When Jacci Garside was 19, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. After battling ill health for 10 years, she was planning a future as a yoga teacher, when a holiday in Vietnam changed her life Whilst visiting the town of Hoi An in central Vietnam, Jacci and her friend, Jackie, were asked to visit the children at the local orphanage. What she saw there, she says, that made her life shoot open. Amongst the happy and healthy children, were some who were disabled and desperately in need of someone to help them walk. Jacci cancelled the rest of her trip and stayed at the orphanage for three weeks. She got the sense that this was, in a way, the end of a journey for her. Her own ill health gave her respect for the children's bravery and determination to walk. One child Jacci cannot forget would throw himself off his bed, pull himself up on his legs so that Jacci could hold him under the arms and help him walk.
Jacci is positive about her future now. A series of operations and scans has left her with stamina and concentration problems. But the children are her inspiration and she is determined to stay well for them. She says,"If I really want to do this, I need to get past this damage and this disability".
The kindness of one child in particular has been an inspiration to her. When Jacci took sweets or biscuits to the orphanage, Kianh would refuse one for himself. Instead, he would point to a child who he thought deserved one more. Jacci has now set up a trust fund, called The Kianh Foundation, to raise money for the orphanage. She intends to provide a full-time trained Vietnamese nurse to help look after the children.
Further information on The Kianh Foundation
