Gifts

When we visited the landmine awareness training center a few days ago we had the chance to talk with some young UXO victims. They told us a little bit about their experiences - some had been injured when friends played with UXO, others when items accidentally detonated in the hands of scrap-metal-dealing neighbors or family members.

The kids are great friends of PeaceTrees: they volunteer their time to help with land mine risk awareness training, talking with other children about the dangers and consequences of UXO.

With PeaceTrees' help these kids have received medical care and have been able to continue their education. Still, there are outstanding needs.

One young man who'd lost his hand, age fourteen or so, mentioned that he very much wanted a bicycle to get to school; his family was too poor to buy one (the cost is about $50 US). Enter Santa Claus, disguised as fellow-traveler Bruce, a Navy Corpsman here during the war. He talked to the PeaceTrees staff about the bicycle and said to "make it so." They did, and our entire contingent had the fun of being Bruce's elves and delivering the bike to the boy's countryside home two days later. His family has a small farm; they grow cassava, jackfruit and pepper (the spice, not the vegetable). Their little house is nestled in a lush and beautiful garden plot. Pushing the bike up the path to their home we were met with a warm welcome from the boy's mother, and then the young man appeared. He was, I think, a bit overwhelmed, but the moment he jumped on his shiny new bike he was right at ease. It will make his daily two-mile trip to school much quicker, and will also help him fit in more comfortably with the other kids - a problem for disabled children here, as elsewhere.

More kids' wishes will be granted thanks to a gift from my Southminster Presbyterian church family. They sent me on the trip with undesignated funds to use where appropriate.

Another of the UXO victims, Lai, has a mountain of challenges. He lost an arm, both legs and his eyesight to an explosion, and he has been a great advocate and supporter of UXO risk awareness training, especially with local children. Lai is a good student in his late teens, but his career options are limited. Improving his English language skills will open opportunities that can help him become independent. He asked for ideas and assistance for his studies; two of us have teamed up to hire a private English tutor for him for the next year.

The remainder of the "annointed money" is helping with school supplies at the last kindergarten we visited and with food at Compassion House, which will allow them to extend care to another few disabled kids. Thank you, Southminster - your gifts are blessing others.

And now - we're in Hue City. It was hard to say good-bye to Dong Ha. The monuments in Hue may be impressive, but more memorable for me are the monumental hearts, warmth and spirit we encountered over the past week. We went with the intent of giving, but I think we received the greater gift.