Punahou - Sacred Hearts Academy Spring Break 2007

2007-04-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

The morning after we left VN (in Seoul with SFS)

2007-04-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

Daniel and a vietnamese soldier at Cu Chi tunnels

2007-04-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Doing an art project with the orphans

2007-03-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Inside the Holy See Temple, Tay Ninh City

2007-03-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Brittany seems very happy holding a python

2007-03-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Romie with a kid in the Mekong

2007-03-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

In the Mekong with the traditional vietnamese folk singers

2007-03-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We have returned from our spring break 2007 trip, some would say, only too soon! We have returned with much to ponder and reflect upon in the days to come. I found, with our fast pace, very little time available to submit comments “in real time.” Therefore, I intend to reflect further and to submit additional thoughts to this site over the course of the next few days and weeks. I would like to encourage our students to do the same, to continue to submit comments, reflections, and pictures of the trip, if they are so moved.

An important aspect of this trip was the service component: visiting orphanages and extending kindness when and wherever we could. In the weeks before departing for Viet Nam, we took orders for silk sleeping bags from faculty, students, and friends. We had the bags made in Saigon and used the proceeds ($580) to buy staples such as rice, noodles, cooking oil, sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce in the local markets. And so laden with these supplies, many donated clothes, stuffed animals, candy, medical and hygiene supplies, gift bags for each orphan, and art project supplies, we visited the Mai Lien Orphanage in Saigon founded by Catholic nuns. The children were delighted and the director told us that we were a “God-send as the orphanage was on the verge of running out of rice.” We were met with the same positive, heartfelt reception when we visited the Phuoc Thien Orphanage in Binh Thuan Province founded by Buddhist nuns. We also shared many gifts (donations) with our bus driver and his family, our hotel staff and their families, and clusters of people we would meet in the course of our daily tours. Again, these gifts included the many generous donations made by our students, their family and friends, Sr. Katherine and Mr. Leo Delgado, and the Religion Department at Sacred Hearts Academy, and the faculty and staff at both Punahou School and Sacred Hearts Academy.

Mr. Dung, our bus driver (we had one driver for the entire week provided by our travel agency in Saigon) confided in Vinh that he has been driving tour groups for over 20 years and he has never seen such generosity shown to his people. Never before has he been asked to visit charitable organizations, nor has such respect been shown to him as was shown to him by our group. As we were finishing breakfast at the very beautiful Terracotta Resort in Mui Ne, intending to round up the group to depart for Saigon at our scheduled 9 AM time, Vinh and I were approached by a representative (Mr. Son) for the CEO and owners of the resort. He sat down with us at our breakfast table and explained that he had been asked to thank our group on behalf of the owners and the Terracotta staff for our generosity. Again, during the course of our two-day stay at the resort, we had been handing out donations to the staff. While our departure time was delayed as he sat for quite some time and talked, our hearts were touched by his kind show of appreciation. He shared a bit of the hotel history, which I found interesting. Unlike most of the resorts springing up along the beautiful coastline of Viet Nam, this resort had no foreign investors. It was the vision of four Vietnamese brothers, who brought in Vietnamese investors, architects, and builders. This is a real tribute to Vietnamese ability as the place was exquisite! We were touched by his acknowledgements, but know that our generosity was only possible due to the generosity of so many others.

Vinh and I would now like to thank the people who made this trip possible and the many people who contributed so generously to our service project with their many kind donations. Many of these people I may never know personally and many I may not mention specifically, but please know that we appreciate you very much and are grateful for your kind donation. Please accept our sincere thanks.

First and foremost, we would like to thank the parents who have entrusted their children to us so that they might share in this unique experience. Your sons and daughters were model citizens, but not without having good fun along the way. Much laughter and many good times were shared by all.

For being a phenomenal advocate and for making this joint SHA-Punahou trip possible, we would like to thank Betty White, principal of Sacred Hearts Academy. We would also like to thank Jim Scott, president of Punahou, and Kevin Conway, Principal of Punahou, for their generous support of this trip. Again, without their support, this trip would not have been possible. We would like to thank Sr. Katherine and Lurline Choy for supporting and promoting this trip within their respective departments and to Ms. David and Mr. Pong for helping us with the blog site.

We have so many to thank for their generous donations. First, we would like to thank all who donated by purchasing silk sleeping bags. These include students, faculty, and friends of Sacred Hearts and Punahou. Many students and their families and friends made special donations of money, clothes, stuff animals, medical and hygienic supplies, school supplies, and contributions to the orphan art project and gift bags. A special thanks to each student (Drew, Andrew, Daniel, Brittany, Noella, Romie, Bess, Lydia, Sarah, and Miranda) on this trip for organizing this effort and for each bringing an extra suitcase along, packed with these donations. Special thanks to the Fongs, who donated dental supplies, including boxes of tooth brushes, tooth paste and dental floss, and to Romie’s family, who donated money to the orphanage and a large box of collected items. Again, these are just a few of the donors. The family of each member of our group contributed so much. Special thanks to Sasha Bley-Vroman and Sr. Katherine for collecting many stuff animals and other items for the orphan gift bags and to Steve Kwong , Janet Oshiro and Mary Craven for their monetary donation.

We would also like to thank our friends in Viet Nam who extended their kindness and generosity to our group. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Tran. They prepared a very special meal for our students to enjoy in their restaurant. We would also like to thank Ms. Linh Dao and Mr. Kiet Le for inviting us to be their guests at an extraordinary Chinese banquet (actually, a buffet with almost every conceivable type of food offered…it was here that Daniel got to try frog legs). We would like to thank Mr. Giang (Asian Trails Travel Agency) for arranging for our ground transportation and for booking our hotel rooms while in Viet Nam. We would like to thank Mr. Dung, our bus driver, who was truly a gentile person.

While in Seoul, we had the good fortune to be the guests of the Seoul Foreign School (SFS). We would especially like to thank Deborah Aarhus, a former colleague at Punahou who teaches presently at SFS, and Kevin Baker, the principal of SFS, for making these special arrangements and kindly providing the bus transportation. We would like to thank Isabel, Jean and Dale Wood, and the SFS students for generously donating their time to being our hosts. We would also like to thank Sue, Brittany’s mother, for making arrangements to meet us in Seoul.

You have enriched our lives through your generosity. On behalf of our group, we thank you all.

Best Regards,

Vinh and Mimi Dang

2007-03-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to be on the rowboat

2007-03-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

A short break at Cu Chi tunnels

2007-03-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Lydia (inside the Cu Chi tunnels)

2007-03-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

At Mai Lien Orphanage

2007-03-27T02:27:00.000-07:00

Having fun on the bus :)

2007-03-27T02:19:00.001-07:00

Sarah is giving out pens and pencils to villagers

2007-03-27T02:11:00.000-07:00

Daniel and Andrew are on the seesaw (Terracotta Resort, Mui Ne)

2007-03-27T02:09:00.000-07:00

A boat ride on the canal in the Mekong Delta

2007-03-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

Trying different fruits in the Mekong Delta

2007-03-27T02:07:00.000-07:00

On the way to Cu Chi tunnels

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traffic jam in Sai Gon (at least 4 millions bikes)

2007-03-27T02:04:00.000-07:00

Bess and Lydia have some afternoon snacks

2007-03-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

another Kodak moment

2007-03-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

No word can describe how happy she is

2007-03-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

A kid at the sand dunes

2007-03-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Daniel with some kids at the sand dunes

2007-03-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

Andrew and his pig's brain

2007-03-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

checking the blog at the Palace Hotel

2007-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Romie and Noella inside the temple with the orphans

2007-03-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

beach time anyone?

2007-03-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

On the dunes with kids

2007-03-23T19:12:00.001-07:00

kids at the sand dunes

2007-03-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

A short boat ride (a round basket boat) in Mui Ne

2007-03-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Having dinner at Terracotta while Noella blogging

2007-03-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

Dinner at Vinh's friends

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A Kodak moment

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The villagers are so happy to see us :), Mekong Delta

2007-03-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

Sarah on the canal in the Mekong

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Lydia and Bess on the canal in the Mekong

Finding the Comments!

2007-03-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

Please note that there are several places to find comments (I have just discovered)! Click wherever you see a “comments” option, such as beneath posted pictures halfway down a page or at the bottom of the last page of pictures. To see additional pictures click on the “older postings” option at the bottom of each page. Good luck navigating this site!

I would also like to thank all who have added their comments to this site. Each comment is appreciated! This interactive way of communicating has added a special dimension to what has, so far, been a wonderful trip!

Best Wishes to All,

Mimi Dang

2007-03-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Orphans' living quarter

2007-03-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to some orphans

2007-03-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

Noella with the head nun

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Having a conversation with the head nun

2007-03-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

Inside the temple. Some of the orphans were running around us :)

2007-03-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Our students were playing with an orphan

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This girl (15 months old) was left in front of the temple when she was 3 months old.

2007-03-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Orphans are so happy receiving our stuff animals

2007-03-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

With the nuns at Phuoc Thien Orphanage, Ham Tan PhanThiet

2007-03-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Punahou and Sacred Hearts Academy students at Cu Chi tunnels

2007-03-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese women in traditional long dresses

2007-03-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Dang outside of the War Museum

2007-03-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone is having a good and busy time...

2007-03-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

with the orphans and and a huge sign (Daniel loves VietNam) made by an orphan

2007-03-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Two Catholic nuns (on the left) in the kitchen getting ready for dinner

2007-03-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Brittany being challenged by a game of connect four (Mai Lien Orphanage)

2007-03-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

A short break after visiting the Independent Palace. Everyone was having a fresh coconut drink (March 19)

2007-03-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

In front of former Supreme Court, Saigon

2007-03-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Mimi at Mai Lien Orphanage, Summer '06

2007-01-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

Notre Dame, Saigon

VIET NAM
March 17 - 26, 2007

ITINERARY:

March 17 (Saturday): Leave Honolulu for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Viet Nam

March 18: Arrive in Saigon at night.

March 19:
*Morning: Take a short excursion to visit the former U.S Embassy, The Unification Hall (Old Presidential Palace), The War Museum.
*Afternoon: Notre Dame Cathedral built in the French occupation and Mai Lien Orphanage, the orphanage founded by Catholic nuns.

March 20:
*Morning: From Saigon, drive West to Tay Ninh City to visit Cao Dai Temple (Holy See Temple) founded in 1926. The religion is the product of an attempt to create religion through the fusion of the secular and religious philosophies of the east and west.
*Afternoon: Drive to Cu Chi Tunnel (30 kilometers Northwest of Saigon), which is a large underground network, built by the Viet Cong during the war against the French and the Americans

March 21: Visit Con Phung (Phoenix Island) on the Mekong Delta, in the South. The Mekong Delta is not only amazingly beautiful but it is also the rice basket of the country with its rich agricultural soil. The area is peppered with paddies and orchards with all kinds of fruits. Visit the Cai Be floating market and rice corn and coconut candy factories.

March 22 - 24: Visit the Phuoc Thien Orphanage in Binh Thuan Province and spend two nights at the beach resort in Mui Ne (Phan Thiet).
*Afternoon on March 24, arrive back in Saigon. Relax and shop.

March 25: Visit the Central Market (the biggest market in VietNam) and do some shopping in the morning. Leave for Honolulu via Seoul, Korea very late in the evening (12:50 a.m) and spend a day in Seoul.

March 26: Arrive in Honolulu