It was Long Dien of Binh Phuoc Province that we visited first during the 2006 Vietnam Tour. This village, located in a distance of 4-hour drive by car from Ho Chi Minh City, has about 90 children of mountain people, both boys and girls, who are living in the Children's Home as their parents live far from school. We were welcomed with dance and music by the children in ethnic costumes. After that, we were guided to the village, separately taking a drive on the back seat of motorbikes driven by local people. It was impressive to see the aged people sitting in a dark thatched house and smiling children who gathered around us with curiosity to see foreigners. According to sisters, there is no electricity, no gas, and no water service, and there are many illiterate inhabitants. Although there are some more villages far back, we decided not go any farther. We were told that the government would not like foreigners step into these villages. Judging from our experience visiting other villages deep in the mountains and knowing that they even have electricity and TV sets, it looks as if such areas without electricity are extremely poor even from the Vietnamese standard.

Before joining this tour, I experienced a 5-day home stay in a mountain village of Thailand in the north near the border between Thailand and Myanmar. It was also a poor village of no electricity, yet, people were comfortably living a traditional life, feeding pigs, cows, and chicken under the high floor, drawing river water into the village. They had a kind of livelihood that we don't have in Japan. This time in Vietnam, however, it was unfortunate that I didn't have a chance to feel it. If I had more time in Vietnam, I would have had a chance to feel people's vitality, and hints to develop it.

If I have another opportunity to visit this village, I will make more time to see their life. And I wish to see closely what is the courageous spirit to live lives full of hardship.