Kim Medcalf, also known as feisty
Sam Mitchell in Eastenders, has just returned from a much-anticipated trip to Vietnam to visit her sponsored child, Phuong.
Having read up about Plan’s work, Kim decided that she wanted to get involved – but not only did she sign up to sponsor a seven year-old girl in a rural area of Vietnam, she also made the decision to go out there and visit her during a well-earned short break from her hectic filming schedule.
Having flown into Hanoi, Kim spent her first couple of days with Plan visiting some of the successful projects in the bustling city. One of these – the Hoa Sua School restaurant – is a similar project to Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant! The majority of the staff there are teenagers who used to work on the streets, and with Plan’s help they have now been trained either as kitchen or waiting staff.
“It was really moving to sit and chat with some of the teenagers who work there. They seemed incredibly happy with their new skills and working environment. They explained to me that before working there, they were on the streets trying to scrape by a living by selling newspapers and shining shoes,” recalls Kim.
Kim also visited several schools in Hanoi - one of them being a school that aims to support children with disabilities. These children are often denied the right to go to school due to ingrained prejudice.
At this “integrated” primary school in the Minh Khai Commune, Kim met a 10 year-old boy called Khanh, who is paralysed from the waist down and unable to walk. His family had to sell their land to pay for his treatment. Thanks to Plan’s disability project, Khanh now attends the local school and has received a new wheelchair to improve his mobility.
“Visiting the schools was a fantastic experience – everyone seemed very shy at first, but soon warmed up to the group of strangers who were visiting! At one point I was asked if I was Britney Spears, so I was sorry that I had to disappoint them!”, said Kim.
On the third morning of her trip, Kim made the long four-hour trip to Phu Tho, north of Hanoi. It was here that Kim first met Phuong, her sponsored child.
“This was by far the highlight of my trip to Vietnam. Phuong and her family seemed so excited to meet me, which made me really glad that I had made the trip out there. I was shown around the family home and offered tea with lots of different types of fruit.
“Phuong was very shy to begin with, but by the end of my visit she really came out of her shell. We were playing frisbee and throwing a ball around just outside her home, which she really seemed to enjoy.
“Now that I’ve met Phuong I know that it will make writing letters to her and her family even easier, as I will be able to picture her opening them in her home. I intend to send her back some photographs of the trip that she can keep too.”
Whilst in Phu Tho, Kim also took the time to visit some of Plan’s rural projects, such as a nutrition centre. It is here that mothers are shown how to provide healthy balanced meals for their children, in order to reduce the malnutrition rate.
“It was at the nutrition centre that I was treated to two enthusiastic songs with dancing by some of the girls attending with their mothers – it really was fantastic. I attempted to sing ‘Old Macdonald Has a Farm’, but managed to make chickens sound like ducks!! It seems ridiculous now that I think about it, that I can remember my Eastenders’ scripts but I couldn’t remember the words to a well-known nursery rhyme!
“I’d like to thank all the staff at Plan – both in the UK and Vietnam – for organising my unforgettable trip.”
Kim appeared on GMTV and LK Today on Wednesday 6th October to talk about her visit to her sponsored child.
