Pagoda kids

Hilly has been going along to an orphanage here in HCMC each week to visit with the kids and try to bring a little cheer in to some otherwise mundane living conditions.

But last month, she went to a different orphanage that is run by some Buddist monks at Dieu Phap Pagoda, about an hour out of Saigon. Since it is a temple, it receives no government funding and relies on donations and help from the community. It is also not a registered orphanage so no adoptions are organised. Old people, disabled, teenagers, children and babies live here, in very basic conditions, but are safe and do go to school if they are able to.

Through fundraising by Brighton Grammer in Victoria, and local groups here, a playground has recently been built in the dusty, but shaded yard. Plans are in progress to pave the dining area, extend the babies room, put ceiling fans in the concrete dormitories, extend and revamp the kitchen and do some outdoor paving.



Children with special needs, such as a deaf teenage girl who had never talked or been to school, are now receiving funding to go to special schools. This is just a drop in the ocean - but everything helps a little.

Now, being an art teacher, Hillary offered to do some painting with the kids. This went pretty well - up to a point!









There are endless charities in Vietnam all worthwhile and very neccessary.

Tonight we are going along to a big concert which is being run to raise money for a small NGO called Loretto. Trish, an Aussie lady who has lived here for years, and has given so much to under-privileged children, is being unofficially supported by the Australian Embassy and AusCham to organise what will be a great out-door bash. But we'll report on that soon!

Party of the year right here...

Every year, AusCham (the Australian Chamber of Commerce) puts on a huge charity ball to raise money to donate to worthy causes here in Vietnam.

And this year was themed "Ocean to Outback" - meaning that you could dress up in about anything that might be found in Australia. And I reckon about 97% of 450 people did just that!





David decided to bring his pet snake. Karen and friends were impressed!

And since I am proud member of the Charity Committee, I found myself on the stage with Christo giving a speech. And you know how I hate the spotlight......



Yep, that's me chic in vegemite. Hillary spent a week designing and painting this costume - then she left the country before she saw me wear it. Smart. Very smart.

Funny boy, Christo. Half way through our tag-team speach, he decides to attract attention by dropping his dacks and doing the remainder of his bit in his Y-fronts! I was compelled to help cover things up!



There were lots of great costumes. Alix was looking very Jaffa amongst her other lolly friends - Amanda Musk-stick, Violet Crumble and Cherry Ripe. Sweet!
We had flown in a Kylie Minoghue cover band, called 100% Kylie from Australia. They were great and managed to keep the dance floor packed most of the night by all manner of Australiana.

Dame Edna made her presence felt - many times over!

There was 'road kill' and shark attack victims.

Twisties - mmm....love twisties!




Our table had life savers, McLeod's Daughters, Steve Irwin, Bondi beach lovers and more. Next year we are scheming something big and definitely coordinated. How about the MCG? Or maybe the Melbourne Cup?

Anyway, it was tough to keep the madding crowd away from my vegemite jar through the night! And it is certainly not true that I was seen walking around the 40 or so tables asking whether anyone wanted a bit!



(Hey! Great tongue ban Jenna!)


So, it was a huge night. Really fun and a crazy mix of nationalities bonded by an Aussie theme. I reckon Hillary will pass up on the Europe trip next year just to be here.

Sapa faces

A weekend in Sapa (which is up the top of the hill from Lao Cai, just near the border with China) revealed lots of wonderful images of friendly minority peoples. Here's just a few of the faces we saw.







We were walking around the town on Saturday and bumped in to this mother and child. Hillary admired the fantastic hat on the baby's head so much so, that the mum decided to offer it to us for sale. I am sure that she really didn't intend to do this, but some of her friends prompted her to sell it to these silly rich westerners. It is a very intricate bit of work and is topped off with a lock of mum's own hair. She said (through a friend who could speak a bit of English) that she would use the money to help educate little Dao Linh.


Clever- a very effective umbrella on a rainy day!


We hope to head back to Sapa again to experience these friendly, beautiful people.

Sapa Stitches

Think Sapa, think mountains, terracing, tourist, street sellers, minority people, noise, cool fresh air and........colourful stitches!

The first thing that hits you here is all of the Hmuong, Dzao and other minority peoples women trying to convince you to buy THEIR hand-stiched articles.



Intricate and colourful materials sold by persistent but delightful women.



Working in small village houses all around the area, women make the material, dye it, stitch and sew it.





And what they create are blankets, scarves, hats, bags, belts, jackets, skirts, bracelets, cushion covers - just about whatever you can think of. And actually, the produce is really quite spectacular.



And the stitchers themselves are absolutely gorgeous women. This is Mai Linh, a 30-ish Dzao (pronounced sort of like "Zow") girl who lives in a 100-year old house who stiches and cooks - but more about her on a later post. The basket full of material she showed us was amazing, and several bits and pieces were purchased for princely sums.




....... including this hat, which became No. 2 of Hillary's growing Vietnamese hat collection.



But I just could not resist having a bit of fun with these ladies who were leaning over the street railing of our restaurant, cajoling us through the window to buy their stitches.

Ahh Sapa.........

Lao Cai Market

After spending the day in Hanoi, the three of us (that would be Ingrid, Hilly and I) got picked up at the hotel by Mr Phuong, Hoai's boy firend. He got us on to the train, which left for Lao Cai at about 9:30pm. We had a four berth carriage which was almost brand new and very comfortable. It's an eight hour overnight ride, getting in to our destined location at about 5:30am. After a quick shower at the local hotel (just near our project office) we grabbed a local breakfast and then struck off in search of the market where all that food came from.



The Lao Cai market is not the same as my favourite one way down south in Rach Gia. It's a street market, running down street, around the corner and up around yet another street.



Lots of food - veg and meat a plenty. And lots of squating women wearing friendly faces to proffer up the goods.



And its a place to meet and greet. Mums looking to stock up on bamboo root, kids running around looking for toys and grandpa doing the errands.







And the sellers are friendly in Lao Cai. But I really don't think they see too many westerners cruising around - most visitors would normally hop off the train and then head straight up to Sapa. So anyway, I said hello to one of the ladies and she just started to laugh. I smiled and laughed back, but she just kept on laughing and chortling. After 20 seconds or so, it was becoming a tad disconcerting! And then I realised she was also rubbing her nose through her tears.

So my narrow (but rather cute?) nose is actually an incredibly skinny nose in this part of the world, where wide is wonderful. I think she thought it was one of the funniest features she had seen in a long time! Gives you an idea how exciting life is in Lao Cai!!



Breakfast included vegetarian pho (noodle soup) and pure mango juice. Fantastic!

Anyway, after this quick look around, the girls headed up to Sapa. I was a few hours behind them before taking the 45min trip by car up the windy road to the hilltop town.

Lazy Daze

Today has been a lazy one - bit of a re-charge after a fast and furious week. Didn't rush out of bed, checked the email, downloaded the latest LNL episode from the ABC website, sank a bit of porridge, haircut at Axa (I should have shares in that place), collected Hilly and went around the corner to the picture framers. After a bit of artistic banter and H imposing her creative will, we steered course for the dress shop and then the jeweller! Thank goodness we got hungry - snapped her out of her spending spree! I devoured some spicy chicken and veg in pita bread with a vinagarette hinting of ginger - perfect.



We ran into James (who is over from GHD Melbourne) and sank a few Japanese beers with him, sitting in Mojo's (our Saigon equivalent to Coco's in GWaves), watching the world go by.



James had arrived yesterday and had already bought 2 fitted suits, shoes, shirts and stuff. This morning he was dragged around the city by a wild cyclo driver.

Anyway, a few other Aussies stopped in to say g'day and to shelter from the rain that came out of nowhere - as it will in the rainy season! Then finally we got down to business ....................



food shopping at Phuong Ha's !

Hilly has found this place down on Ham Nghi Street, which is a few blocks away from the centre of town. Very clean, very full, and very hot upstairs! They often follow you around - making you think they don't trust you. But actually, they just love to help you choose things. And as soon as the plastic basket is even half full, they spirit it away and give you another one. Ahhh...nice ladies. And they always slip Hilly a few extra chocolate bars or something.



PS - Hill is pretty proud to point out that she is the tallest person in the picture! Haha.

To tell you the truth

Prop•a•gan•da - Pronunciation[prop-uh-gan-duh]–noun: information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

Propaganda has been a time-honoured tool in times of war - intended to encourage and inspire the troups and to demoralise the enemy. I remember the images of planes 'bombing' the enemy territory with pamphlets, scattering paper indiscriminately across the countryside in the hope that the words contained therein would sway the opinions of soldiers and/or civilians.

Propaganda movies, press releases, books, magazine articles, etc etc.

And propaganda art.

This form of the tool was widely used in Vietnam before, during and after the American war. Artists were essentially ordered to paint posters that demonstrated a particular message that was sent out by the party machine. These posters were then hung up in public places for all to see.

The really old ones were done with pastel or cheap paints that rub off easily today. Later ones were painted with better quality materials. Sometimes the artist would sign them. Other times not.

Over the past 5-10 years, collectors have started to buy up originals. Scouts have hunted out posters from around the provinces, finding originals tucked away in public offices, dusty cupboards and drawers.

We are probably a bit late with coming in to the market, but we have started off our collection with the following four posters.































The captions mean, in order:

. "Vietnamese Youth Can Defeat Any Enemy"

. "Gallant Fighting. Glorious Winning" - Celebrating the 200th USAF plane shot down.

. "American Enemy Determined to Lose. Vietnam Determined to Win" - Celebrating the 1000th USAF plane shot down

. "Hold tight to your guns and protect the achievement of the revolution"

We are pretty convinced that the first one is authentic and that it was painted in 1970 by a well known artist named To Lien. However, we are not so sure about the other three - but we hope to find out soon.

Hillary is arranging to meet up with the guru of Vietnam propaganda art, a guy named Dominic Scriven. He is a businessman here in Vietnam with several companies to his credit, including an investment bank called Dragon Capital. Over the past five years he has bought up hundreds of originals. He has popularised the art form by setting up a business called Dogma, which is based on copying the originals and reproducing them on clothing, accessories and of course - as cheap posters.

So, we are hopeful that Dominic may be able to assist us authenticate our current posters and to make sure we collect a few more originals. We'll let you know what we find out.