Mr. Trần Đình Trợ is not an ordinary man. He is out there to help others. And he does it every day! I use Mr. Trần here, so you do not confuse him with my friend Trần! Mr. Trần usually wears a hat, so it is easy to know who is who!
My friend Trần took me to meet Mr. Trần. We went to the English School that he is running on the side. They collect books for the children. Fixed a few computers and provided internet in the classroom. But the main purpose of the building is to give free English classes to kids who could not afford them otherwise.
One day, he went out to give donations and money to people. Trần asked if I wanted to ride along. Gitte and Gieter stayed at the same hotel, so we took them too. Mr. Trần collects donations and gives them to those who are in need. This picture is from our second stop that day. We went to a home where the parents take care of their son. His hip is open, and he has multiple other problems. Money and supplies were dropped, and a picture to prove that the family got the donation was taken. On the green paper, you see a list of names and the amount they gave. This way, everybody can be sure that the money they give reaches the people.
On the way to the next house – Heenezy and Maria protect us. You do read right: Heenezy! The car is not from the organization. Somebody drove us in his car so we could go from house to house. Since some people not get only money, we needed a car to transport the other things.
House and household goods donated. A guy from the local government was also there, and a few neighbors to celebrate.
Counting the donation money
Group photo. You can see how much they got on the wall. Not sure if you really need to have a banner like that all the time, but that is the way they do it. I was hoping for the food they prepared, but we went on to the next place after the picture.
Another House – this one still under construction. We stopped at a few more places and were back at our hotel in the late afternoon. Quite a different day from the others. And very interesting as well.
The Green Food Place in Phố Châu
Nothing special, but I liked the green walls and the contrast with the orange and red plastic.
Photo shooting at the Temple
Trần is into Photography, and one of his friends is a Photographer. One afternoon, we tagged along with him to a temple where he took some pictures of an old man. I took the opportunity to get a few pictures as well. But the guy had my lens, so I could only use the 50mm, and of course, I had to stay back and could not get the best angle.
So this is staged – not like the usual pictures I take
He does look like a happy old man!
Not sure why, but they put me there to show him the pictures so they could get some shots with us.
Sunset at the temple – not really – only some clouds. We went to another small temple far from the main road.
Baby Goat
Kids on a bike
Bringing home the buffalo
Can I have a picture with you? Sure enough, word spreads fast when a tall white guy stands in the fields. So everybody stopped,d and they waited to see what we would do.
Even he came over for a selfie with me
Back in Phố Châu
At the butcher shop in the morning
Song Hà – a famous Vietnamese writer. He offered me a drink, and we took a picture together. He put me on his Facebook for a while,e and I never saw that many likes for a picture in one day.
Trần took me to a temple. They wanted a picture with me as well.
Later, another monk came over and walked us around the temple. He invited us to stay for dinner. Great – only vegetarian food here. One of the monks worked in East Germany before and could speak German. So he was happy to talk to me in German. He still has his former wife and kid over there in Germany and visits every year. Small world!
Nice dinner – not too much food for me, but the beer was cold
The next evening, we went to meet some of Trần’s friends. A picture with the girls – why not?
At the Wedding Shop
Phan Chau Trinh School
Strange things happen everywhere. More or less, this school is in the middle of nowher,e and a German guy helped to build this school and another one in Quang Nam. Rudolf Walther gave 500.000€, the German World University Service gave some, and the rest of the money was from the provincial government. The school can also be used as a shelter if the province gets flooded.
My mother got me an Eurorail ticket when I was 15, and together with two friends, we adventured into France. This was the beginning of a new addiction. I do like to take pictures, so one thing leads to another. On this site, I want to share some of my pictures and some of my trips with you! Now I am on the road for more than 8 months every year. Visiting old friends and making new friends while exploring this big blue ball.
