I wanted to share with you some of the beautiful images I got in Northern Vietnam, in the village of Ha Giang. It was such an isolated community out there, they needed the resources from Plan Canada extremely badly. They actually had a community centre they showed us that had everything the families needed to get by. Then from there we traveled by car to the elementary school that was partially constructed by Plan. It was booming with activity. The kids were having a ton of fun playing games, riding bikes, and learning the curriculum (some more than others). I got a ton of cute shots of the kids just doing want they do best, just being silly and they even played a game of hide and seek with me. 🙂 Even though it was the last day of class a few students showed intense focus which is a great thing considering summer break was just around the corner. Unfortunately not all the kids do attend school as other things got in the way such as: Their parents sending them to work as they need the money and are desperate, or the kids are just unmotivated to make the 30km walk every day to school. As motorbikes are hard to come across in the tiny town.
My partner Joe had been sponsoring a child in the same town for years now so we thought this time our visit to South East Asia we would go visit his sponsor child, who is a 10 year old girl now. We were able to visit her in her family’s home that same day. She actually attends the same school that was partially built by Plan. She has 2 brothers, and another baby sister to play with. Her mother’s a very generous person and made lunch for everyone. They wanted us to stay over for the night even though they had nothing themselves. They were sleeping on a hard wood bed frame that didn’t have a mattress on top (just a grass cloth), a fire for cooking, a larger plastic foldout table, and a bunch of tiny plastic chairs. The reality of their situation hit me hard, even though it was the best thing I did, it was also the worst thing as you get a real sense of the reality they face every day. When we first met the sponsor child she was super shy at first and barley spoke to us, but after Joe gave them a ton of gifts for the entire family like cooking supplies, and a back pack and colouring kit- the family immediately got more comfortable with us and all the kids were doing colouring on the bed by the end of our stay. I think they would’ve been in a better mood if their father was home but he was actually working in China at the time as it was the closest option for them to find work, as their own property couldn’t really be farmed as it was too mountainous and narrow. He would work for a few months at a time then come home for a couple months, and then head back. It must have been such a hard decision for the father to be away from his family for so long, but if it’s the only means to support his family, he has no other choice. So in the meantime to help fill the void they have two uncles staying with them.
I tried to capture a lot of documentary photos that showed the reality of their situation, but that they still laugh and have fun like a regular family.
If you like these travel photos, check out my trip to India I took a few years back. ♥
Visit with Sponsor Girl
