Read: The poor children being taught by Buddhists

It continues to be a dreadful time in much of South East Asia as people count the cost of the storms that have ripped through the region. As I write, the death toll, arising from Tropical Storm Ketsana, in Laos is reportedly 24: in the Philippines it is 293, in Vietnam at least 107 have died, and in Cambodia the storm has claimed 17 lives.

The biggest catastrophe has been in Sumatra, Indonesia, where earthquakes have claimed the lives of over 1000 with thousands more believed missing.

I have allowed myself to feel overwhelmed by such numbers and as a result have been gripped by inertia. From the inertia has come frustration.

Fortunately a friend reminded me of a story about a starfish. For those unfamiliar with the story, it goes like this:

A Buddhist monk was on the beach with his apprentice the day after a fierce storm. Thousands of starfish had been washed up and stranded on the shore. Stooping down, the monk carefully lifted a single creature and returned it to the sea. His young apprentice wondered aloud why his master bothered to do this when it made little difference to the mass of helpless creatures. As they walked along, the monk picked up another single starfish and replied, “It makes a difference to just this one.”

I have copied this version, aptly, from The Starfish Project in Cambodia.

It is of course relatively easy to donate to one of the disaster relief funds like UNICEF’s Asia-Pacific Disasters Children’s Appeal and thereby help at least one ‘starfish’ in the short term but I am also concerned for the future. Many survivors will have lost everything: what will be their longterm prospects? As ever, such disasters seem to affect the poor the most. Houses and crops destroyed. Fishing boats lost.

I am now looking for that one starfish that I can help over the longterm and given my travel and tourism background I believe it will need to be a project in that sector. That does not mean I am going to pass by all the other starfish until I find the ‘right’ one: I will help where I can which is why I want to tell you about the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Vietnam.

Since 2002, the Foundation has been helping ‘street kids’ into education, training and apprenticeships. A recent focus has been on children from central Vietnam who had been trafficked to Ho Chi Minh City to work on the streets or in factories. Today Blue Dragon runs a children’s home in Hoi An, Central Vietnam, providing a safe and healthy environment for these vulnerable young people.

According to a post on the foundation’s blog the recent flash floods in Central Vietnam have caused damage to the Home; although the full extent is not yet known. The crucial part of this particular story though is that, with the devastation caused to local economies, families might be more inclined to send their children off to the garment factories. A story that could easily be re-told throughout the region. I want to help prevent that happening.

For every one person already taking action I am sure there are many more who, like me, are transfixed by the scale of the problem. If we can all find a starfish to help, together, we can make a difference.

Do you know any small charities working in the region and dealing with the aftermath of these tragedies?

Images: IFRC

Already we know that the Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa will be opening in 2011 and, according to a report in the Straits Times, with more investors now piling in China Beach is set to “become a tourism hotspot to rival Bali or Phuket.”

Read Better Than Bali

This year is the Caravelle’s 50^th Anniversary and Peter Arnett, the award-winning journalist, is returning to the hotel to join in the celebrations 6 – 10 May 2009.

I am sure when he was filing his reports on the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1975 neither he nor anyone could have imagined the transformation of the country over the ensuing 30 years.

Today Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, is a vibrant, bustling commercial centre where the Caravelle sits, figuratively, alongside international brand names like Marriott (Renaissance Riverside), Starwood (Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers) and Accor Hotels (Sofitel Plaza Saigon).

Halong Bay

Vietnam has a growing tourist infrastructure with good quality hotels in all the key tourist destinations. Accor Hotels for example has properties in: Hanoi, Dalat, Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc Island, Hue, Nha Trang and Halong bay. With more coming.

Another big brand name with a foot in the Vietnam tourism door is Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. In addition to the Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Min City, by 2010, there will be the Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa. Set on the beach, close to Marble Mountain the hotel will have 258 guestrooms, 148 condominiums and 30 two-storey villas.

The hotel scene though is not just about the brand names and there is a host of good quality, independent hotels throughout the country. TripAdvisor is of course a good place to start looking for them.

Vietnam has a long way to go before it reaches mainstream tourism like Thailand and Malaysia but it is both readily accessible (albeit there are no direct flights from the UK) with good domestic flight schedules and of course comfortable accommodation. Road transport is adequate between the main centres while rail travel is slow and, in my opinion aside from short journeys, best avoided (unless you are back packing with plenty of time and then it’s fine).

You will require a visa for entry into Vietnam which is usually obtained in advance. If you are travelling as part of a pre-arranged tour then it is possible you can arrange for a Visa On Arrival: have a word with the organiser.

Vietnam then has come a long way in the last 50 years, and mostly in the last 10 or so: there is still plenty of scope for some, hopefully, good quality developments to join those that are already there. Vietnam is definitely worth one visit, if not more.