It Snowed!
We awoke to snow in the mountains this morning! According to the women in the village of Ta Phin, beautifully nestled in the mountains, this is only the second time in 11 years that it has snowed.
Ta Phin is situated approximately at the 7000 foot level, so the temperatures were abnormally cold today. Most of the Hmong children we saw today wore rubber boots, but a few were in plastic sandals and bare feet.
Most of them live on the slopes of the mountains, leaving the fertile valleys for farming rice in beautifully terraced terraforms throughout. The panorama was stunning with snow on the mountains and the glint of rice terraces catching the light.
Today we serve 159 patients, ranging in age for 6 to 12 years old. A good many of the younger ones had never brushed their teeth. Most of the families use fires within the small homes, most built about of wood and insulated with dirt, concrete, brick, and whatever was available.
The Hmong people are a beautiful-looking people. They are also very hard-working. One 10-year old's responsibility is to feed the pigs, take out the trash, cut fire wood, cook, and sweep the floor -- all before school. Some of the kids walk 2-6 kilometers to attend school -- up mountain slopes!
The women were wearing red scarves and red head-dresses with navy blue, hand-stiched embroidery with their tribal colors. Evidently, roles are changing even among the Hmong as the younger men help with the cooking and house chores. Everyone works. Everyone pitches in together.
Tonight we take the train overnight back to Hanoi where tomorrow we will visit the Soc Son leper colony.
- Pastor Jeff
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