There lives a town, light as a dream ­- Robert Rozhdestvensky

One sunny summer day full of sunshine in July, 2012, when I was walking alone with my camera in the neighborhood of Huyen Khong Pagoda, one of the tourist sites in Hue city, expecting to capture something interesting; I saw four little girls playing in the shade of a Sala tree in full bloom.

They were picking up the lightly fragrant flower falling down arranged them in a circle under the tree. I approached them and said hi. Realizing that I was from the different part of the country due to my accent, they were curious to start the conversations, asking questions about me and telling me that they were living nearby and were on their summer vacations and that I came here to ask for the lucky bracelets from the abbot. They asked me to join their games; I stood in the flower circle, and they all threw sala flower petals they had collected all over me. No words can tell my feeling then. We said goodbye, but from the deep inside of me, I know that we would not.

Getting back to Hanoi, I sometimes recalled that day. There was something, something that was calling me back. It might be the naïve laughter of those little girls or, or might be their innocent eyes that keep lingering on. But no matter what it might be, here I am with Hue Help hoping to do something meaningful for the children like those I met.

I told myself I would return to the site to see if by chance life can bring us together again.

Anh Nguyen

Hue Help Representative in Vietnam