July 12, 2004
Hi Bob,
Several weeks ago, a Vietnamese friend took me to visit a village occupied by people suffering from leprosy. It is in the middle of a cemetery. One hundred children live there. My friend gives three days of the week to teaching them, the rest of her time she spends giving private French lessons to support herself. (She is a 52-year-old widow whose family was on the wrong side and had all their property confiscated, three houses and two farms. Her father was suckered into the mess by our CIA.)
I've read a bit about leprosy since my visit. It is contagious, but 95% of the world's population is immune. It is spread by a germ in the mucous by coughing or sneezing. The 100 children have parents who must live in the village, so obviously their chances of being among the immune aren't very great. It can be cured completely for about $250 per case, but that is nearly a year's wages for an average Viet.
Their school is very poorly equipped and housed. The day I visited I gave the woman head of the school $100 to help out. If any of you have any questions or would like to contribute something, email me.
I have been been spending an hour every morning but Sunday, working with a Vietnamese teacher who is paid (little) to teach English to street children by a Viet-Canadian woman who runs a bar and cafe called Crazy Kims. English speaking Westerners drop in sporadically and the kids enjoy having them to help them with pronunciation; but I try to be there every day to give some continuity. The teacher, Hien, and I have become close friends and I have visited him on his little farm plot in the countryside a couple of times. I recently agreed to loan him the money to buy a cow because his wife was complaining that he wasn't earning enough money in the city and wanted him to sell his motorbike to buy a cow. If he did that, he would not be able to get in to teach, and the kids need him! So now I'm a partner in a pregnant cow. Will keep you posted.
Another major development for me is moving from my hotel suite to a three-story house. It has four bedrooms, five baths and two balconies. I will be able to get a land line so I can connect to the internet with my laptop instead of coming to the Internet Cafes. I'll also be able to get cable TV so I can get all the good news from around the world. I have leased it for a year. I would like to build here but Nha Trang is in the midst of an honest-to-God real estate boom and land prices are ridiculous all of a sudden. Strange for a Communist country with a semi-controlled ecomomy.
I've managed to collect a variety of Viet tatoos, that's what they call scars from motorbike accidents. So far only minor and no other injured parties, but you just can't be careful enough.
I just spent a week in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). In a visit to our consulate, I didn't see a single American employee or talk to anyone who wasn't behind two inches of bullet-proof glass. Wierd! Saigon is brightly lit on the order of Beijing but not as elaborate. It is a relatively pretty city, with fountains and wide boulevards. The major landmarks are all flood-lit.
Right now I am in the middle of a hassle with three banks over moving money around and it is very annoying to have it and not be able to get at it. I'll keep you posted on that too. Sorry I'll be missing the picnic.
Caio, Dick
July 13, 2004
(After receiving McKenzie's latest missive, I asked him these questions:
1. If anyone wanted to visit you what could they expect to pay for a roundtrip flight and how much money would they need to stay for, say, a week? You might pass that along. Who knows, someone may just want to take a week off and go there.
2. Do you ever have any fear for your own life there, considering what is going on in other parts of the world?
His answers:
1. I will have to do some checking as to flights but there are packages being offered all the time. I would allow more than a week though, a 16-hour flight deserves a bit more down time and the country has a lot to see. My trip to Thailand, Cambodia and here was 6 weeks. I think the total cost with air from the midwest was $4500. (Haven't gotten any pictures from any of my friends that take them, but my girlfriend has a camera and we'll take some of the house when we get some new furniture in it. Today we bought 6 wrought iron arm chairs with cushions, a glass topped dining tabel and two side tables for $200 to put on the third floor balcony.)
2. Vietnam is one of the safest countries on earth. There are very few Muslims and the country doesn't have anything that America wants to take away from it so most danger is eliminated right there.
I'll be in touch. We're going to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay Sunday for a week.
P.S. Lepers is an unacceptable term here. They wish to be known as people suffering from leprosy because of the stigma the word carries.
