I visited a slum alongside the river, taking a drive on the backseat of the motorbike driven by my interpreter through the flood of motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City. It was the first time for him to visit there, but I recalled remembrances of the place as I visited there 4 years ago.

A supporting staff of this slum told me that most of the inhabitants there cannot take citizenship and have no chance to get a job. Since there were many who are illiterate, a volunteer group started 4 years ago to teach them. Now they can manage to write their own names. The main activities of the volunteer group are to provide loans for their self-independence (on Sundays), financial support for students (on Mondays), and distribution of disinfectant for well water and public health education (on Tuesdays).

When I saw people supplying food for children, I joined them to give a hand. Then a woman started to talk to me, showing a picture of her daughter who had left the slum. She was happy when her daughter finally got out of the slum, but now she has no news from her. She doesn't know her whereabouts. It was not difficult for me to imagine what a complex feeling she had.

Another day, I made a cruise on the Saigon River together with street children. There were many small children among them who were not at ease, at first, being together with foreigners, yet, in a short while they showed smiles on their face.

Poverty is the main reason to make them separated from their parents. I could not stop but thinking of what hardships they have in life. I could see a severe reality hidden under their charming smile. I keenly felt that we should continuously look after them and help them to have a full and happy life.

Beautiful green paddy fields, skies with rainbow after rainfall, the full moon and stars in the night. The 17-day travel in Vietnam was blessed with the beauty of nature. It gave me a chance to develop in high spirits more than ever.