Old Trees, New Trees

According to the "Lonely Planet" guide to Vietnam, "there is no conceivable reason to go to Dong Ha." I beg to differ. We're staying here for a week, and we're off to a great start.

Between a full schedule and limited Internet access it's been impossible to make any posts for a couple of days. With any luck I'll find somewhere to load photos to post tomorrow. I hope so, because one picture will save me about 1,000 words - and I suspect this entry will be five or six pictures' worth!

It's Wednesday afternoon here. Early Monday morning we said good-bye to Hoi An. We left town just as kids were heading to school, so the streets were full of bicycles: we passed hundreds of girls in their white ao dais (a graceful tunic-and-trouser outfit) and boys in their blue pants, white shirts and red bandanas, all walking and peddling to school.

Our route took us through Da Nang, then out for a brief tourism detour to My Son to see the Champa kingdom ruins there. Dating from about 750-1300, the brick ruins are nestled in a jungled valley. Looking at the ancient carvings, sculptures and temple buildings brought to mind a favorite quote from a Carl Sandberg poem: "We are the greatest people, the greatest nation. Nothing like us ever was." If only the bricks could speak.

We crossed Hai Van Pass, lunched at Lang Co, stretched our legs with a walk on the beach, then settled back in for the three hour trip to Dong Ha. We got here at about 5:15 and had just enough time to get cleaned up for our welcome dinner, where we met our hosts from the Quang Tri Province Department of Foreign Affairs (DoFA) and the rest of the PeaceTrees in-country staff, Miss Ha and Miss Hang. We were also joined by two short-term travelers who will share our activities in Dong Ha, one of whom is my good friend Bill Groth. It's great to have him here, especially to share in the Kindergarten dedication.

On Tuesday - yesterday - our work began. First up was a visit to Friendship Village, a community of 100 homes built by PeaceTrees on the former US Marine Corps base at Dong Ha. We traded songs with the kindergarteners there: they performed traditional songs for us, then we reciprocated with "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "I'm a Little Teapot." (By the way, when it came to dances and hand gestures, the Kindergarteners had it over us by a long shot. That itsy-bitsy spider thing isn't as easy as it looks.) We had a great time with the kids - we brought toys, took pictures, asked them their names, and thought about packing them up and taking them home with us. SO cute, and utterly charming.

I had brought along copies of photos I'd taken on my last trip; I had a group shot with about ten kids, and had enough prints made for all of them.

One of the village girls was in charge of delivering the photos to the right people, and apparently she was successful: just as we were getting ready to get on the bus, a grandmother with a conical hat and big, broad smile came running up to me, grabbed me by the hand, and ran with me down to her home. There was one of the girls from the picture -- her granddaughter, I think. How wonderful to see her again and snap another photo to share, and to see her house. Like many of the homes we've seen it's very simple: three rooms, concrete, minimal furnishing, and at least four people live there. But there is electricity and water and a kitchen garden - and a big improvement from the homes that were there before.

Just before leaving Friendship Village we stopped to look at the trees I'd planted there two years ago. These were special trees -- memorial trees planted on behalf of my friends, and also one that Chuck and I planted for my brother David. In two years they've grown from three-foot-high seedlings to 12-15 foot trees. What a wonderful feeling to see them thriving.

We spent the afternoon visiting the Danaan Perry Landmine Education Center, first visiting with some of the young landmine and UXO victims who have been assisted by PeaceTrees, then planting new seedlings. Two thousand trees later we were muddy, tired, and happy: we know that in just a year or two, these new trees will be tall and strong, providing shade and enriching the air and soil.

Today was also a tree-planting day, but it was less achievement oriented and more relationship oriented. We planted at a local high school; the grounds there were cleared of UXO by PeaceTrees deminers. The kids were excited, nervous, and shy - for many, we were the first foreigners they'd ever met. We joined the English class and sat at the benches with the kids while the teacher gave a short lesson (not entirely sure what it was about -- let's just say that pronunciation wasn't his strong suit). Next we planted together. I had a group of about ten girls, all 16 years old, who joined me in the sticky red mud to plant, stake and tie the trees. We had little language, but much laughter and lots of great big smiles all around. We washed up in the cement courtyard of a restaurant across the street - the girls and I took turns pulling up the water from the well and a fellow traveler scrubbed shoes. It's five hours later and my shoes and socks are still soaked.

Last stop: a resettlement camp. Flooding last year displaced about 100 families. A German NGO has built homes for them in a nearby village; PeaceTrees is doing the UXO removal and environmental restoration. It was a full-fledged community event, with the assistant mayor, many local villagers, and even a few stray cows joining us in planting 100 trees.
They'll provide shade around a sports field that will be built there in the near future.

Tomorrow is the kindergarten dedication in A Xing. I can't wait. We stopped at the market to get a few classroom supplies -- mats for the floor (the children can use them for seating or naps), a nice big wall clock, and a CD-cassette player. We'll be sharing music with the kids tomorrow and hopefully capturing a few of their tunes to bring back. I look forward to celebrating with the community, seeing the children, and planting a small grove of memorial trees. Ready, set, grow!