, and we thought that they would be more comfortable at home. But when we visited their home, the temperature was also very low. No heater! For the “Abandoned Little Angels” Association, to encourage children to smile is also to improve their lives by giving them food, warm clothes and blankets. This is why every year, “Abandoned Little Angels” brings food and money to every orphanage. We don’t solve all the problems. We just try to do our best to allow children to smile more frequently!

- “Con biết, cô giáo của con dễ thýõng!” “Do you know that you have a very nice looking teacher?” When the blind children heard my comment about their teacher, they were smiling! They believed me because although they are blind, in their heart, they knew it already. Their teacher, a young woman, was teaching them music so well that it was natural for them to think that she must be nice looking also! During our trip, we met many handicapped children. It is a beautiful and difficult experience at the same time. You wish every child would be healthy, able to do all the things that other children can do: to speak, to listen, to run, to learn. But there is something mysterious in the places we met handicapped children. They were smiling, they were happy! Why is it so? Because people take care of them and give them good reasons to be happy: they have class, they learn to work, and if they are seriously dependent due to their disability, still they know that somebody loves them and takes care of them. For sure, the future won’t be easy for most of those children when they will be adults. But as long as they are children, they have the right to a joyful childhood!

- Is there anything more beautiful than a father or a mother playing with their children? When love and security are present, smiles come naturally. On the contrary, how big is the suffering for adults and children when they are separated. During our trip we met many orphans, most of them handicapped children. In a country where the social system is limited, it can be very difficult for poor parents to raise a child, especially a handicapped child. How can parents take care of handicapped children when they have to go to work the whole day? But surprisingly the orphans we met were smiling, were happy! Why is it so? The thing is that they found adults who love them like mother and father: the religious sisters, the religious fathers, the religious brothers. They are adopted fathers and mothers for these children. Having decided themselves not to have children, their heart is ready to offer love to these abandoned children. And so we experienced an atmosphere of joy in the centers we visited.

The trip through the whole country was a long one. We travelled 5000 km. and visited thousands of children. Spontaneously, some children were smiling when they saw us and we smiled back. But as well as a smile, the association, “Abandoned Little Angels”, tries to give the children substantial help to help them to keep smiling during their whole life. We do our best. We won’t solve all the problems of poverty in Vietnam. Like in every country, in Vietnam some children are smiling when others are suffering. The love many benefactors of the association give to their own children incites them to help the abandoned children to smile also. There is no bigger reward for the heart of an adult than to see a child smiling. Thanks to all the benefactors, especially to Mr and Mrs Toan and the Sisters for this marvelous trip. Remembering it, I have good reasons to smile too!

Cha Hòa (F.Frédéric)

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked,    How much do I owe you?   ” You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said . “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Many years later that same young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.

He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to her case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words …

“Paid in full with one glass of milk”

(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: “Thank You, God, that Your love has spread broad through human hearts and hands.” There’s a saying which goes something like this: Bread cast on the waters comes back to you. The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected time. If you never see the deed again at least you will have made the world a better place – And, after all, isn’t that what life is all about?

Author – Unknown