LOOKING BACK : The People...
Battling bureaucrats and hopelessness in Ho Chi Minh City, Christina Noble continues her work with abandoned Vietnamese street children, offering medical care, schooling and love. But she has grown pessimistic since her fund-raising visit to the United States earlier this year.
Her pioneering work at the relief center she founded has run into financial problems, according to Glenn Meisenheimer, who heads the nonprofit Christina Noble Foundation of America. In recent months, he says, Noble has been forced to lay off workers at the facility.
It’s been a constant struggle for the Irish nurse, but it hasn’t been all bad news: Noble signed a book contract this year, and she raised more than $12,000 since her story appeared in The Times (View, May 28).
“When you encounter a kid in trouble, you can stay and help or you can walk away,” she said during her U.S. visit. “It doesn’t matter what rationalizations you make or what excuses you offer. In the end, the only thing that matters is what you do.”
Contributions for the Childrens’ Medical and Social Enterprise Center can be sent to the Christina Noble Foundation of America, P.O. Box 1289, Alameda, Calif. 94501.
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