My first "sight-saving" trip

From July 24 to July 28 the organization I work at had the seventh Student Ambassador sight-saving trip that joined forces of Denise Ho, our Student Ambassador Captain, and the four young and smart winning students, to Hanoi, Hai Phong and Thanh Son of Vietnam. I was so delighted to be part of the dynamic team together with my colleagues, the videographer, as well as a professional and long-term volunteer photographer. Along with the team were two reporters from Ming Pao and a Portugese newspaper who were specially invited to tour with us.

Prelude
Just two weeks before the trip we organized the Student Ambassador Campaign Award Ceremony. It was perfect to have the ceremony held not long before the trip because I could get to know the students and warm up with them. This also served as a mark to get involved in the upcoming tour and the post-trip activities. Since this was my first "sight-saving" trip, I was, to be frank, excited but at the same time a bit nervous. Luckily, my boss was a genuine guide who built me up with confidence. I carefully worked step by step, and managed to get things prepared before meeting the group at the airport!

The host
It was late evening when we arrived at Hanoi. The next morning, we were invited to the Vietnam Office and were warmly welcomed by Thinh, the Country Director. Different from Hong Kong office, Vietnam office is a multi-storey European-style building with a cozy atmosphere. We met with Thinh and all the Vietnam office staff in the conference room located at the roof of the building. While there, Thinh gave us a brief overview of what they had been doing in Vietnam, which was a simple but powerful support to our understanding of our work during the rest of our visits.

We were extremely fortunate to have Hue and Hang, two nice ladies from Vietnam office as our tour guides and interpreters. Without them, we would not have had such a smooth and safe visit. In appreciation of their effort of all arrangements and re-arrangements (yes, we were just “too flexible”), Venus and I presented to each of them a specially designed Student Ambassador T-shirt and a our own made-in-Hong-Kong mobile strap with a collection of "PinPin"s with on it, and they returned to us with big big hugs! May I grab a little space here to express once again my gratitude to Hue and Hang!

The place
We had been to the Hai Phong Provincial General Hospital and an outreach eye care centre in Thanh Son to witness an eye examination and an eye surgery. Back to Hanoi, we went on to Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO), the largest hospital of its kind in Vietnam. There were thousands of visually impaired patients, both old and young, queuing up for hours to wait for maybe only a ten-minute eye check-up. A girl wearing an orange shirt squatted on the ground alone. She must have been waiting for a very long time. If I had some candies on hand, I would have given her a treat.

A tragic story…
The most shocking scenario came to me when we visited Tran Thi Thuy, a two-year-old baby who was born two months prematurely. Suffered from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), it was already too late when Thuy's parents brought her to the Orbis-subsidized eye hospital. Her eyesight would never be restored. Later on, her father abandoned the family. Hugging her beloved daughter, her mother cried when she recalled the grievous memories.

Just arrived at Thuy's home we were treated by Thuy's grandmother some cold drink. I still remembered its taste. It was sweet.

Coda
It was a rewarding experience, both to my exposure and to my better understanding of our sight-saving work. Now I can tell others even more confidently who we are and what we do. It is my privilege to be in this family.

Something extra
You'reright, that's me with the Student Ambassadors in the photo! It was taken as a rehearsal of the series of shots which were supposed to feature NOT me but Denise and the four youngsters. When they took the real shots with

Denise, they acted much more model-like than the first time with me! Oh well, I do look like to be a member of the winning team who raised more than HK$170,000 for Orbis, don't I?