Visiting our Sponsor Child

A few years ago someone from Plan International knocked on our door looking for sponsors. We invited her in and ended up sponsoring 2 children, one from the Philippines and one from Vietnam. This isn’t something We'd normally do, as we like to research the heck out of any NGO to ensure the money is used ethically and responsibly. But, after zero research, we committed. We chose two children similar ages to our girls, and from 2 countries we thought we’d visit. At that point, visiting our sponsor child in Vietnam or the Philippines, and seeing their community in person, was little more than a pipe-dream. Fast forward to our Great Big Trip Around The World, and we’ve had the opportunity to meet one of these lovely girls in Vietnam. After filling out a mountain of paperwork months in advance, we kind of just forgot about it. As our time in Vietnam approached, we got an email stating that our trip was being set up. We arrived in Ha Giang province by bus from Hanoi. Plan had offered to send a car to Hanoi to pick us up, but that seemed unnecessary! We did, however, let them send a car to pick us up in Ha Giang to take us to the village. We met up with our Plan Liaison who would be our official guide and translator for the day. Along the way we connected with the Mayor, a few other community officials, a teacher, and a couple other Plan employees. We visited the local school, viewed the Plan-financed library, and eventually ended up at our Sponsor Child's home for lunch. As expected the family lives in very basic conditions, but seem very happy. Unexpected was how big of an event it was! There was a table set up in the shade beside one of the buildings, and our entourage was joined by the local village leader, our host (the father of our sponsor child) and a few of his friends. Lunch was rice, chicken, pork and green vegetables, all washed down with a home-made alcohol. We carefully spooned some rice, veggies and a few choice pieces of mostly-meat out of the pork-dish onto each of the girl’s plates. Our host was visibly very honoured to have this large gathering at his house, and toasted frequently. By the end of the meal he was almost in tears expressing his gratitude and honour at having everyone to his home. After lunch, we bid farewell to our sponsor child and her family. Our sponsor child went back to school, and we drove back to the city. By the time we arrived in Ha Giang it was dark. After tucking the girls into bed, we marveled at the incredible opportunity we’d just had, to be guests in such a welcoming community for the day. For more information about visiting places like Vietnam (and everywhere else we've traveled) check out our blog at www.whereistheworld.ca Check us out at: web: http://www.whereistheworld.ca instagram:   / whereistheworld   facebook:   / whereistheworld   **Subscribe for more family travel adventures** Background music by Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) Gear: Sony A7 Sony 24-70mm f/4 lens GoPro Hero 4 Silver EVO SS Wearable gimbal for GoPro iPhone X EVO SP-Pro smartphone gimbal DJI Mavic Pro