On 18^th January, I turned up in Saigon... As I was getting out of the airport, I saw Anne-Laure and Marylene hailing me from the crowd of Vietnamese people. They were gathered here to welcome their family or friends coming back home to celebrate the lunar New Year, the Tet, (dog's year).

Having sojourned several times in Vietnam, I recognized the traffic, dense and anarchic, where our vehicle was threading its way through the noisy Japanese motorbikes. We arrived in a little alley where we could see one house with blue walls: "Nha May Man"...

My hosts showed me around the center, I got quickly introduced to the staff and the premises. It was pretty difficult to remember straightaway these new names, which are so particular... It got better with time... After a rapid snack, I took possession of my room at Mrs. Luu's house, which is very close to Maison Chance. Her owner usually rents a room to the volunteers passing by. Above my bedside, 3 enormous statues of the Christ's Saint Family keep me company. In a country where Buddhism is the first religion, the blue House is situated in the middle of a neighborhood with a high number of Catholics...

My activities:

In January, the groups of students had not been remade because there were not enough volunteer teachers. Therefore, I offered my help for some minor tasks in the office. As I also master the technique of oil painting, Tim Aline Rebeaud asked me to advise the young artists of the painting workshop. In fact, at that moment, they were temporally lacking a teacher.

However, the great agitation was the preparation for the opening of the new training and educational center, "The Take Wings Center - Chap Canh"... Among many tasks, Tim entrusted me with the installations in the computer room. I contacted some Vietnamese friends, engineers who studied at the Institut de la francophonie pour l'informatique (IFI - Hanoi). They came as volunteers, late at night in order to help us and to offer us all the necessary material. They came back with a few friends after the opening to make a donation... Then everything accelerated, Chap Canh was a buzzing hive as everything had to be perfect for the "Big Day". Until the last minute, we were putting the finishing touches, looking for material, passing one another, rushing... Even Luciano Pellegrini and Simon Rey, friends and financial partners of Maison Chance, were giving their energy without counting. They respectively represent the BASAID-NOVARTIS foundation and Terre des Hommes Alsace.

On 18^th February, day of the opening, it was the apotheosis: the ceremony was dignified and joyful, full of emotions, fraternity and love. It was a magnificent production, a kind of consecration for the generous founder who will certainly not stop there as she is so gifted in enterprising and innovating!!!

Once the ceremony was over, I had to assume my main duty, meaning to teach French to the willing residents... Indeed, there is no obligation for them, valid or handicapped, sometimes heavily...

After a reevaluation of the different levels, little groups were made: the beginners, the intermediate and the advanced.

I taught every afternoon and also from 6.30pm to 8pm every two days. The main difficulty was with the beginners: it is not easy to teach a language without speaking the students' language, and it is even more difficult when the average school level is rather weak. It is imperative for all the volunteers to have some notions of Vietnamese.

Conviviality:

There were a lot of little events: the meals with the volunteers and Tim, Anne-Laure's birthday, friendly reunions at the center with the residents. We enjoyed the Vietnamese pancakes and other local specialties, accompanied with beer or some rice alcohol (ruou)... Simple, friendly and warm, these unforgettable evenings reminded me our old evening gatherings. They were punctuated with exotic guitar notes and some melodious and smooth voices... (Hum!!... Not always... Depending on the interpreter, we sometimes didn't want to shout "Again!")... I went several times with these "Star Academy" candidates to the karaoke in the neighborhood to enjoy the evening having a drink.

There also were a few other events: the moving wedding of Nhut, a paraplegic working in the sewing workshop and the birth of Binh's Baby (Binh being one of Tim's "adopted" children).

As for the rest of my stay, it went by quietly, we get used to things, the routine settles and the amazement becomes dull... We appreciate to have time... I followed a few lessons for the mastering of Photo-Shop with Mrs. Chi, teacher in computer training (it is essential to master it in Vietnam where the photo touching up is an art...).  Apart from that, I shared discussions with the residents in the evening, having a "café da" (iced coffee). Nobody complained even though their bodies, their souls and their minds can be deeply bruised...

To conclude, I would like to strongly thank Tim, all the actors of "Maison Chance" for welcoming me and all the residents for giving me so much...

I am a man from North, known for not being very expressive but believe me, I very often think about you all...

Marc.