Lychees, lunch and laughter in Vietnam

Helen Knowles of Fortrose, Ross-shire has been a Plan sponsor for over six years. In March 2008, she and friend Peter Rigby traveled to Vietnam on holiday and met her sponsored child, 18-year-old Hiep, for the first time. This is Helen's story.

"It was a great day! We were picked up at our hotel by Plan staff and taken to their local office where we had our first of many cups of green tea.

The interpreter joined us there, and together we went to the supermarket to buy some additional gifts for the family - mostly household supplies like oil, salt, toothbrushes, facecloths and towels. We also picked up lots of sweeties for the kindergarten class we'd visit later in the day.

Then it was off to Hiep's village! The roads weren't bad and it only took us a couple of hours to get there. After a brief stop at the Plan community office and another cup of green tea, we walked past rice paddies, peanut plants and lychee trees, and into the village.

Hiep met us along the way and what a welcome we were given as we approached his house! His mum came out to hug us and his father had a huge smile on his face. Hiep's sister, uncles, cousins and granny were all there to meet us.

There was a cow on one side, a pig on the other, and dogs and chickens all around the place. It seemed everyone had come to say hello!

We shared out the gifts we had brought from the UK and bought locally, and everyone chatted excitedly as we were given some more green tea. The interpreter was very good but everyone was so talkative, she could barely keep up! 

It was soon lunch time and we were invited into the house to eat. Normally everyone would sit on the floor, but they had a table and chairs especially set up for our visit. A big spread of food that included separate dishes of tofu, fish, peanuts, rice, pork, omelette, and cabbage was laid out.

Then they brought out the rice wine. We toasted to each other. We toasted to friends. We toasted to granny, to the pigs, and even to the peanuts! And each time we drank, they filled our glasses up. I was never as thankful for green tea as I was after all that rice-wine!

I couldn't manage very well with the chopsticks so Hiep's mum had to give me a spoon! They kept giggling at me as I ate, but it wasn't because of the spoon! It was eventually explained that rather than keep any inedible food (like bones) in my bowl, I should just drop it all onto the floor like everyone else, because it would all get brushed outside for the animals eat. It was a very fun meal!

After lunch, we all moved over to sit on a bamboo platform in the middle of the room. This doubles as a bed at night. We all sat cross-legged and I thought I might never get up again! 

The conversation continued and they asked us lots of questions about our lives back in the UK. Finally, we went outside to take some photos all together and say our goodbyes.

From there we went to visit some of the education and medical-related projects Plan has underway in the area. First we went to the kindergarten, where it was lovely to see the children in such a safe and happy environment, and then to the health centre which provides much needed care, often using plants grown on the premises.

We are so grateful for all the hospitality, friendliness and kindness shown to us from the whole of Hiep's family. The Plan staff were absolutely great too - very pleasant, helpful and good fun!

It was just fantastic to see the positive difference Plan is making in the community."