VIETNAM
- bartonbrooks
- Sep 4, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: May 14
After seeing pictures on a tourist board, I decided to go to Sapa, Vietnam. It looked so beautiful, and I thought I'd spend four or five days there, exploring a bit and finding somewhere to volunteer. Then I'd just continue on and hit all the traditional Vietnamese tourist sites, like Halong Bay and Hoi An, but Typhoon Yagi had other plans!
What was going to be less than a week, turned into over a month, with days harvesting rice, riding out a typhoon, and rebuilding homes. Not what I planned, but exactly where I was supposed to be.
LOCATION: SAPA, VIETNAM
FOCUS: TYPHOON YAGI RELIEF EFFORTS
LOCAL PARTNER: My spectacular trekking guide, Bla!
TOTAL DONATED: $17,000+ for the reconstruction of three multi-family dwellings, a new library, and immediate assistance to 90 families.
The first few days before typhoon Yagi were a dream. I found a wonderful guide named Bla, and we trekked, helped her family harvest rice, and sat around her family’s table and gave thanks.
I became very close with this family very quickly, and spent days with them, in their rice fields, having meals, and just being together as a family. It truly felt like home, and the highlight was being there for the first rice harvest dinner. It's custom that the evening of the first day you harvest rice, everyone gathers to celebrate, give thanks, and share a meal of new rice. One of the biggest event's of the year, and I got drunk on rice wine!
Project details below, but before that - by far, the greatest experience I had in Vietnam was meeting Bla this wonderful Hmong Family.
On the evening of the first rice harvest, it was raining steadily when I got to their house. None of us knew at the time that we were about to be locked in place for 4 days as Typhoon Yagi swirled around us.
But on Sept 12th, our first day out. I finally left my hotel, and Bla and I went to her neighboring village to see what to do. We learned that 10"-12” of rain fell over the week, and a landslide came down the mountain yesterday around noon. Someone in the village saw it, started screaming, and everyone tried to run.
Bla’s friend ran with one of his children, his wife carrying the another. As the water and mud came, the father was able to throw one child to high ground and get out of the way. The landslide took the young mother and her baby, as they were swallowed by the mud along with their home. Their bodies were recovered yesterday.
We were there early the first morning, as her father found her wedding picture, and was cleaning the mud off her face in the runoff water - over the rubble of their home. Her mother, weeping, was down the hill digging through mud looking for memories. Bla gave her all the money I had in my wallet.
Many have died. I was on autopilot on site that day, and kept my emotions mostly in check, but that night, not so much.
I haven’t been able to shake this moment, or this gentle man.
I’ve seen much in my life, and yet this moment has affected me about as deeply as anything ever has.
A landslide stole part of this man’s family.
A mother, daughter, and new baby, gone.
He found his daughter’s wedding photo, and lovingly washed the mud from her face.
A silent expression of love and loss and honor.
He placed her photo near where her house once was, and stood back to witness her, once again in that place.
Silent grief and love.
As motorcycles drove by, heavy equipment churning in the background,
He scooped her up, put her under his arm, and walked to an unknown destination.
I felt like I was intruding as I watched this profoundly poignant moment.
I want to bear witness to this man and his loss.
I pray for those his heart is missing.
This man’s life has been forever changed, and it seems that mine has been as well.
This is the human toll of natural disasters, and as the family mourned, I had to get to work.
Having a local guide is the greatest asset, because Bla knows every tiny village, and her network is vast, so with work to be done, we got right to it.
We toured all the surrounding villages, making assessments, deciding who was in greatest need. There was destruction everywhere, but some families had government support, others were well enough to rebuild on their own. This is the kind of knowledge you get when you have someone like Bla. I'd see a destroyed house, the family would ask for help, and Bla would smile, touch my arm and move me along. As we walked away, she'd say, "Yes, it's bad, but they have a rich Uncle in Hanoi who will take care of them, they will be fine." She KNEW this community, and everyone in it.
We did however find two families who lost everything - with no way to rebuild, and no support. One family of 11 was living in a cave, another sleeping in the local school yard.
We built new houses for them both. We also rebuilt a local library, and gave immediate supplies to around 90 families as they rebuilt their lives.
A huge disaster, but I was glad to be there to offer at least a tiny bit of support, and make a life changing difference to some families and small community. I'm going to miss Sapa, and especially Bla and my new Hmong family.
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