Ha and the Children of Hue

This is Ha. She is a trained accountant who left work with a beer importer to become a tour guide because she wanted to interact with people. She is a master at her job.

The day we flew from Saigon (hardly anyone calls it Ho Chi Minh city) to Danang, Vietnam Airlines had cancelled a string of flights, including our 4 o'clock, to fill up the 5:30 plane. We were late and didn't have her phone number, but she was at the airport to meet us carrying a sign with our names on it, a smile on her face, a motorcycle helmet in her hand and a driver (of a car) ready to take us to Hoi An.

Ha put together a wonderful plan to introduce us to the history and culture of the central coastal region of Vietnam, including Hoi An, Danang and Hue (the capital of the country before the troubles began in the 20th century and the location of one of the most bitter battles of the Tet Offensive in 1968). We visited pagodas, temples, tombs and the Imperial Citadel. We traveled by boat on the Perfume River. We heard two performances of traditional Vietnamese music (one onboard a riverboat). We dined in a wide variety of restaurants and had a thorough introduction to the cuisine of this region.

But most importantly, Ha showed us her full humanity. She told us about her family: her husband, child, child on the way, and her parents (whom she visited while we were in Hue).

In the photo she is holding a photograph of a group of children. These children receive scholarships that enable them to attend school because of Ha's work with a Vietnamese man who lives in California. Ha helps make the connection between capable, poor children and the benfactor.

I was surprised to learn from Ha that all children in Vietnam are required to pay school attendance fees each year. If a family can't afford the fees, no matter how capable the children are, they can't attend school.


Both Ha and her collaborator in California grew up in Hue, so they feel a special connection to the children of this city. Poor children of Hue, and other cities in Vietnam, are often working, rather than playing like the kids in this picture. According to the people I met while I was there, Vietnam has no minimum age for going to work. Children are selling things to tourists, working in shops and restaurants, begging.

Ha meets children as she is guiding tourists around and asks them how they are doing in school. If they are receiving recognition for their work, Duy (from California) finds the money to help them continue to attend school.

When we floated on the Perfume River, we passed areas where quite a few of the children who receive scholarship assistance live. Their families live on boats or in houses very close to the shore.



I hope to stay in contact with Ha and to continue to help support this effort to keep the kids in school.

What sort of Communism is it when children don't receive a free education? I think it is heartless and foolhardy for any government to ignore the needs of the people to learn.

Gym Source