Charity work in Tay Ninh

As part of our pre-mission cultural awareness tour, we decided to provide some charity assistance to one of the poorest regions in Southern Vietnam, Tay Ninh. Through the assistance of one of our Vietnamese partners, Chi Tien, our group visited an area on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam. What I initially thought was going to be distribution of rice, noodles and vitamins turned out to be one of the most eye opening events in our missions short history. The story of this region goes something like this: Up to about 10 years ago, the Cambodian government was sympathetic to large group (200,000) of Vietnamese refugees, allowing them to work, make a living, and have safe harbor there. About 10 years ago, the sympathetic notion turned, and those same refugees were no longer easily welcomed to stay and earn a living. If the refugees requested to stay, The Cambodian government would charge the equivalent of $50 USD for a "work" visa. Sounds like an easy decision, except the fact that these people were so poor and so uneducated that they would not agree to pay that fee. Ultimately, some of them were deported over the border back to Vietnam, where of course, their own government will not recognize them as citizens. This leaves these patients in a very strange and horrific situation. They reside in make shift huts,(made for approximately $25 USD), on the edge of a strip of land surrounded on two sides with water. They have no country to call their own, so they basically developed this primitive society trying to exist. They have no employment, no education system, no running water, no clean water supply, and no one to turn too. The result: Incestual Imbreding (12-15 kids per girl/woman) lack of common education, spread of terrible disease due to surrounding water (which is used to drink, bath, urinate, defecate etc...), HIV, local theft, and a lack of self worth. They live for today only, with no hope of any reasonable future. Each rainy season, there "homes" get flooded and destroyed and they have to rely of external "Church" group to raise money to build them a new one. So where do we come in: we visited a Church (Giao Xu Suoi Day), where a very dedicated and passionate priest assists with this groups unusual dilemma. He provides food and filtered drinking water, and helps to build their "homes'. First we met with 474 patients, donated 5 kg rice, packs of noodles, and multivitamins. Although this was a very short term help, I could not stop thinking of the long term struggles these patients will continue to face. As missions go, someone steps up, trying to provide the needy with as much assistance as possible. This trip was no different, as one of our group members discussed the horrible, sad situation with their family, and word spread of this crisis. A large sum of money was then donated to provide funds to build a significant number of "homes" in the future. It is only because of generous and selfless people that these people may get a small glimpse of a future. A new church is going to be built that will house a sunday school, with the attempt to provide a safe place and a means of education. I pray for your futures!