Last year my parents, Saskia, my (ex) sister-in-law and my family went visit my brother Jan in Vietnam for 10 days. Jan has done and is still doing excellent work for many children, abandoned women and lepers in Vietnam and we all wanted to see his work.

On his website you can read all about his work : liveandgive.eu

Our boys raised money at school in Almaty and it was great to see how happy they were with donating it!

http://liveandgive.eu/stories/kids-raise-money-for-pleiku.html

But first Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). The first two days we spend exploring Ho Chi Min and surroundings. Through the incredible chaotic traffic of Vietnam we  drove to the Cu Chi tunnels

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CÁ_Chi_tunnels

This was very interesting as well frightening to see. The boys actually went down one of the (very small, narrow) tunnels. Back in the city we had a great Vietnamese lunch and went to the war remnants museum, of which I don’t think I have to explain how terrible the things were we read and saw.

After all this we had a well deserved massage and dinner.

The next day we spend most of the day near the pool and while the kids took a tennis lesson,  the cleaner/cook of Jan and I took the bike to go shopping… this was an experience by itself. Not only the market with all the fresh produce, meat and fish, but also the way you have to go through the traffic. At one point, when we wanted to cross a busy street, I thought the best was to just close my eyes and go for it! I have never seen a more chaotic traffic as in Vietnam! Cars, scooters (with 3 or more people, chickens or what you have) and people on bikes… they all go and there seems not to be any rule!

The day after we flew to Pleiku, a little city north of Ho Chi Minh City. We were welcomed by the nuns and the children of the orphanage with songs and happy smiles. As soon as the children saw my brother they jumped all over him 😉  It was amazing to see what Jan, with the help the donations of his friends, has build in Pleiku. The children have bunk beds to sleep in, there is a dining room, a playground and a classroom. The children are not all orphans. In some cases their parents can really not take care of the children because they both have to work day and night to get by. The children of those families go home in the weekend. There are also many children who are abandoned. The children who do not speak Vietnamese will have to learn that first, before they will be able to go to a local school. There is so much more to say about this orphanages and Jan’s work…. later more

Since March 16 I haven’t been writing anything on Sabineism and you have no idea how often I thought that I really should…..but life is busy and many things changed. So for all the ones that have been asking to start writing again… I promise you that from this week on I will! But not now, hahahaha, too busy 😉

And off course a HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE BEST OF LUCK AND HEALTH TO ALL

LOVE,

Sabine

Mid March we have been for a hike and a pick nick to the Ili river with friends. Most of the snow was gone and the steppe was like one big mud pool! Although it was pretty cold, we managed to sit and eat, while the kids climbed up and down the hills.

And just 3 days before we left to go to Viet Nam, we had our last day of skiing. God snow, beautiful weather and great views!

One of the many charity things the Almaty International Women’s Club does is visiting an orphanage once a month. The orphanage is 1.5 hours drive from Almaty and for kids between 0 and 6 years old. When they reach the age of six they will go to another orphanage, near a town where the kids can go to a local school. Nazarbayev, the Kazakhstan President, has said that the government will take care of all orphans, meaning there will be enough orphanages and money for them to stay, be fed, clothed and go to school.

We went with a group of 10 men and women to the orphanage. As soon as we opened the door of the room, with about15 kids between the age of 2 and 4, the kids literally jumped on us. Apparently they are looking so much forward to the attention they get! They are taken care off, have food and shelter, but they lack in personal attention and body contact, just a hug and a kiss, things our kids get every day, these kids hardly ever get.

So we played with them and handed out juice boxes, an apple and cookies before we went to the other room with the 5 and 6 years old kids and did the same.

It was a good experience and I will definitely go more often.

On a more positive note…winter in Almaty is long, but beautiful!