Volunteers & Orphaned Children at Phap Vo Orphanage

Donate For Children's volunteers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, recently organized a visit to Phap Vo Orphange. Nearly all orphans at Phap Vo are young girls ranging in age from two to sixteen years old. The purpose of the visit was to deliver various goods to the center's children. Each orphan received a pre-packaged gift bag that consisted of everyday neccessties, such as t-shirts, bath towels, soap, toothpaste, notebooks, and writing utensils. The volunteers also spent an entire day with the children. They served lunch, played movies, and hosted a number of other creative activites to make it a really enjoyable day.

The girls were a little shy at the arrival of the volunteers, but warmed up to the volunteers within a short period of time. All the volunteers were well-prepared. They brought equipment needed to play music, put on activities, and show the children a movie. The volunteers were pleasantly surprised to find out that the girls would sing along and enthusiastically participated in every activity.  However, the most enjoyable activity for them was the 'creativity session'. They made beautiful, multi-colored collages which spelled out: “Donate For Children.” The volunteers sat beside the children, helping them to come up with ideas or making certain patterns that would work well on the collage. Both the volunteers and orphans loved it, bringing a highlight to the entire visit.

One of the volunteers wrote of his experience:

Seeing the happiness and smiles of every orphan made the exhaustion from a whole day's work worthwhile. This experience has been so valuable, making me truly believe that it is possible to touch the lives of others. What's awe-inspiring is the fact that there are people in this world willing to sacrifice their time and energy for the well-being of others. These are the individuals that make changes.

I urge everyone who is not yet involved in some kind of non-profit organization to get involved! Even a small effort, when made in great numbers, can sum up to a wonderful result.