October 15 -- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Dear Friends,

There's so much to say about Vietnam that I don't know where to begin.  First, I should probably tell you that we've hit our first major snag.  One of our reporters... the one who was going to write a letter to his dad... fell ill and had to be flown to Singapore.  This happened during our first shooting day.  After visiting the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace, he told us he couldn't go on anymore, so we went back to the ship.  The next morning, the nurse told me that he was in no condition to finish our report.  Later that day, I found out that he had been taken to a hospital and they were going to fly him to Singapore for treatment.  They suspect it's his appendix, but they're not sure.  I feel really bad for him because he desperately wanted to do this story for us and Vietnam was the one country that meant the most to him.  He may even have to miss the rest of the voyage if he doesn't recover by the time we leave Malaysia.

We've spent yesterday and today trying to shoot a backup story on street kids in Ho Chi Minh City.  Today, we visited some shelters for destitute kids and played with them for a while.  Then we went to this hotel where many street kids hang out to sell postcards to tourists.  (They speak perfect English, by the way.)  The cops would come by once in a while to chase them away because they're not supposed to sell stuff on the streets.  The third time they came by, they took a girl in.  One of the students felt really bad for her and decided to go to the police station to get her back.  And she did.  They rode back together on a motorcycle.  The girl had tears in her eyes.

We were supposed to go to Cu Chi tunnels tomorrow, but since we're not doing the letter anymore, we're going to stay in town to shoot another story.

I wish I could spend another week here.  There's so much to see in Vietnam and we haven't even left Saigon.  The best part about being in this city is being able to ride the cyclos.  They give you the best view of the city, and they put you right in the middle of the crazy traffic, which never stops.  To cross the street, you simply have to step onto the street and keep walking, and let the scooters, motorcycles, and cars go around you.  Most are able to walk around safely, but one student did get hit by a van (she's fine, though).  I've avoided the motorcycles, which are even more popular than cyclos.  Several students who hired motorcycle drivers got robbed in dark alleys, but they're ok as well.  The thieves and robbers here just want your money, they're not out to hurt you.  Still, some students already harbor resentment toward the Vietnamese because they were robbed.

For the most part, people here are very friendly and they don't really mind having cameras pointed at them -- unlike in Hong Kong.  The children here are adorable, especially the ones at the shelters and the Christina Noble House, which we visited yesterday.  There's one infant who stole the hearts of everyone because she couldn't stop smiling, and she was the cutest little thing.  We met this Irish couple who wanted to adopt her but couldn't because Irish law doesn't allow them to adopt two kids at once.  They were leaving yesterday for Ireland so they came by to give the little girl a new dress.  They were so sad.

I know in a few days, when we're on the ship again, the poverty here is going to hit me.  Everywhere we turn, we see squalor.  And so many people (whole families too) just live on the streets.  It's just hard to imagine how people get by with so little.  The children at the shelters told us they prefered to be there than with their families because their homes are very "difficult."

For my part, I just try to spend as much money as I can.  I've bought more postcards than I'll ever need from the street kids, but I know that still won't help them that much.  They probably will still get abused by the people they work for.  There's too much to think about.

More next time.

Charles