Helping hand

My Brother in Common-Law Pierre sent me an e-mail that said: "When I was in Eastern Europe... a couple of years ago, the thing that I found the most remarkable was the infinite variety and number of people everywhere, busy doing their things... each one the center of their own universe. Can you believe there are so many feelings being felt, so many tastes tasted, so many marks of love shared, so many laughs and tears happening at the same time in so many different places?"

Here in Vietnam I had a very similar feeling. I had not known Mai Anh's family except in dealing with them as the teacher of their daughter who was one of my top students. He is a hard working fellow at a home building company in Victoria and his wife is a stay at home mom raising their three children, pretty common. Here in Vietnam he is one of ten brothers and sisters, and his wife is also one of ten brothers and sisters. Their parents and many of their siblings families run local businesses and are highly respected members of the town.

In Canada Andy is just a guy trying to get through the day like the rest of us... Here in Vietnam he is highly respected and honored for his courage to leave his home town to discover a new way of life across the globe. While in the village Aja and I paid for nothing and were continuously treated to the generous hospitality of Any and his family. It was a heart warming and heart moving experience. I will never look at a lowly hard working immigrant in the same way again and suggest we all extend, not just our hand, but also our friendship and understanding to strangers who risk everything to become members of our communities. I had to go half way across the world to meet someone who lives in the same town as me.