May 14

A long day of walking but we made it to the Quang Binh Province and found a great and clean hotel in Dong Koi. It was a good day, a long day of walking but a very important one. We visited with a family this morning after walking a couple miles. Bao Anh's uncle had told her of this family who had lost 12 of their 14 children to AO. We finally found the long dirt road that led to the house. We found our way there and visited with the family for a couple hours. The mother and father were very welcoming. Their youngest daughter was with them and is mentally handicapped. She is very sweet, mostly makes sounds and kisses people on the cheek. She seemed very excited to have company. Bao Anh translated the parents story: the father was a soldier unfortunate enough to get heavily sprayed by AO. They described the babies as seeming healthy when born but at about 3 months of age, showing signs of something being wrong. The mother said many of the children's skin and hair began to turn yellow. Several of the children were hydrocephalics. Several died from cancer. She said they were all buried together and they would like to show us where. We then asked where her other surviving daughter was and she led us into a little room. There was a curtain and when she drew it back, there lying in the bed was the most beautiful teenage girl. She made horrible noises and twisted her body back and forth. It was very frightening and sad to see. She began to have a seizure and both her parents held her down until it was over. When it was over , her mother just held her head in her lap until she was very calm. The girl was able to sit up a little and she started to speak to Bao Anh. I asked what her favorite thing in the world was, and her reply was "a computer". She did not have one but had gotten to use one in Hanoi at the Hoa Binh Peace Village for AO kids. Apparently, the girl had had 4 brain operations by an Australian Dr. in Hanoi but there has been little improvement. The father then put his younger daughter on his back and asked us to follow him to the graves of his other children. We followed him down a long path until we saw a mountain of sand. We followed behind him amazed that he could do this carrying a handicapped child. We made it to the top and there was this beautiful structure, very colorful that held the graves of his 12 children, with 2 unmarked, as the doctors expect the 2 girls to die as well. We stood there as the father and his young daughter lit incense and placed them on the graves. He said a prayer and then bowed to each dead child. I just watched this man, grieving the loss of his children and felt so heartbroken for him, so helpless. How do you say how sorry you are to someone who lost their children to something like dioxin? I sat down behind one of the walls and just cried for the longest time. 

Tomorrow morning I am going with Bao Anh and I am buying a computer and paying for service for a year for the sixteen yr. old daughter. I can't thank all of you enough for donating and helping out with this walk. When we see her tomorrow, we will surprise her with a new computer from all of you. Her name is... Do Thi Hang.