李黃嬋英
越南政府早有預謀，在各省農村興建了不少類似的簡陋草寮屋。
當我們一家被迫拋屋棄貨被驅逐到龍安省（Long An）的一個小鎮墟（Thu Thua）之後；我們的戶口被取消，孩子同時也被取消在城市內上學的資格。四哥與我、弟妹都要輟學。我們暫住在二舅父家，但父母親必須下鄉，偶然間我們也隨著父母親，要乘搭三個多小時破舊擁擠的公巴，再乘半個多小時的木艇才到達那新發展「經濟區」，我們幾個小孩子會在那裏住幾天。
原來寮屋的結構是不用水泥，是用竹竿和樹葉編成的牆壁。房子正門是靠鐵絲線上鎖，屋內沒有一塊磚頭、一根木柱或一根釘子。房子的四角是用大竹筒插入泥地靠攏固定。整座房子是用麻繩或禾稈纖維繩綁住。有一個晚上，因為雷陣雨打雷睡不著，暴風雨打得整個屋子搖搖晃晃。我們真害怕天亮時連房頂都不見了。屋內所有家具桌凳椅床的四腳，漸漸下沉埋沒在泥地裡，因室內的「泥」地是柔軟不結實的。屋內沒有電燈，更沒有自來水飲用。我們首次體驗到古代農民原始清貧的生活。
每家在河岸邊分配兩個可承載約200公升的粗石水缸。每星期一次有村民在河邊乘木艇賣水，加滿石水缸，之後再用人力抬著水桶步行300-500公尺才到家。為了節省用量每次洗澡只可用3-5公升水量。這就是當年政府所謂的開拓「新經濟區」，自力更生，其實是倒退回30年代貧困窘迫的光景。
黃泥污水
草寮屋附近一望無際，全是沼澤地，遍滿了荊棘小樹和低窪水塘。早晨霧氣高漲充滿寒濕；傍晚在晚霞褪去後就一片漆黑沒有人影，只見遠近一片朦朦朧朧的霧氣籠罩著。父親說最可怕的就是常見附近的水氹有小水蛇。他們先把地裏挖出來的爛泥疊在一起，約有二公尺高。爛泥的水份乾涸後就作蓋房子的地基，兩旁的路徑寬約半公尺也是一樣的操作。房子四圍因挖空了泥土就形成了積水的大凹池，地底下全是黃泥濁水。我們孩子不懂事，還當成游泳池開心玩耍。曾經雨過後，我在泥徑上踏單車，因泥濕軟滑不平失控，連人帶車直衝入沼澤的污水坑中。幸好有四哥把我拉上來。但奇怪的是，我未曾見過一個年輕人或小孩在這個「新經濟區」出現過。
「礬」水質
父母親認為這地方不宜讓孩子久留，會容易生病，當地的水是有礬不可飲用，更不能種植。父親說這裡的水有「白礬」水質，不能用肥皂去清潔，它會使布料黏在一起。有一回，我在河岸邊等木艇回城之時，一不小心，我兩腳踩陷在泥濘中沒至膝蓋，自己用力也拔不出來雙腿，感恩有父親和大姐在旁幫忙才能拔出來，結果我只剩下一隻拖鞋在腳上。
兩種生命的根基
在這裡，我想起聖經中主耶穌的比喻，講到蓋房子的兩種根基，記載在馬太福音7:24-27：「凡聽見主這話就去行的，好比一個聰明人，把房子蓋在磐石上。雨淋，水沖，風吹，撞着那房子，房子總不倒塌，因為根基立在磐石上。（2）凡聽見主這話不去行的，好比一個無知的人，把房子蓋在沙土上。雨淋，水沖，風吹，撞着那房子，房子就倒塌了，並且倒塌得很大。」
這裡講到有兩種人。一種是「聰明」人，他把生命建立在磐石（主的話）上。這就是聽了主話就去行。風吹雨打都不會搖晃倒塌。另一種是「無知」人，他把生命隨便建立在（搖擺無定向）沙土或泥土上，遇上風吹雨打，承受不了，倒塌損壞也嚴重。請問你的生命要建立在什麼根基上？你的生命要努力去建立，或是你隨便地建立在沙土/泥土的根基上？兩種的結果是不一樣的。求上帝幫助你和我做一個建造穩固生命的聰明人。
作者：李黃嬋英師母出生於越南堤岸。少年信主後，移居北歐瑞典，修社工。婚後與夫婿移居美國。
李黃嬋英。〈【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家驅逐去新經濟區〉《真理報》(美東版) (2023年12月)。
https://nystm.org/nytm2312-04/
李志成傳道 / 博士、李黃嬋英師母
作者／講者
¤ 李志成傳道／博士
▪︎前美國國家氣象局 NOAA 氣象預測科研組長
▪︎前紐約短宣中心拓展部主任
¤ 李黃嬋英師母
▪︎瑞典卡羅林斯卡醫學院社工學系畢業，曾任瑞典養老院護理工作
▪︎前紐約短宣中心義務同工
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家驅逐去新經濟區
當我們一家被迫拋屋棄貨被驅逐到龍安省（Long An）的一個小鎮墟（Thu Thua）之後；我們的戶口被取消，孩子同時也被取消在城市內上學的資格。四哥與我、弟妹都要輟學。
[Storm Buster] Storm Surge
![[Storm Buster] Storm Surge](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Hurricane_Kate_2003-_Good_pic-860x500.webp "[Storm Buster] Storm Surge")
Storm surge causes inundation of large swaths of coastal land. Eleven years ago, storm surge from Hurricane Sandy havocked large damages in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ). Today, some of those destructions are still noticeable and remain unrepaired.
[Interesting Adventures] The New Economic Development District Policy in Vietnam
The Vietnamese government had planned well ahead and prepared many makeshift-hut developments such as the one we were sent among all the villages and provinces.
[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)
![[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/oppressed-Merchants-2-web-edited-800x500.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)")
Upon the confiscation of our family-cloth-business, there was an undercover policewoman stationed at our home for three weeks every day from 7:00 am till 6:00 pm. Our every move was scrutinized⋯⋯
[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast
![[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-10-30-at-11.05.07-PM.jpg "[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast")
Autumn is pleasant. It has many public holidays for the most populous countries in the northern hemisphere. In the U.S. we have Labor Day, Columbus Day and the Veterans Day. In China there are Mid-Autumn Festival and Double-Yang Festival.
[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires
![[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-72.jpg "[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires")
We were all stunned by the apocalyptic scenes of devastation and destitution caused by wildfires in Maui, HI. The utter sense of desolation and desperation was overwhelmingly sad. It destroyed the idyllic Island of Maui. Many people are still in denial and disbelief when they look at the news reports.
[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)
![[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-71-700x500.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)")
Mom and dad ran a textile and cloth business for thirty years. Their humble street hawker beginning was never remote. Only through thrift living and hard work did mom and dad gradually expand their business and eventually proudly owned a retail shop in the middle of the vegetable markets.
【小趣奇遇】民族之間文化的差異
我父母親年輕未婚時來自潮州；但我們六個兄弟姊妹都是出生於越南。全家一直住在華人聚居最多的「堤岸」。華人都是做大小生意為生的。連本地越南人都學會說粵語，特別需要在生意上能用粵語溝通，他們也讓自己孩子去華文學校讀書。
Heatwaves
Heatwaves in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere captured the public’s attention. The inadequacy of the central air conditioning units in many of the northern cities testifies to the unexpected increase in air temperature across Northern Europe, Asia and America.
Cultural Divide
Born in Vietnam, my siblings of six including myself, lived in a Chinese town called “Cholon”. Cantonese was the business dialect that even the native Vietnamese learned to speak. Many of the Vietnamese natives sent their children to Chinese schools.
【小趣奇遇】教學混亂與民間迷信
在1975年南越政變後，我和二哥（榮光）和弟弟（榮南）就讀的「同心」中小學，从私立成了公立學校，取消了學校制服。由於不夠老師，加上政府監控學校制度，又撤銷所有華語課堂，規定只准許學習當地越南文。
The Unfathomable Deep Space and Seas
Man is an adventurous creature. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019 the US travel and tourism industry generated 1.9 trillion dollars in economic output. That was a startling 9% of the nation’s corresponding GDP of 21.38 trillion dollars in 2019.
Chaotic schools and rampant superstitions
When the communists took over Vietnam in 1975, my second eldest brother (David), I and my younger brother (Kevin) were studying in the “Same Heart” middle-and-elementary school in Cholon, Vietnam. Originally a private school, it was changed to a public school under the communist government.
Calmness after the War (Part II)
My parents ran a textile and clothes retail shop from our home. Under the new communist government after the Vietnamese civil war, every home was eager to sew the new national flag. Therefore, all of a sudden our home business was thriving beyond our wildest imaginations.
【小趣奇遇】戰亂後的平息（下集）
父母親是做買賣布料的家庭式生意。內戰後的新興政府，規定家家戶戶都要買布料縫裁新國旗。突然間，店舖的生意好到忙不過來。我的大哥（雁榮）想幫父親的輕型電單車加油，去了附近一公哩以外的油站加油。
Pollen Allergy Becoming a Mainstay
Pollen allergy is more commonly known as hay fever. Medically speaking, it is called seasonal allergic rhinitis —- a provocation of the immune system to overreact to pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Hay fever occurs mainly in the spring and fall when pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds are in the air.
Calmness after the War (Part I)
In the May issue we mentioned the civil war between North and South Vietnam. It finally ended on the so-called “Liberation Date” on April 30, 1975. The North united the country into a communist country.
![[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-71-580x420.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)")
