Every day we are approached by women, children and the elderly trying to sell something. On several occasions, Vincent will discretely give them a small donation to help them out. He is also happy to pay double the price for water from elderly ladies as he knows that they have no other way to survive in life. His dream is to one day open a house in Vietnam for the elderly and for the many orphans. He occasionally takes a day off to visit some orphans in his neighbourhood and cut their hair free of charge. One particular incident we witnessed broke my heart after I learned more about the situation.
Sitting in a cafe drinking iced coffee, we were approached by a young girl, no older than nine that is suffering from sort of disability, possibly related to agent orange. In Vietnam, it's fairly common for children with disabilities to be abandoned by their parents at a very young age. After Vincent gave her a small donation, she approached another tourist sitting by herself playing with the phone. When the young girl gave the older tourist a pack of postcards in an attempt to sell them, the older girl threw them on the ground for being interrupted.
The young girl, who by all accounts should be in school is instead forced to spend her days walking the tourist beat trying to sell cigarettes and postcards in order to make enough money to buy food to eat or somewhere to sleep for the night. While the older girl thought nothing about her encounter with the younger girl, it was clear to everyone who'd seen the situation that the younger girl's spirit was crushed. She put on a brave face, blinked away the coming tears and carried on with her day's work.
The other Vietnamese street sellers, who risk losing their belongings if caught by the local police, cheer up the girl, get her some food and exact her revenge by systematically approaching the older girl to sell her things until she is fed up and leaves the cafe.
When the little girl glances in my direction, our eyes meet, I give her a smile as if to say I understand your situation and have nothing but the utmost respect for you. When the girl responds, her eyes light up and her cheeks slightly redden as her lips part to show the widest, most beautiful grin I've ever seen. A girl as young and brave as her smiles so genuinely and warmly that I have to blink away the tears and am completely lost for words.
After witnessing the event, I begin to understand why there exists a set of prices for locals and a set of prices for foreigners, because the locals care about the poor, the hungry, the sick and the elderly, the orphans, the unemployed and those that have no form of welfare to support them.
Karma shows her presence once more as the cafe owner notices the older girl has left her hotel key behind. Not being the kind to smile at the situation for too long, we chase the girl down and return her key.
Within minutes we see the little girl again selling her wares to an older tourist who's donation allows her a place to sleep for the night.
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thats so touching bro it reminds me of the children in Sianoukville, Cambodia selling thier wares at the beach... and I wish there was a productive meaningful way to help
A lot of these street kids are managed by a "pimp" who takes all the money they make through begging. That is why it is better to give the kids food / water then money as they don't get to keep it.
What makes you say this is true? I would like to know more information about this as I have heard this a few times but haven't seen any evidence of it.
salut bebby