My journey to Southeast Asia and the Vietnam 2010 Aid Expedition

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2008 Aid Expedition Team Photo

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FW: Final Expedition Statistics from Caroline Ticarro-Parker, our Expedition leader

2008-04-10T13:41:00.001-04:00

Our expedition is over - most of us are home now and going through
some culture shock and of course dealing with jet lag. For such a huge
group, we were an amazing team that worked hard with an exhausting
schedule in just 8 short days. We want to thank all those that have
followed our blogs, donated money, toys, stickers, hats, t-shirts and
everything else. Your generosity is amazing and so much appreciated.

Here are our final numbers
over $53,000 raised and priceless in-kind donations

350 children & 40 chaperones went to camp (including transportation,
lodging, meals & clothes) to see the ocean and have fun! (they
traveled by bus up to 14 hours to get to camp!)

250 bikes given to every child in our scholarship program in 5
different towns

10 kg. of rice, 10 kg. of dried beans, 5 kg. of sugar, 1 box of
instant noodles and some candy :) to 280 families (that's enough to
feed a family of 4-6 people for a month!)

700+ "fun bags" given to school children in 5 different villages - the
fun bags were 100% made with donations of toys, clothes, stickers and
drawings (mostly from school children in the U.S.)

350 "fun bags" given to all the children that attended camp.

2 new houses started in Rach Gia (Kien Giang)
2 houses renovated in Tan Hoi Trung (Dong Thap)
1 new house started in Tan Hoi Trung
1 house renovated in My Hiep (Dong Thap)
1 new house started in My Hiep
2 houses renovated in Sa Dec (Dong Thap)
....all in 5 days
*we also funded the construction of 2 new houses (1 in My Hiep and 1
in Sa Dec)

for medical check ups, dental exams & fluoride treatments:
in Rach Gia (Kien Giang - day 1 - 82, day 2 - 275, day 3 - 182, total=
539
47% were treated for parasites, 100% of the patients work and live in
the garbage dump
in Tan Hoi Trung (Dong Thap) day 4 - 277 total (192 under age 18, 2
needed follow up)
in My Hiep (Dong Thap) day 5 - 313 (203 under age 18, 5 needed follow
up)
in Sa Dec (Dong Thap) day 6 - 231 and 7 kids at our orphanage
in Saigon - District 7 day 7 - 91 girls
...a grand total of 1458 patients in 7 days
with your continued support we are convinced that we are at a place
where we can continue to develop plans for more preventive health
care, and sustainable health care.

$1600 in scholarships given to 21 winners from the "My Vietnam" Art
Contest, 9 honorable mentions received special prizes

after flying thousands of miles to get to Vietnam we then traveled:
120 miles via plane to Rach Gia (Kien Giang)
70 miles from Rach Gia to Cao Lanh (Dong Thap) by bus and two ferries
- 6 hours
10 miles from Cao Lanh to Tan Hoi Trung (Dong Thap) by bus and tuk tuk
- 1 hour
15 miles from Cao Lanh to My Hiep (Dong Thap) by bus - 45 minutes
25 miles from Cao Lanh to Sa Dec (Dong Thap) by bus and one ferry - 1
hour
85 miles from Sa Dec to Saigon/HCMC by bus - 4 hours
15 miles from edge of Saigon to our hotel by bus - 1 hour
75 miles from Saigon to Long Hai (for camp) by bus - 3 hours
80 miles from Long Hai back to Saigon by bus - 3 1/2 hours
*our bike team traveled 100 miles from Cao Lanh to Saigon in 12 hours
and survived!

30 prints from the winning entries of the Little Red Fairy "My
Vietnam" Art Contest auctioned off during our last day for a total of
$6,670 to fund a boys scholarship program starting this fall...

We're already looking forward to the next expedition (I
think!)...thanks again for all your support! More pictures will be
posted soon!

THANK YOU for being the Catalyst for positive change for the children
of Vietnam!

We will be leaving Hanoi today with one last jaunt through the city before departing on the long flight home.

2008-04-05T20:58:00.006-04:00

Images of Hanoi: Vietnam National Water Puppet Theatre

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Images of Hanoi: Street Vendor, Old Quarter

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Images of Hanoi: Old Quarter near Hodn Kiem Lake

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Images of Hanoi: Hodn Kiem Lake

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Images of Halong Bay: Floating Village off Cat Ba Island

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Images of Halong Bay: Sophie, Maia, Brianna, Noah, Liam, and Sam

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Images of Halong Bay: Junks on the bay

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Images traveling to Halong Bay: Preparing to board a junk for overnight passage to Cat Ba Island

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Images traveling to Halong Bay: Cemtery surrounded by rice patties

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Images of Saigon: Returning from the expedition

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Aid expedition news article on Vietnam Net: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/03/775632/

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Images from Vung Tau Province: Kien Giang Students performing for us.

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Images from Vung Tau Province: Catalyst's guests from the three provinces we traveled and worked in

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Images from Vung Tau Province: Ox Cart Ride

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Vung Tau Province

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We have traveled to the eastern coast and Vung Tau Province, to host a two-day camp for children from all of the provinces that we have worked in. Internet access is so bad that I will not post any photos until we get to Saigon.

We have brought over three hundred kids to camp. Most of these kids have never seen the ocean or for that matter taken a bus. Some of the kids traveled 14 hours by bus to get to camp. I am told that some of the kids have taken showers up to three times in one day because they
think running water is so amazing. Know that the they have received all of your fun bags and drawings and were very excited. The kids are fabulous and worked very hard to perform at tonight's talent show.

Images from Dong Thap Province: Provincial School

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Images from Dong Thap Province: On the road again............all 130 of us

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Sara you left a post comment asking about the Kien Giang Orphanage. Please leave an email address and I'll send photos of the facility

2008-03-28T21:34:00.001-04:00

Images from Dong Thap Province: Boat carrying manure for fertilizing fields

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Images from Dong Thap Province: Lunch at a roadside cafe with a Peoples Party official

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Images from Dong Thap Province: Metal and thatch construction

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Images from Dong Thap Province: Alley to the next building site

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Images from Dong Thap Province: Woman raking dry rice

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Images from Dong Thap Province: Boy fishing near our construction site

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Images from Dong Thap Province

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For more photos and descriptions of our journey also see the Expeditions Blog site: 2008vietnamae.blogspot.com

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Dong Thap Province

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Dong Thap Province:

We leave Kien Giang after an amazing bus ride along the tributaries of the Mekong Delta. The drive takes us by Liam's orphanage as well as the town of Tan Hiep where he was born. We arrive late in to the provincial capital of Dong Thap after driving for 6 hours (which included two ferry rides over larger parts of the river) Our group is so large we occupied two Ferry's with our passengers and three buses.

Wednesday March 26th the construction team breaks up into three teams. We travel to Tan Hoi Trung in two Tuk Tuk's, which is a motorcycle with a passenger compartment that fits six of us with our tools on the roof. The house site is located along a small tributary 30 minutes out side of town beside miles of green rice patties. The house itself will have two rooms with a separate outhouse to be constructed in the rear of the property. We had a good day completing
about three quarters of the masonry walls. In spite of the 99 degree weather every bodies spirits our high though exhausted.

Kien Giang Province

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Kien Giang:

It's hot! We are simmering at 100 degrees and it's very humid. The routine is up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:00, and then all the teams split up into medical, Food distribution, and Homebuilding. There are two construction crews both of which are building new brick
structures as well as renovations to existing homes in Rach Gia. One of our sites is located in a cemetery in the Vinh Loi Ward of the city. The residents are up early to watch us as they perch on the above ground tombs. We are the local attractions and are used to posing for pictures. Some of our teen team members are learning from the local children how to count and speak Vietnamese.

Tuesday several nuns from a Buddhist temple befriended us and on our second day of work preparing an amazing lunch under the protection of the shaded porches of the temple. We gave generously to their need to purchase materials for construction materials. We also had several
logistical problems with deliveries on day one holding up our progress. By the second day we have the walls of house 2 half way up with the new corrugated metal Roof in place. We have had two team causalities from the heat.

Dorothy is on the medical team and specifically working with our team's dentist. She is helping with the organizing and recording of the children's dental exams as well as applying fluoride treatments to their teeth. More than 50% of the 500 children seen require extractions however the dentist has not been able to do them due to local regulations. The team will be trying to correct this tomorrow. The children on the team have also given out bicycles to student
scholarship recipients the equivalent to winning a car back in America. This bicycle will allow these students to attend school.

We have visited Liam's orphanage and were able to tour the facility and see where Liam spent the first months of his life. We shared the experience with Sue and Brianna. Brianna was adopted the same day from the Kien Giang Orphanage. Needless to say it was an emotional
visit.

Liam, Maia, and Brianna with a Kien Giang Orphange Official

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Students receiving bicycles at the Catalyst School in Rach Gia

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People waiting for dental Appointments in Rach Gia, Kien Giang Province

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Second house in Dong Thap Province

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New house in Dong Thap Province

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House in Rach Gia

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Update.................

2008-03-23T11:41:00.002-04:00

We are now in Rach Gia, in the Province Kien Giang, Vietnam. We have had a busy couple of days flying from Angkor Wat to Saigon on to the island of Phu Quoc and then to our present location where we have met up with all of the team members.

I am behind on the blog due to travel schedules and spotty Internet access but vow to share with all our amazing journey. Today we were able to visit Liam's orphanage. Sue and Brianna (Brianna was adopted the same day as Liam from the Kien Gang orphanage)

We have to have to rise at 5:30 each day to eat breakfast and get to our work sites before the heat slows us down at mid day. We are all supposed to be drinking 12 bottles of water a day to stay hydrated.

Until Tomorrow!

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

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Angkor Wat or The city temple was built during the 12th Century in the Khmer Empire, known today as Cambodia. On the list of wonders of the world I can only say when you arrive you are in awe of these structures. The temperature is hitting 100 and it's a bit sticky as we make our way through the ruins. The original structure was originally a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu and later converted to a Buddhist temple.

Liam and Maia with our Angkor guide oum

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Images from Angkor Wat

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Khmer Royal Court Dancing

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Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

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We are Leaving today for Siem Reap the town closest to Angkor Wat. After a harrowing drive to the airport in midday traffic we found that our tickets were booked for the wrong day. We patiently waited stand by and were able to squeeze onto a crowded Siem Reap Airlines plane for the hour flight. Temperatures in Phnom Penh have hit 98 degrees today it appears that our destination will be as hot and certainly more humid. We are slowly getting used to the heat although it does require changing clothes a couple times a day and drinking bottled water by the case.

Upon arriving we had a relatively smooth drive into town. The startling thing here is the number of hotels that have been created for Angkor tours. It looks a lot like a dusty version of a Miami Beach Boulevard. We are staying in the center of town which fortunately is a little less touristy. We are able to check in and catch a dinner theatre of Apsara or Cambodian Royal Court dancing. Maia has been studying this form of dance for two years and is very excited to see it performed in her native country.

The Russian Market, Phnom Penh

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Located in the southern part of Phnom Penh the Russian Market, so named from it's popularity with Soviet expatriates that lived in Phnom Penh in the 80's. Still one of two main markets inn the city it is a dizzying assault on your sense. The sounds colors, and smells are intense. You can litterally buy anything here from used motorbike and moped parts to some of the most exquisite local jewelry. The Fresh food section of this market usually means "alive" until you buy it. Although prosperity in town has changed the attitude towards bartering the deals are still there although one has to walkaway from negotiations more freqeuntly than in 2000.

Outside the Russian Market

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The Russian Market

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Scenes from the Russian Market

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Scenes from the Russian Market

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"Tuk Tuk"

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Motorbike built for four

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Phnom Penh

2008-03-17T22:35:00.003-04:00

After quite a long flight we arrived in Seoul, South Korea. In Seoul we met fellow aid expedition members the Reinherz and Gunterson families. We got into Phnom Penh around midnight with everybody exhausted but excited to be back in Cambodia. It was also noted that
Maia had no entry fees or expiration date appended to her Visa since she is Cambodian!

We have had a full day here in Phnom Penh starting with a "Tuk Tuk" ride (a Tuk Tuk is a cross between a motorcycle and a Cyclo or rickshaw) to the venerable temple at Wat Phnom (a Wat is a temple) There we encountered a clan of monkey's as well as Sumba a 48-year-old elephant (three years younger than me!) When we were here in 2001 we could see Sumba seen making his/her way up the boulevard towards the Wat. Of course we could not resist the chance to take a ride on Sumba (see photos) Liam and Maia also wanted me to post pictures of a member of a clan of monkeys that live on the grounds of the temple.

We had lunch at the venerable FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) restaurant overlooking the muddy brown Tonle Sap River as it flows into the Mekong River that can be seen off in the distance. After lunch Our Tuk Tuk driver shuttles us off to the Royal Palace. This evening we motored about the city, bumper to bumper, with cabs and mopeds carrying entire families for a traditional Khmer meal. Although everything is quite familiar to us Phnom Penh is changing. There is a new urban vibrancy that one feels. There appears to be more prosperity and less poverty than in 2001. From our hotel in the background I can see the city's first high-rise of 20 stories or so. The moped is still king of the road but the automobile is staking it's claim. It's good to have returned!

Preah Tineang Phochany, Royal Palace Dancing hall, Phnom Penh

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Sumba with three western riders, Wat Phnom

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Sumba's cargo; Maia, Dorothy, and Liam

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Wat Phnom residents, mother and baby monkeys

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Wat Phnom, translated "temple on the hill"

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Atlanta

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We are off! Up at 5:00 am enroute to Atlanta..........

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Vietnamese Architectural Plans

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Architects drawing of a structure we will be building. It's made of reinforced concrete footings and columns infilled with brick which will be covered with stucco

Ten days until we are off

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The kids are getting excited although 26 hours in the air is going to challenging for all of us. We have all been inoculated from all known scourges of the world and of course all of our arms are very sore. Packing is underway as we will be leaving early Saturday morning. We are astounded at the response we have recieved from our friends, schools, and community. Our gratitude goes out to all that have contributed to this effort. We will try to keep all of our friends and family up to date with our journey through this blog.

Twelve days till departure

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In twelve days we will be returning to Vietnam for the first time since we completed Liam’s adoption there in the spring of 1999. This time we are traveling as a family and as part of a Humanitarian Aid Expedition with the Catalyst Foundation We will be going to the province where Liam was born. We are all very excited to be going back to Liam’s birthplace with a team dedicated to give back something to a small part of the world that has given us so much in our son.