On Tuesday Pure Vietnam Beauty and Spa in conjunction with our friends from Lanterns Restaurant participated in our monthly charity at Tu Bong at an orphanage. This orphanage is ninety minutes north of Nha Trang by car. We have made a commitment to help this orphanage every month to contribute towards the cost of nappies and formula for their nine babies and a few small children that they have. I am living in this orphanage at the moment in an effort to help them. I am helping them looking after the babies and teaching English in a summer school program for the local children.
It has been an exciting month in the orphanage. We have started the older babies on pureed fruit (which they love) and we are about to start trialing using reusable nappies during the day. The cost of nappies for so many children is expensive and we are trying different ways to reduce the cost. I have found some all-in-one reusable diapers in Nha Trang so we shall see how we go. Fingers crossed. The initial outlay will be high but hopefully it will reduce ongoing costs considerably.
Phuc is a 16 month old baby with physical and mental disabilities. At the moment we are starting to introduce some of the children to mashed fruit and he seems to be liking his fruit and is in the process of weaning off formula onto milk. He is starting to get some daily exercises to help him with his arm and leg movements to try to prevent contractures. One of the carer’s sons is training to become a physical therapy person at a Saigon University and he bought up his books so he could help him.
Hieu now has two bottom teeth. She is starting to pull herself up to stand. I don’t think it will be long before she takes her first steps. She loves being the “mother” to the other babies and pats them on the back or head when they are crying. It’s amazing what she has learnt by watching the carers. She is a very observant young baby and learns very quickly.
Hau is a big strong young baby and he looks like he is the oldest but he isn’t. He is always smiling and happy. He loves his bananas and had some apple the other day for the first time, you should have seen his face. He loved it.
Hien is going to be the lady killer. He bats his big brown eyes at you and smiles and it’s very hard to not just pick him up and cuddle him all the time. He is now up on his knees and is learning to crawl. It’s very funny to watch him rock back and forth and move forward a little then drop to the floor in amazement. He is very proud of himself.
The twins Nghia and Trung are doing very well. They are smiling and playing. They always seem to be looking for each other. You can see them watching the older babies crawling and there are the first signs that they would like to be doing the same. They are rolling and spinning but haven’t yet got the forward momentum.
Duc, Trong and Tai, the youngest babies, are certainly thriving. They are growing so fast. The other day we took them for some immunizations and they were so good.
I would like to thank Maureen and Trang for coming up and helping with the babies. It was wonderful to have them here with me.
If you would like to donate please go to gofundme.com/266c654y or if you would like to come and visit and spend some time please contact me (Eileen Brown) through Pure Vietnam Beauty and Spa.