Tam Ky – 100,000 Vietnamese 7 Westerners

March 8th, 2009 by Lorraine Woodley

Yes it’s true in this lovely town of Tam Ky there are only 7 westerners (all GVN volunteers) and 100,000 Vietnamese.  They all greet us with waves and smiles and try out their English on us.  Hello.  How are you?  Little girls come up to me in the supermarket and help me buy my supplies.  We are made to feel welcome wherever we go.  Today at the orphanage Sophie and I treated the children’s head lice using a method I use at home – ordinary conditioner with some tea tree oil added, applied to dry hair liberally, leave for 20 minutes then comb out with lice combs and wash comb out in warm water.  Then shampoo.  It was very effective and the orphanage “mothers” were very impressed.  The “mothers” are much nicer than I imagined and are very affectionate towards me.  Instead of kissing, the mothers and other women sniff me.  They love my stay-on lipstick and I have promised to send them some when I get home.  The babies are gorgeous and I love nursing the two 1 month old girls.   We are hoping to take the children to the beach later in the week.  It should be a first for most of them. The children are so well behaved and put all their toys away when we finish and then get out their tables and chairs and get ready for lunch.  They very rarely cry and just amuse themselves for hours on end.

We had a great weekend in Hoi An.  Hot showers and relaxing and shopping but it was good to get home to Tam Ky and Mrs Hahn’s cooking.  Still loving it here.  Cheers   Lorraine

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Vietnam Orphanage.

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