Finally, the moment Vy and Anha were waiting for. All the money we raised during the walkathon was entrusted to two of our co-founders as they made their way back to Vietnam. There, they met up and traveled to Ky Quang Temple where the money was donated to supply books, school supplies, and food for the blind orphans.
As the monks took us on a tour of the children's living, learning, and playing quarters, we witnessed poverty that all our lives we had only heard of and seen in movies and t.v. The children's lunches consisted of rice and boiled vegetables. They played in tiny, vinyl rooms and slept in cots lined up against the wall. The temple indeed had helpers, volunteers who come to cook and watch over the young ones, but without money, they could only do so much to help the crippled children. Not only did the temple take in blind orphans, but abandoned orphans as well. Our $1000 would help... but by how far? There was so much to do, so much to take care of... surgeries, school supplies, clothes, food, teachers... We entered the monk's office adn began to do the paperwork needed for the transactions. Could be next year, could be 5 years from now till i see them again? The only thing I knew for sure as I drove off into the sunset was that I left my heart in the hands and the hearts of these children. They had taken my breath away with their optimism, their laughter, and their undying hope for a better tomorrow. Once again, I understood why I do the things I do.
- Anha Pham
