Up until about 2010, the orphanage had babies. Then the Canadian Grant that funded the baby center expired and the babies were housed in another facility. Now that the orphanage has moved to its new location in Phan Thiet, the babies are back. What a wonderful energy they bring to the center! The older kids look out for them and love them. Many of the babies will be adopted eventually. We spent the morning holding the babies. The rest of the day was devoted to just being wi

Each year, our team piles into the van early on a Saturday morning and heads off to the market. The task is to buy the food for our annual BBQ party- a celebration of our Big Big World Family. We stop at the orphanage to pick up Mrs Hoa, the house mother, and half a dozen or so kids. Thao (our translator and lovely friend) and Mrs. Hoa do the shopping. It seems that the main task the children have is keeping us out of the shopping team’s hair- babysitting us, preventing us fr

For our field trip this year, we went to Vietnam’s version of Disney World on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of family outings to the County Fair. The smell of pop corn, cotton candy, farm animals, and hot summer nights. I am so happy to have shared an experience like this with our Big Big World family. We went on carnival rides, saw a dolphin show, fed alligators, had our feet nibbled by little fishes, picnic lunch, more carniv

I think that's really what BBW is all about - promise and possibilities - envisioning a future and lubricating the wheels to get these young adults rolling. Helping them have courage and faith in themselves. On this trip we took some important steps in that direction. We brought six high school kids - Lan, My Ty, Hue, Nghiem, Tan and Tan along with one of the nannies, Mrs Hoa to Saigon. The children range between 15 and 18 years old and our goal was to help them be able to

I am back in Vietnam on my third program delivery trip. ( Big Big World’s 8th) I find myself reflecting on the possibility of new beginnings I am privileged to witness with the young adults living in Saigon and the children living in PhanThiet. Wedding bells Yesterday morning despite jetlag, Bonnie and I rose early to go to the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral. We were there to watch the pre-wedding photos taken of Hang and her husband to be, Dong. We had arrived at our hotel late

Tan is the most charming young man I ever met. Here he is on the left when he first arrived at Ham Tan orphanage in 2010 with his sister and brother. On our visit last year, we noticed that he was a little shy about sharing his beautiful smile. It turns out that he was a prime candidate for braces. The local dentist agreed that he needed orthodontic work desperately. Unfortunately, that type of care is not available in the area where he lives. With the help of a BBW spons

It is time for our annual program delivery trip! Our team (Betsy, Barbara, and Bonnie) will arrive in country around the 23rd of July . We will take a couple of days to adjust to the 11 hour time difference then hit the ground running on the 25th. We have so much to accomplish on this trip in addition to our usual events. This year, at the very beginning of the trip, the high school kids will travel to Ho Chi Minh City. They will visit the campuses of Phap and Son Trinh, two