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The Heart and Soul of Hue
By Linh TonNu Marie Curie Class 75” Spring 2008
Translated by Khiem Ngo Marie Curie Class 75”
I get to return to Hue! As an expat longing for her beloved homeland, the supposedly short flight from Ha Noi to Hue seemed just as long as the trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Saigon.
Phu Bai airport welcomed us home with a hot and tranquil summer afternoon. The road from the airport to the hotel was this time completely dry, lined with green and lush vegetation and trees on both sides, a complete contrast to last year’s gloomy and devastated inundated landscape. Like the feelings of anxiety and nervousness just before reuniting with an old friend, I proudly showed my family the directions to BLOOM restaurant.
On my last trip to BLOOM, the floor was completely covered with flood water. BLOOM today has made a complete turn around and couldn’t look better under the bright sunlight of summer. I could not recognize the surrounding streets which I had passed by boat to and from the restaurant for many times from last year .
I felt a tug at my heart as I met the children coming and going into the restaurant. I was also a bit daunted as I wondered whether the road we embarked for these children would be as promising as we had envisioned. There was yet so much to do and many challenges to be met. I hoped the children would hang in there with us and stay the course.
I also hoped that I, and along with other ACWP volunteers, would be able to return to this city more often to provide support, to continue to bridge the lifeline across both shores of the Pacific Ocean, and finally to realize our personal dreams that one day these disadvantaged children would become productive, self-sufficient, and upstanding adults in society.
The cool breeze of Hue finally arrived late in the afternoon; Tran enthusiastically guided us through the Forbidden City with her familiar Hue’s accented spoken words and promised to take us to Quang Thai School tomorrow. The summer of Hue can be brutally hotter with the seasonal West wind. We had to leave early in the morning to avoid the peak summer heat during the day.
On the way, our car drove through long, narrow, winding and dirt roads. We could see modest country houses behind groves of green trees on both sides of the road. The peaceful landscape reminded me of a poem by the famous late Han Mac Tu:
“VÆ°á»n ai mÆ°á»›t quá xanh nhÆ° ngá»c” - Whose lush green garden as jade is it?
“Lá trúc che ngang mặt chữ Ä‘iá»n” - Full of bamboo leaves hiding your beautiful face.
An hour had passed and we finally arrived. During the trip, I was a nervous-Nellie bouncing back and forth with every road bumps and holes with anticipation to our destination. My anxiety was eased however by much laughter and bantering in the car and especially by Tran’s insightful and heartfelt customary remarks about life.
As we discussed deeper, I was however very alarmed about Tran’s casual account of how she managed ACWP’s projects by going into remote countryside, without regards to her own personal safety. The village of Quang Thai is at least 4 hours ride on a motorcycle from Hue which Tran rode daily, without apprehension, to keep watchful eyes on the construction of the school’s library when adequate funding from Lycee Marie Curie’s alumni was received.
Under the harsh burning sunlight (I had earlier thought that dying would be a better choice than living in these conditions), my eyes welled up upon seeing the library being constructed from the ground up.
The fresh layer of cement could still be seen on the wall of the classroom and the water filter reservoir was being built right beside it. My face was drenched; I wasn’t sure if from the sweat or the tears. Perhaps both. I thought about the long distance compassion and love from all my friends who have rallied and put all their effort behind a noble cause, to provide financial support to a place that without ACWP, nobody would ever have heard of.
This place, I pray, would be a start for the children to dare dream of big dreams. This place is where they can learn freely with joy for the new books. This place is where they could, even for a brief instant, forget about their misfortunes and unhappiness which weighed heavily on their lives.
As I stepped outside of the classroom, I found the dilapidated rest rooms desperately in need of repair. I promised Tran I would double my effort to raise more fund to make Quang Thai School even a better place.
As I stood under the clear blue sky, in the middle of the open field, it all dawned on me: the human miseries in this place, the mission of ACWP, the generosity and kindness of my friends, the countless volunteers and sponsors in all corners of the world, they are all parts of a beautiful mosaic of colors, but it would require a clear vision and lots of love to put them together and to create a master piece of a painting.
I’ve always loved and remembered this quote from a Trinh Cong Son’s song: “to truly live, one must have a heart and soul”. I’ve seen that “heart and soul” in many people but I was still not satisfied until one bright morning when I finally and truly discovered that “heart and soul,” just as I imagined.
The daughter of Hue, growing up in this unforgiving land and likely suffering from many natural disasters in her life (between the seasonal devastating floods and scorching heat), has acquired many qualities: she is normally reserved, profound and sharp witted, very patient, thrifty, calculating, as well as enigmatic, courageous, sentimental, warm, and passionate. This lady is especially soft hearted yet remains firm at the same time, full of love for beautiful poetry and literature, can be perfectly summed up in this saying: “seeing her is to never leave her sight”.
Representing Hue’s daughter and borrowing from Trinh Cong Son’s song “Heart and Soul”, I found it all in Tran, the ideal Heart and Soul of Hue.
Gently riding on the river Perfume amidst the whirring sounds of the motor boat in the background, I listened attentively to Tran and Chuong’s debate about the fate of a typical Vietnamese woman in her homeland and the fortune of her countryman in the U.S. Indeed, I felt so fortunate and appreciative of all the blessings in my life.
As I experience life’s constant tumultuous ups and downs, all the chance and destined encounters, I deeply appreciate it all, ACWP, my dear friends, and my loving family. They, and others who have paved the way before me, all have helped in many ways in allowing me to walk the path I’ve chosen, to share my great fortune, and to give me the right direction in my life.
For what I’m doing with ACWP, I feel like a grain of salt dropped in the ocean water. But if adding that grain of salt can make a difference to one child’s life and is completely within my power to do so, I would still do so. It has brought me great happiness. I hope to ever perpetuate and cherish that happiness.
Äây Thôn VÄ© Dạ
by Hàn Mặc Tá» Sao anh không vá» chÆ¡i thôn VÄ©?
Nhìn nắng hàng cau, nắng má»›i lên,
VÆ°á»n ai mÆ°á»›t quá xanh nhÆ° ngá»c
Lá trúc che ngang mặt chữ Ä‘iá»n. Gió theo lối gió, mây Ä‘Æ°á»ng mây
Dòng nÆ°á»›c buồn thiu, hoa bắp lay...
Thuyá»n ai Ä‘áºu bến Sông Trăng Ä‘ó,
Có chở trăng vá» kịp tối nay? MÆ¡ khách Ä‘Æ°á»ng xa, khách Ä‘Æ°á»ng xa,
Áo em trắng quá nháºn không ra...
Ở Ä‘ây sÆ°Æ¡ng khói má» nhân ảnh,
Ai biết tình ai có Ä‘áºm đả ACWP Post-Tet Event Report with Linh Ton Nu January 18, 2009
"Thank you" is not enough to describe the heart, the effort, the desire to help the kids which we all put in to make this happen. I've never seen so many ACWP volunteers in one place, working alongside each other in 1/2 night, 1, 2 full days, AWESOME Teamwork!
Thank you Kathy for carrying the toughest aspect of this festival. Whenever I start to worry how this event turn out, 2 names come up and I know we're on track to a successful one: Kathy and David.
Together with some help (chi Tami, chi Mai, Mimi Tran and others that I'm sorry if I missed), they've put in many hours to sort, pack, label, and price out the huge ACWP inventory in the warehouse (For me, that's the scariest job of all).
David with his photographic memory has summarized the whole project in a "to do list" and composed the invitation that no doubt has brought traffic to our booth. Tram as usual with her powerful network and charm, has helped cut our costs down to almost nothing by supplying almost the whole decor for the booth (from the balloons, back drop to the cay mai. Oh yeah, we have the unique & most beautiful cay mai there. The hoa you see on each branch is the work of all the volunteers who cut the stems, artfully wrapped each one around the branch with the read envelopes to`n ten. Of course, these cay mai stand out even more thanks to the gigantic vases from chi Hoa).
This ACWP cay mai is so attractive that I have to protect it for exclusive use only at our photo booth. More than once, I had to halt people from taking pictures in front of it, unless they pay for their pictures or pay to take a picture at our ACWP booth.
Imagine my mouth working to get more than the minimum $6.00 yet my eyes roaming for new prospects. Therefore, my eyes darted from the digital cameras pointing @ our tree to some people coming to use it, I’d run out and .... smiled sweetly asking for $$$ donation of course. Some gave in to reminder for the ACWP cause, and some walked away without a picture with cay Hoa Mai. I won't yield:)) since our ACWP kids must get something. We ain't working for free, don't you agree?
Truong the artist comes up with the photo booth idea since last year, has spent the 2 days editing, printing the photos, smiling broadly when asked about his calendar school and smile even more when someone donates/ li xi for his calendar. The photo booth also got some help from Mimi, Anh (who also brought food for us and stayed to help until the end of the day), and Laura in producing the finished product.
And nothing comes from the photo booth had Will not been there, he is the master at work, seeing him snapping the buttons make me work so hard to match his pace! Each picture he gave is a perfect picture since he takes more than 5 shots every time to get just 1, what a professional you are Will.
Chi Tam, the silent hero who worked with Kathy on the Arts & Crafts shop, brought her husband out to help, co^.t balloons is one, fed us all with her chicken pie (banh chi ma ngon ac liet!), Tim treo long den and asking his fiancee to bring us food. Diane with her charming smile got her hands dirty with all the flowers.
Laura, our pretty CFO, we thank you for always keeping us in line by reminding about our budget (and allowing us to rent UHaul for a day), has volunteered her 2 boys in the evening, and spending 2 full days @ the place to help out anywhere that's needed, whether in her ao dai tha thuot is as effective as in her youthful jeans & shirt. Not only did her 2 boys were volunteered by Laura, she also volunteered her friend (chi Chau & her daughter) for the Face Painting booth all day Saturday. I bowed when I saw her packing, carrying all the heavy stuff out to the van for anh Binh & Truong's truck. Everyone has come to lend a hand, to support the cause, to cheer for each other, chi Nghia, Tracy...
Many talents newly discovered; Anh D2 without Ly & Maddie seems lost (haha! I can't help rub you mot chut anh D2), yet he pumped, tied balloons faster than a pro. Chuong the newcomer was put to work extensively, from going to the meetings, to getting the bao cat, to co^.t hoa, to hold balloons, to .. whatever that was needed. Most painful for him must have been hearing that familiar voice*, the voice which he thought that he can escape by joining ACWP :))
Through it all, anh B's & chi Mai's presence is like a rock for us to lean on, thank you for the organization Anh Chi. I can't end without anh Duc Quach's flowers, as beautiful, as elegant, as artistic as ever. His corner is the main draw for the many "ta` ao' tha thuot", the speaking flowers competing with the non-speaking flowers....
Did I forget anyone? If I do, please forgive me.... I must admit, enthusiasm can't overcome biological age!
I'm so lucky to be around you all, I'm so grateful to work with each other... most of all, I'm grateful to be able to do something not just for myself, but to have a chance to give back to others who don't have what we have. Thank you all.... Linh TonNu
Lycee Marie Curie Class of 75'
San Jose, CA USA
*Editorial Note: Anh Chuong is Chi Linh Ton Nu’s Spouse/Partner
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"Mang há» Huế, noí tiếng Huế, ăn cÆ¡m Huế, lấy chồng Huế, nhÆ°ng tôi chẳng bao giá» muốn vá» Huế. Vì ngÆ°á»i Huế gàn, ngang, Æ°a bắt bẻ và hay cải. Cho đến năm kia, có dịp vá» Huế, tôi bá»—ng khám phá má»™t khung trá»i thÆ¡ má»™ng; từ những con Ä‘Æ°á»ng đất nghèo nàn, lăng tẩm củ ká»·, những cÆ¡n mÆ°a dầm dá», và những ngÆ°á»i dân Huế tôi gặp qua, tất cả Ä‘á»u có má»™t cái gì rất Huế, rất tình. Phaỉ vá» Huế má»›i thấm được caí tình tứ, cái lãng mạn cuả má»™t thành phố đầy thÆ¡. Từ Ä‘ó tôi thÆ°Æ¡ng Huế, và mong có dịp trở lại, không chỉ để du lịch, ngoạn cảnh. Tôi muốn làm má»™t Ä‘iá»u gì ích lợi, thiết thá»±c cho ngÆ°á»i dân Huế, cho thành phố Huế, nhÆ° má»™ lá»i xin lá»—i Ä‘ã không nhìn Huế trong những năm tháng qua. Và cÆ¡ há»™i Ä‘ã đến…