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Hope and pray you're doing well in this difficult time. I and my family are doing well, just getting like most a bit stir crazy. Today's journal is written by the extraordinary leader of GIBTK, Tam! She is what keeps us going in so many ways! There some very good news and some not so good. Tam is walking through one of her most difficult time. Say a prayer for her and her family if you would. I'll let her tell you about it all.
I started writing this journal on my first day going back to work since I left my office on Mar 26th. Past month was a tough time with all kinds of emotional and physical challenges to me, my dad and my entire family. The day people started being home to follow the social isolation because of Covid19 outbreak was the day that I started a challenging journey with my dad to fight against his fatal disease. It was the day that I found out about his lung problem. It has been so scary and so hard for me.
 Tears is on my eyes when I write this out. Thanks God that we got the treatment plan last week. My father just finished his first treatment and left hospital, so I can come back to work. I am deeply grateful to those who have walked with me in the past month and in coming months. I also want to thank for all their prayers for me, my dad and my family. Without them, I don't think I can be able to be ok. And here I am at my office again today to keep doing the work that I am called to do. Thank you!!!
Honestly, I did not know what to expect when I got back to work but I was amazingly impressed by my incredible team. They have done greatly without me being the head. Covid19 outbreak has affected our country in several ways, hotels and restaurants have been closed. Schools were closed and our Legacies were closed due to social distancing and isolation. Our team had to work from home for three weeks. Although working from home, our team still got things going and kept trying new ways to reach students and support them. Morning meetings, weekly entire-team discussion, weekly small-department discussion... were done online as scheduled. They still show our outstanding core value - learning culture. When they came back to work as normal on April 23rd, everything has been where they should be. Today, I thanked the whole team in a short meeting for their good work. I am happy to serve in this same great team.
Kids start going back to public school this week. Our Legacies are open again. Legacy 2 is full again with kids who come for tutoring classes, life skill classes, classes for pregnant moms... And Legacy 1 is almost full again too. Legacy 3 is on its way. The paperwork for Legacy 3 was submitted to Quang Nam People's Committee already. Hopefully, we will get the approval soon to have it started in coming weeks. When we get the approval, we will start fixing the building and then start other work to have classes started by the new school year. Also, we are now recruiting teachers for this new Legacy. It is so excited to think of Legacy 3 with a lot of kids there and to see GIBTK's team growing bigger (We have 33 people in team now).
We are working with hospitals to do outreaches to look for heart patients as soon as the government entirely releases the social isolation. Now, we are not allowed to gather more than 20 people at one place, but it is good to see things start getting back to normal slowly. In Viet Nam, there has been 18 days that no new Covid29 contracted cases found in the community. Yay! We want to save more lives!!! Good news is that we got the license to do outreaches to find heart patients and orthopedic patients in Kon Tum, plus the license to do wheelchairs, bike and water filters there given to us too. We are ready!!!
Many of you know that GIBTK is known for relationship. This is something that our team have worked hard on. Thanks to this I got a touch story to share today. On May 3rd, I got a phone call from a strange number and I thought it was from someone who tried to sell me something. Surprisingly, it was a phone call from a lady that GIBTK helped build a compassion house and saved her life by sending her to hospital way many years ago.
 Everything were done before my time with GIBTK, but thanks to the support from local partner, I found her again in Oct 2019. She had tears in her eyes when I called her in Oct, 2019. On May 3rd, she called and checked to see how GIBTK, Robert and his family were doing. She was so happy to hear that we are doing good and we are safe from Coronavirus. She sent her regards to Robert and his family. At the end of our conversation, she told me she would be forever grateful for GIBTK's help to her and her family. This phone call has urged me to have deeper connection with those we have helped through the follow-ups we are doing. It is worth spending time making phone calls to check on people.
I am sure you all remember Tuyet - the heart patient GIBTK brought to the fundraiser in Nov 2018. She is a second-year student at Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy. She had her pace maker replaced again in Apr 2020 (It has to be replaced every 10 years because it runs out of battery). Tu - our head of medical department visited her while she was in the hospital and sent my regards to her. When Tuyet partly recovered from her surgery, she texted me. We chatted for half an hour. Suddenly, she said 10 years from now my colleagues would do my next surgery. I replied back by saying it will happen if you become a cardio-vascular surgeon. She opened up more with me. She shared that she had become more energized to be a cardio-vascular surgeon when being in the operation unit waiting for her surgery to be done. She said: "I studied everything they did so that I can do in the future. I did not feel like I had a surgery. I felt like I experienced something for my future career. I know that it is a long way from now but my passion of being a cardio-vascular surgeon is stronger than ever.
It is my mission now. When I passed Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, everyone said that it was not for me because I don't have good health. But now, I don't regret about my decision of studying here. I am sure I am heading to the right direction." I had tears in my eyes by just thinking of a heart patient funded by GIBTK who will become a cardio-vascular surgeon and will do heart surgeries on others. This is amazing! Ending the conversation, I encouraged her to pursue her dream and never give up.
Again, being in connection with those people gives me more energy to keep doing what I am called to do. Tuyet's mission is to become a cardio-vascular surgeon and my mission is to transform more lives.
Sincerely with Love;
Tam T Tong
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