Another Saturday

29/10/2019

129 views

For Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) proudly brought about meaningful voluntary experiences to community and foreigners in Vietnam.

Jill Sugden is a teacher who has been working in Vietnam for 2 years. Apart from teaching hours, the Australian teacher often spends a lot of time exploring the country. Last weekend, Ms. Jill and her students from TH school (Dong Woo and Do Young - two Korean students and Trang Anh - a Vietnamese student) had a memorable morning - dedicated time for pediatric patients in National Cancer Hospital, Tan Trieu Branch. The group spent the morning to visit children at National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi.

The high school students participated in the program

Regarding Ms. Jill, this is the first time she has engaged in a charity program. Trang Anh eagerly shared, "I signed up 2 months ago and now I can join this volunteer program".

Ms. Jill wholeheartedly inquired about patients' health.

Trang Anh was really impressed with a younger boy when she entered the pediatric ward with Dong Woo and Do Young. His name is S. from Tuyen Quang province. He has currently been assisted by a wheelchair because he cannot move after a leg amputation. Seeing the students coming in, S. was very happy and proactively talked to start a conversation with the two Korean students with his modest English. With the help of Trang Anh, the stories surrounding his life and life in Korea made the boy really excited.

The fascinating meeting of Ms. Jill and S.

S. decided to go out to the Pediatric Department’s lobby, where other activities were taken place with the coordination of Ms. Jill and the students. These activities act as a spiritual remedy helping the children temporarily forget the agony during radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Ms. Jill was guiding the children to make beads, painting, and the students were reading fairy tales for the children. S. then started a conversation with Ms. Jill and made her quite surprised. Since visiting the hospital, she had always needed support from VSF and the students to communicate with the children and their family members. However, this boy was able to understand and communicate with her in English, and also showed the excitement of being visited by foreigners. S. introduced his hometown to Ms. Jill and also asked about her country and why she chose Vietnam as a destination.

The boy's optimism brought a lot of joy to Ms. Jill, which was what she wished to bring to the patients who have treated at the hospital. Ms. Jill knew that S. always misses his school when he has to continue therapy for the next 11 months. She gave S. – her favorite game set – the Mancala from Africa. This game is quite similar to mandarin square capturing - a traditional game in Vietnam. Ms. Jill showed and played with S. to help him understand this new game. Jill hoped that her favorite game would help S. to have relaxing moments while in the hospital room.

The students created many activities for children.

The conversation was attracted the attention of many patients and relatives in the department Their warm eye-beams and sincere emotions from the children and their caregivers were given to the volunteer group.

At the end of the program, Trang Anh shared: “Through those smiles, I see how the little things that I did to bring joy to the patients and I want to continue to do it. This activity is significant, and I feel that the time I spent is I hope everyone can have this opportunity like me”.

Ms. Jill and the group was looking forward to participating in more programs in VSF.

Ms. Jill also appreciated joining For Vietnamese Stature Foundation in giving milk to the children at the National Cancer Hospital, Tan Trieu Branch and expressed her desire to accompany many other VSF’s programs, which she can call for the community to join hands for help.