Swimming with Promise House Kids and sticking our feet in the Pacific Ocean

The third day we accompanied the PH kids to a beautiful swimming spot. It was absolutely gorgeous, but the water was nasty. The kids and some of the adults jumped right in. I was a little more hesitant.

The ride there provided an amazing look at Vietnam.

One of the corner "restaurants"

Some of the beauty surrounding the swimming hole...

The kids all played in the water. I got in up to my waist. The murky water and the trash floating in it turned me off. Abbey and Elijah bonded with a little boy, "Home". Abbey had some swimming lessons with him. Elijah taught him the bottle flipping game.

This is one of the shelters overlooking the lake.

 This lady was with her family on one of the little shelters beside us. They were grilling out. I was amazed by her "bathing attire"

We had an authentic lunch there. After lunch, we played group games. The leader came to me and told me that I could go upstairs,  (picture a barn with a hayloft), and take a nap. I climbed the rickety ladder up to see an open room with mats upon which the childrens' house mothers were, indeed, sleeping.

After nap time, the kids played some more and then we headed back to Danang.

After a shower, John, the kids and I went to the beach. It was a short walk from our hotel. It was crowded! We found out that the people of Vietnam swim in the early morning or early evening. They avoid the beach during the day.

We got lost and could not find our group, so we ended up at a Korean Hot Pot. No one spoke English. I used my phone and translated!  It was very different and fun to eat at. Elijah was not a fan!

This is the view from our hotel room.

The Discovery Channel van was a block from our hotel.

The Children of Promise House- day 3-6

This part of the trip was to be our "working" part. We, as a team, were to redo a dilapidated multipurpose room, that was loosely used currently as a library. The how's and what's were totally left up to our team. We painted, collectively paid for furniture and designed the room.

The children live at Promise House most of the year. They go home a couple times a year. There were two kids who were true orphans. These kids have no home to go to. The other kids have some semblance of a family. It may be an extended family only, or maybe a single parent. For many reasons they are unable to take care of these kids and the government steps in. Orphan Voice then takes them and they live at Promise House. The children were so sweet and friendly. They bonded immediately with the children in our group. We spend three days with them. The children played games, did art work, danced, had water fun, did hand claps and generally had a wonderful time together. The language barrier prove to be no barrier at all!

While the children played, the adults worked. I got to see an insider's view of Viet Nam when I went to a "hardware" store and then a "paint" store.

The Promise house sign on the side of the outside gate:

The inside sign

 and in Vietnamese

Their garden

The "before" pictures...

Working...

 It was about a million degrees in the shade, and no a/c to be found. As I was painting like this on the floor, one of the sweet little boys came and brought me a cup of water. I was hesitant to drink it, but knew I had too. No way would I refuse this precious gift of service. I said a silent prayer and drank it down. A little later, the same little boy, surprised me and made me jump when he took a precious ice cube and ran it down my arm! Such a sweet thing to do!

The kids played.
Handclaps are universal.

 This is their school room.

The girls of our team.

The moms, along with two promise house moms.

This is the hardware store.

 The paint store

 The tv showed their living area upstairs.

 People leave their shoes outside of the stores

Our finished product.