Visiting Bo De Temple in Long Bien, Ha Noi

November 24. After my meeting with Madame Binh, Dr. Thao and his staff gave me a farewell lunch at a sea food restaurant. We had an enjoyable time but I felt sad leaving Ha Noi and all the dear people behind. In the afternoon I went to the Bo De temple with Dung. We spent an entire afternoon with the orphans and the head nun, Su Thay, a soft spoken women in her late 50's. She had just completed her Master's degree. Dung said Su Thay is a dedicated nun and the public donations have been well used. She offered us jasmine tea and some fresh fruits. Dung and I each made our own donation towards the care of the children.

Upon our arrival, we also met two Australian ladies who were visiting the temple and looking after the babies. They were teaching the children English. Since they were leaving Viet Nam, they worried that the English lessons would be discontinued after their departure.

I was surprised to learn that the temple had to pay the school fees for school age children at the same rate set for those supported by their own parents.

With more more than 60 orphans living in the temple, there is a shortage of proper facilities such as bedrooms and toilet facilities. One of the youngest babies had been abandoned by her mother when she was only a few days old. The child was beaten by a dog and lost her left leg. She also lost most of her toes and fingers. When Su Thay showed us the fragile baby, it was hard to control one's emotion. Dung took some photos of her in the head nun's arms. Then the children gathered for the photo session. We found them incredibly well behaved.

The head nun told me that the temple had already acquired a piece of land, and she is waiting for more donations to build some huts for the children. I asked her about construction costs and she said it would cost about 3000 USD to build each hut. While at the temple, I told the nun that our charity would try to provide some financial assistance to the orphans.

My own desire to assist these children is very strong. We know that potential donors would like to have a choice of where to donate money. Some donors would help with the AO project in Thai Binh. Other donors may wish to help these orphans.