Do you remember Yer Vue? We met her for the first time in February 2011. At the time, she could only crawl. She was considered bad luck by the villagers, thus other children considered her bad luck and avoided her. The parents were helpless. They didn’t know what to do, so did nothing. They thought that Yer Vue would never walk.

We appealed to our Facebook friends for help. YOU, our Facebook friends, did not let us down. Your generosity provided Yer Vue’s Dad, Mr Vanou with funds to cover his weekly one hour trip to the provincial COPE Center and rehabilitation center from their home Thachok Village. The COPE Center provided leg braces and custom walkers/ the rehabilitation center provided physical therapy as well as training for the Dad and Mom. Your donations covered transportation, purchased meals, rehabilitation fees and accommodations.

Nineteen months later, Yer Vue walks around her home. She no longer slithers or crawls to her doorway. She walks. Her posture is excellent. She is confident. She practices her walking everyday, multiple times a day. She walks part way to school with help from her older brother the rest of the way.

YOU all helped us perform a miracle. Thank you. Ua Tsaug (Thank you in Hmong).

We visited her and her family this past week (November 25th) late afternoon. She walked to the door as we approached the house. Her Dad was beaming. He was so happy to see us. Immediately, he called to his wife to prepare dinner for us. He brought out the beer and Lao Lao (Lao whiskey). We celebrated her walking.

We spoke about her progress. He was very grateful. His rice and peanut harvest was very good this year. We ate as we talked. We had home-grown pumpkin, home-grown pork, home-grown rice, home-grown rice whiskey.

Hmong New Year’s is a couple of weeks away. We wished each other Happy New Year.

NYOB ZOO XYOO TSHIAB (Happy New Year in Hmong)