I was born in Vietnam during a time of war. Most of my life in Vietnam, I lived in an orphanage near Saigon. I contracted polio from an early age.  As a child I could remember walking on my hands. Even back then, I remember that I had no mother or father. My childhood memories were mixed with fun times, but mostly unpleasant hidden thoughts.

In 1975, South Vietnam fell. At that point my life changed rapidly. I could still remember many of us in the orphanage, were shifted out onto planes and flown out to Australia. I was about eight years old then.

A few months later I was adopted to my new Australian parents in Adelaide.  They already had three children of their own, an older brother and sister and a younger brother. At that time, I was so determine to give it my best to make it in Australia. I was going to learn English, fit into my new family, and fit into this new country.

My first few years in Australia was probably the happiest time of my life.  I had the chance to live like any other child. I could - with crutches. I went to school, watched TV. Things that most children take for granted.  However, life in Australia is not the same as living in paradise. I have also experience grief and struggles.

After two years in Australia, my youngest brother, who was my best friend, died from an asthma attack. Life wasn't the same to me after that. The years seems to flash by so quickly. Soon I was a teenager going to high school.

It was at this time that all the personal problems of a life, without any parents, for the first 8 years of my life, living with a disability, being an Asian in an Anglo-Saxon country, seems to emerge.  My adopted parents realized that I had problems which they did not fully understood. My schooling declined. My parents tried hard to hold on to me, but I was determined to move away from them. I was disillusioned with the Christianity that they believed in. It could not help me, what is the good of it?  If God really cared for me, why didn't He heal me and make my life all better? There were no answers: I fought with my adopted parents and ran away from home.

I hung around bad friends and lived a life of drugs and alcohol. Around 21 years of age I was ready to end it all, that was when I called out to God for help. He did a dramatic conversion in my life and I was determined to give my life to serve Him. I returned to Vietnam in 1998 and had to relearn the Vietnamese language.

I do a lot of humanitarian work in Vietnam since then. Raising money for wheelchairs and crutches to help the disable. Visiting orphanages around Saigon bringing clothing, food and medications. And help disadvantage families send their children to school. I am currently thinking about starting up an orphanage of my own in Vietnam but it is still in the planning stage.

I actually found the orphanage that I was brought up in and tried to find my biological parents. I had no official papers when I came to Australia so I was after anything I could get. They actually had their names and their area where they lived 30 years ago. But I haven't manage to find them yet.

I am wondering if ICASN could do something for me. When I went back to my old orphanage for the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) this year I met up with another orphan guy from that same orphanage. We talked about our experiences and thought about having a reunion for those of us who came from that particular orphanage. Can you pass this information around to all your contacts for me just in case some of them are from the same orphanage and they are interested in coming.

These are the particular details of the orphanage:

Name: Sancta Maria Orphanage (Catholic)

Address: 377/96 Le Quang Dinh Street, Go Vap District(20 minutes from Saigon)

Person in charge of orphanage back then: Andrea

Anyone interested in finding out more please contact me: Hoa Stone