Meeting Do
Extract from the Diary
by Elisabeth Ullmann
We are warmly welcomed to SOS Children's Village Hanoi. The children, SOS mothers and other co-workers heap flowers upon us. At the crack of dawn the next day, we go to the market with Do and two of her older girls. This has proved to be a good way of getting to know each other informally. Do seems relaxed and at ease. She takes me by the arm and sometimes even around the waist. She is not shy of bodily contact. The stalls are colourful, the people are friendly and interested in the strangers, but they are also guarded.
In the afternoon we go into the city. We like Hanoi; it is pulsating, colourful and clean. However, as time passes, we realise that when you are tired, two million mopeds can be extremely stressful. The turmoil is never-ending and we find it quite unbelievable.
The next day Do drums the children together to have a family photograph taken. The boys from the youth home are there and so are both her married girls, together with husbands and child. Only one of the girls, who is studying in a different town, cannot make it. They seem to be enjoying it. After the photo session, we have a small snack in the family house. As tradition has it, we sit on the floor and drink green tea and eat fruit and sweets.
We visit Do’s family. Her mother is eighty-five years old and lives in the house that Do and her husband built. The table is laid and a constant stream of people comes to keep us company. Most of them are Do's former colleagues. We talk and eat and Fred takes the occasional photograph. We are shown around the rice fields and the garden then Fred takes a few formal family photographs. We enjoy a long and hearty farewell before we leave. Afterwards we pay a visit to Do's parents' house. Her younger brother now lives there with his wife and five children.
We take a trip to the Ho Chi Min mausoleum. The scenes are unbelievable. Half of Vietnam stands in line to be channelled through the hall by the army, so as to be able to take a quick glance at the ever-present peoples' hero, "Uncle Ho".
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All these mother's stories come from SOS Children's Village Hermann Gmeiner Academy. Copyright is reserved and no unauthorized use permitted. Use for non-commercial purposes may be requested. The interviews telling about the lives of some SOS Mothers form part of an interesting study on being a replacement Mother to children in need in SOS Children's communities worldwide.