I went back to Vietnam in 1999 to heal emotional wounds from the war. Ever since 1966, the sad plight of the children of Vietnam has always been an ache in my heart.
During the war, guys in my unit were always volunteering to help fix up this orphanage in Phu Xuan Village which is about 35 miles west of Ho Chi Minh City (then called Saigon). So in 1999 I decided to re-visit this village and bring them some much needed supplies and lots of rice, and I wanted to do the same for one orphanage in the North of Vietnam. A good Vietnamese friend of mine arranged the visits. To this day I do not know how or why he selected the SOS Children's Village in Hanoi.
So in early November 1999 I arrived at the Hanoi Village, met with the former Village Director, Madame Nguyen Thi Thanh, who asked me to sponsor one of the children. When I returned to the USA I contacted your Washington D.C. office with my request to sponsor a child in that particular village...and the rest, as the say, is history.
My wife, Mary Lou, and I enjoy the on-going correspondence and the growing relationship that we share with our "daughter," who is now 14 years of age. On my recent trip I carried a gift and a message from my wife to our sponsored daughter. My wife and I have invited her to come and attend college here in the United States after she completes high school. We have come to love this child very much, and if God continues to give us the strength and resources we hope to continue to try to make a small but positive difference in the lives of these wonderful children.
The work that your organization does is honorable and noble, and Mary Lou and I are so very pleased to be but a small part of it.
Thank you all for giving us this opportunity to do God's work here and now.
-Joe & Mary Lou Skalamera, sponsors since 1999
Read more: Joe Skalamera Shares His Life Experiences with SOS