Go Vap Center for Cultivation and Sponsorship of Children, Saigon

We took a 3-week trip in June 2010 to the country of Vietnam, where we visited orphanages in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City. There, we found four different types of orphanages: those organized by government sponsored by foreigners, run by temples, or established by private citizens. We also visited orphanages that had different orphans in them: those with severe birth defects, mentally and physically disabled children, ones separated by gender, and those that accepted any children that had been left at the gates.

The most devastating center that we visited was Trung tâm Nuôi dưỡng Bảo trợ trẻ em Gò Vấp - 45 Nguyễn Văn Bảo, P.4, Q.Gò Vấp. We were shocked when we saw how children with severe birth defects lived, and how many of them there were. In each of the three rooms that we visited (though there were others), we witnessed children, with heads bigger than their bodies, lying in cribs with their arms and legs twisted. We picked up children who responded to our touch. They were so happy to be picked up, because, except for feeding and bathing times, they are left alone in their cribs for most of the day. There were so many children with hydrocephalus, a disorder that pushes the baby’s skull to abnormally massive levels. Unfortunately, this orphanage has neither the money nor the ability to cure them. We did not know how to pick them up for fear of breaking their necks. It was heart wrenching to watch these children move their eyes or smile and attempt to wiggle their arms and legs like any other child. The staff in the room tried to soothe the crying babies by playing a recording of Vietnamese lullabies at full volume right next to their ear, but they only had one music player.

There are about 240 children whose age ranged from birth to 17 years old. In each room, there are about 20 to 30 children. They are separated by room by age. We asked if these children were victims of Agent Orange, like the people here, but did not get a clear answer. These children were left at and sent directly from hospitals to the center, so they had no birth records for any of the children. However, the staff suggested contacting hospitals for further information. The director, Ms. Ho Thanh Loan, of this center expressed her wish to have experts, such as Dr. Mary Connor and Dr Lisa Battaglino who are professors in Special Education department at BSC, train their staff and volunteers on how to care for these children. She also asked for equipment for physical therapy and to provide the children with the help and mobility they need. We left the center feeling hopeless and devastated.

View the slideshow at

http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad55/nguyenforvietnam/Go%20Vap%20Center/?action=view&current=e04176e7.pbw&t=1277022752