During the October school holidays I, along with 19 other students and 7 staff members from Sacred Heart College, travelled to Vietnam on a pilgrimage experience. After being selected 12 months ago, we as a team raised money through various ways by offering voluntary services. The funds raised were taken over with us and were distributed amongst the places we visited. Some of the places we visited were – an orphanage with children affected by Agent Orange, several blind schools, regional and poor communities and a number of convents which are home to the Sisters whom are members of the order that established our school.
Following Subiaco Football Club’s tradition of giving back to the community, and after discussions with Luke Sanders and Russell Smith, it was decided that I would take some footies and other equipment with us on our journey. The opportunity arose to use the footies when we visited a regional area of Vietnam called ‘Long Dien,’ about four hours from Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). The place we stayed was a boarding facility for poor and underprivileged children from the ages of 4 through to 20; it was run by a group of Sisters from the Our Lady of the Missions order. We arrived there at midday; the children greeted us like we were celebrities. After settling in it was time to pump up the footies and reveal this odd shaped ball to these kids. At first they threw the ball, but after some teaching, improvements were made and handballs and kicks were achieved. As the older children arrived home from school the numbers grew and grew and slowly we had about 40 children outside with us on the red, rocky dirt kicking the footies. We celebrated mass together that night, and had a small concert. The next day we were out and about visiting isolated communities via motorbikes and after lunch it was time to say goodbye. The children were very upset to see us go; they were only able to see their family twice a year maximum, so to them we were like family so it was with their teary eyes that they waved us goodbye. We left a number of footballs with them and it will be interesting to see the progress in their skills when next year’s group visit. I’m sure one day Vietnam will have an Allistair Pickett or Ben Keevers to offer the WAFL competition.
On behalf of the Sacred Heart College mission group to Vietnam and the children of ‘Long Dien’ we wish to thank the Subiaco Football Club for their generous donation of footballs and equipment. I know having quality sporting equipment will enable these kids to experience a lot of fun and it was greatly appreciated. Thank You
Simon Moore
Subiaco 16’s Development Squad
