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[Paul]

Hi.

A while ago (around 7 years ago) while I was travelling through Vietnam, I met some wonderful people. Two sisters, Dao and Phung. They both worked as receptionists in a guest house I was staying in.

They helped me learn some Vietnamese language and a bit about their life and culture. I helped them learn English in exchange.

As I observed them more I noticed how hard they worked, how polite they were to everyone, how caring they were to each other and most people they came across. They were good people. They were also quite poor. They owned 3 dresses, 1 bicycle and 1 bed between the 2 of them and they swapped those items as one worked one shift at the hotel and one worked the other.

Their dad was sick at the time, and they were earning money to put their younger brother through school. From memory, the family of 5 earned about $500 a year.

Anyway, to cut a long story down - I became good friends with them and keep in contact and visited and have been adopted as their older brother.

I myself live in Northern Thailand where I work for a Thai NGO that helps ethnic minorities and I earn about $250 a month from that. I have a 7 month baby. I don't have a lot of money, but I have a good life.

Dao, the older sister who worked so hard to help her family has recently married. A little late for the average Vietnamese - she is in her mid to late 20s. But she always worked so much and was so quiet and shy and conservative - so little wonder.

Now she is 7 months pregnant also. She will have a baby girl.

But - her heart is not good and the strain of carrying a baby has made the problem reveal itself in a life threatening form. She is dying and not sure whether she'll make it to child birth or if she does how long she can love her baby for.

In the most recent email she sent me she said that she actually died for a few minutes recently. She was taken to hospital where they told her to stay overnight for further checks and for safety. But she cannot. She has no money. She went home. And cried.

Currently all her family work to produce enough to buy her medicine and to feed the family. Dao is too weak to work.

I have sent her about $150 which will buy her medicine for a month and a half.

Next month I will scrape together the money to visit her and give her whatever else I can. But I don't have much.

Can you help? Will you help?

If quite a number of people help in a small way they can make a huge difference to Dao, her baby, her family and even my family and I.

Maybe just stay home one night and give the amount you'd spend on dinner out and alcohol.

Please help if you can.

She is very scared. Any day could be her last. She doesn't want to say good bye to her family and she wants to take care of her child.

Maybe the people at travel pod will help set up a way to send me money - I think there is a way to donate via my blogs, but???

Thanks

Have a good day.


Paul

[Paul]

Update.

I am leaving home tomorrow and heading to Hoi An, Vietnam to meet Dao. She is still alive and OK and emailed me just a couple of days ago. I have US$820 and think that I may get up to US$1142 to be able to give to Dao to help her.

From research it seems her problem is a heart valve problem.

Not much more I can tell you at the moment. I will let you know more (if I know more) when I return.