Not Just Another Saturday Night

It was Saturday evening and I just finished working in the office with my team. This was however no ordinary Saturday night; for me it is a very special night since I am able to see the children at chua Dieu Giac. I have been waiting all week to see them but co Bao suggested that I waited until the weekend since the children had school on other nights so the weekend would ensure that I see more of them. I therefore took a taxi directly from my office in district 10 to district 2 in Saigon where the Pagoda is located. I had some of my employees including Nhi, Quyen and Minh join to pass out the gifts. Ray who was a fellow Vietkieu who was also visiting from San Jose wanted to join. There was a festive mood for this gathering.



As the taxi arrived to the front chua Dieu Giac, the gates were closed. I stepped out seeking for co Bao to ask for permission to enter. One of the little boys who was about 6 recognized me and yelled out “chu Sy” and I was filled with feelings of coming home. Even though I was born in Saigon and have a fond connection, this place has never really felt like home to me. It is a nice place to visit and do business but it is still different and foreign from the American experience I had growing up. As one boy yelled out “chu Sy” and another one and another child, it was the warmest feeling of welcome. As the gates opened, I took the boys into my arms and hugged them and carried them as I directed the taxi to proceed inside. The whole place seems to come alive with reverberation of my arrival.

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The children were filled with curiosity and questions. The barrage of questions was all tossed out at once. Is the taxi mine? How did I get here? When I came to Saigon? How long am I staying for? Are we going to show a movie tonight? It was the most pleasant and warm set of questioning I can ever ask for. Even though some of the questions were nonsensical, I stilled answered them with diligence trying to express my gratitude share with the children the positive energy and enthusiasm that they have for my arrival.

Ray and a couple of his friends had just arrived and he joined me in the festivities of gift giving. He had brought his own box of toys and candies. Ray has noticed that I have done this before so looked at me for instructions. He said that he was going to follow my lead in this bizarre but wonderful experience of passing out the gifts to this group of about a hundred orphaned children. I acted as if I knew what I was doing and that there was logic to this, but in reality, it always is chaos every time. We just go at the seat of our pants trying to find the best way to make sure all the children receive their toys.



The younger children were lined up in rows with girls separated from the boys. The older children stood in the back more as witnesses since they want the gifts to go towards their younger brother and sisters. Even though there may not be blood relationship between these orphan children, there was a definite bond and it was one big family. We placed the boxes on one side of the courtyard and proceeded with passing out the gender appropriate dolls to the girls and cars to the boys. I joked with co Bao that we should just switch and have the boys play with the dolls and the girls play with the toy cars. However, I can see the eager eyes from the children that their gender biases towards certain toys is well entrenched.

It was a great variety of gifts from my mom, and friends that had given to me at a dinner gathering before my trip. Other friends just dropped their toys at my office and every toy was greatly enjoyed by the children.

We then proceeded up stairs to the third floor for the movie night. My co-worker Nigel who is a movie buff has prepared a special treat for the children this time. It was a series of classic older Disney cartoon shorts ranging from early Tom and Jerry, Donald Duck and Goofy characters. There was plenty of physical humor so the lack of English comprehension was not a pre-requisite for enjoying the humor and visual images. All the children sat on the floor and a little boy would crawl on to my lap and we would just have a great time watching the movie. I was having a time of my life soaking in the spirit of the children. The visit to chua Dieu Giac has always been a highlight of my trip and this is no exception. I have never been on such a high since each time I visit these children, I am in heaven.