Join KWB in the Spring 2008 HumaniTour.  Contact info@Kidswithnoborders.org for more information

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Just after midnight on Tuesday October 24th, the travelers of the 2006 HumaniTour met at SeaTac Airport in Seattle, Washington.  Several travelers had recently arrived from New York & Arizona.  Upon arrival the travelers were introduced and then the fun began.  Each traveler was allowed only one bag - another bag was for donations only.  To make sure that all donations arrive at their destinations (orphanages, schools, etc.) each traveler brings as many donations as possible.  The bags were stuffed with clothing, toothbrushes, school supplies, medical supplies and even a computers.  Most of the travelers had done their own collections prior to the trip.  All were consolidated into 17 bags (one for each).  After stopping in Taipei and Saigon and after 23 hours of travel they arrived in Hanoi.


Changing Planes

After food & sleep at the Melia Hotel there was a day to recover, visiting historic sites in Hanoi.  An early morning walk around Hoan Kiem Lake allowed for many photo ops.

Early morning in Hanoi is the time to exercise.  These women are practicing Tai Chi.


Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake

The first Humanitarian stop for the group was a visit to Thanh Xuan Peace Village, a care center for children with the side effects from agent orange.


Two teen members of the HumaniTour (Taylor & Maggie) help feed some of the youngest kids at the Peace Village.

The items brought for donations were given to the executive director during a reception at the Peace Village.




Shortly afterwords, the group enjoyed a Cyclo tour of Old Hanoi

The next day the group went of several tours of Hanoi


Hanoi Hilton


Near Ho Chi Minh's Castle


The New York delegation at Ho Chi Minh's burial site.


Hoa Sua Restaurant

That evening all were treated to a wonderful dinner at Hoa Sua Restaurant, part of a culinary and hospitality training program for  orphans and street children managed by a foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) and funded by UNICEF. Invited to join were representatives of various NGOs: Prosthetics Outreach Foundation (Seattle-based, clinic in ), and Asia Injury Prevention Foundation.  One of the TM2F (Teach Me To Fish) scholarship students is currently going to school here.

 

Hai Phong City - Sister City to Seattle

Distributing clothes and toys at the Hoa Phuong Orphanage






The best part of the day was playing with the kids.

After our time at the orphanage we took several graduates of the Teach Me to Fish program on a boat trip to Ha Long Bay, one of the most beautiful spots in Vietnam. 


Jean & Taylor visit with one of the young girls who dreams of attending Harvard.




The swiming was great.

From Hai Phong we flew to Hue (pronounced Way).  We drove out to a new school which had been built with help from KWB.  Kids followed our bus for miles. 


This is the formal picture we took,


This is the mayhem that took place.

After leaving Hue, we took a long bus ride south to Danang.  They were expecting a typhoon during our visit to Danang and our visit almost got canceled. The storm ended up moving north.  We were still able to deliver the wheel chairs that we brought, although about 1/2 of the recipients couldn't make it to the ceremony.  Their wheelchairs were delivered to them later.


Because of the storm we had a little extra time on our hands to enjoy the beach, although the waves were pretty wild.

There was also a little extra time for shopping.


Wheel Chair delivery.



The pool at the Furma Resort on China Beach


On top of Marble Mountain


Shopping takes on all forms in Vietnam.

From Danang we flew back to Saigon for the end of our trip. Once we got to Saigon we visited two different orphanages.  Go Vap and Thu Duc. 

Go Vap had many children with birth defects caused by side of Agent Orange which still lingers in the soil. 



Staff at Go Vap and some of the babies that are ready to be adopted.



Playing with the kids.



We got to spend all day with the kids from Thu Duc Orphanage.  We took them to lunch, played video games and then shopping at a bookstore.  The kids were great - there were many tears from all of us when we had to say goodbye.


Some of the items we brought with us to donate to Thu Duc Orphanage.


Maggie blowing up ballons for the kids.  We also gave away lots of toys & candy we had brought.




Enjoying lunch together.


Right before we had to say goodbye.  There were quite a few tears shed - no one was quite ready to go.