February 2013 Newsletter

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REPORT ON JAN 2013 FUNDED PROJECTS

Thuy thank you letter

Quang Thanh 5-1-2013

 First of all, with the love of God I want to send my donors greetings and good health wishes.

Although I have lost three fingers (right hand), I am very happy to make my best efforts to write this thank you letter to you.

Dear donors, even though my family has no blood connection with you, because of your compassionate love, you are ready to share the fruits of your hard-work with me so that I am able to raise some pigs and chickens. I am really grateful with your boundless generosity, and I don’t know how to say thank you enough. I can only sacrifice and try my best to live well and pray for you, donors.

Now, I am stopping my writing. I wish you always healthy and successful in your lives.

May God pay you back greatly!

Again, thank you very much.

 ThuyThi Nguyen

 

Hi friends and sponsors

Xin chào

The letter above was received from Thuy, who suffered terrible burns and can now raise livestock to stabilize her family income.

Thank you for your donations and moral support. Because I have just returned from Vietnam, it is a good time to write a newsletter about projects funded by this visit (January 2013).

Earlier in 2012 I had privately funded Sisters Huong and Tuyen from Huong Phuong to visit Australia to experience the culture. They collected donations and made valuable Australian/Vietnamese contacts. Using these and other overseas sponsors, Huong Phuong has demonstrated their increasing self-sufficiency by building large extensions to their convent.

In line with our change of organisation name and broadening objectives, I visited a number of other orphanages and communities this visit. The purpose was to make first contact and find out local needs. As a result, several projects outside of Huong Phuong were funded this year.

Thank you to my excellent interpreters. For example Tien Cao was visiting from NZ. He is managing two projects on the ground for us.

In all, we moved $18,000 in January 2013 from funds donated in Australia to projects in Vietnam. This is a huge achievement for a small charity relying on a local network of personal friends and supporters. To honour your generous support, I have prepared notes on each funded project below.

Happy reading!

See you soon – hẹn gặp lại

Peter Kabaila

 

SCHOLARSHIPS

  • Tertiary study scholarships from sponsors for 25 women for semester starting February 2013.
  • Tertiary study scholarships paid to young sisters from the convent at Huong Phuong in Quang Binh province, Central Vietnam.
  • Provide half of a student’s average cost for TAFE (Trung Cap) or university courses.
  • 19 women are funded for courses in nursing, disability care, pharmacy, medicine, education and foreign languages (English).
  • Three women are provided incentive payments to work in the Huong Phuong village medical clinic.

 ORPHANAGE WASHING MACHINE

  • Purchase at cho Ba don (market) for Huong Phuong orphanage.
  • Commercial capacity (16 kg) required so that soiled bed sheets could be washed during periods of intermittent power supply to orphanage.
  • Currently there is only one machine, 10 kg capacity, which operates all day.

 ORPHANAGE KITCHEN WARE

  • Purchase of table and kitchen ware, storage bins and other kitchen equipment at Cho Badon (market).
  • Kitchen selection and price bargaining by Huong Phuong orphanage cook, Sister Hien.

 GIFTS FROM SPONSORS

  • Cathy Moffit & Marlene Mulcahy donated a new blender for the Huong Phuong orphanage kitchen.
  • Nil cost to orphanage fund (shipped by Peter).
  • Hoan Ha sent a Christmas present to Danh.

 THREE MOTORBIKES FOR STUDENTS & ORPHANAGE

  • Objective of this project is for visitors to subsidise supply of motorbikes to a convent and orphanage, rather than hiring motorbikes for travel in Vietnam.
  • Leigh Kabaila, Adrian Mong and Peter Kabaila purchased two second-hand motorbikes at Ba don and repaired a third motorbike. Two-thirds of the cost was donated by Leigh and Adrian.
  • We did a thousand kilometre road trip through the mountains of Vietnam and delivered the bikes to the young sisters at Hue, for students to use or return to the orphanage when needed.

 EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP FOR DANH

  • Objective of this project is to provide one disabled person with purposeful activities and further education.
  • Hoàng Văn Danh is a wheelchair bound young man currently living at Huong Phuong orphanage. His computer training was previously sponsored by David Penalver from Goulburn.
  • David has extended the scholarship sufficient to pay private tuition at the orphanage, 3 half days a week for 4 months.
  • We will also try to arrange training for Danh in Saigon, where there may be employment opportunities.

 EIGHT BEDS FOR SPECIAL CARE COTTAGE

  • Severely disabled people or people with unsafe behavioural problems are maintained in the special care cottage at Huong Phuong orphanage for children with disabilities.
  • Timber beds are often damaged or soiled in the special care cottage and stainless steel beds were requested as high priority by the orphanage director.
  • This project is to provide 8 stainless steel beds.

 ELECTRICITY SUPPLY TO ORPHANAGE – VOLTAGE STABILISER

  • A diesel generator is used when village power is cut.
  • When power is not cut, electricity supply from the village fluctuates in voltage. This interferes with electrical appliances such as washing machines, computers and lights. Large fluctuations cause electrical appliances to mal-function or break.
  • Fluctuations in electricity supply from the village can be resolved by a new automatic voltage stabiliser.

 THUY – WOMAN WITH BURNS ACCIDENT

  • Objective of this project is to help family of a woman with disabilities.
  • Tien Cao is managing this project.
  • With funding, Thuy has chosen to raise pigs to provide a stable family income. The first payment is being used to buy materials for building pig stalls.
  • A second payment will be used to buy piglets for raising.

 SAVING ONE FAMILY 

  • Objective of this project is to save one family.
  • Tien Cao has identified a family in unusually difficult circumstances. They live in a highland area. Father has recently died and mother has no education. Children require educational assistance and other support.
  • Tien Cao is managing this project.
  • The mother, Hoa Thi Nguyen, has chosen to use our funding to raise a cow for a stable family income and then to educate her children. Purchase of a calf will be partly funded. She will borrow some money from other people to complete the purchase. A second payment will fund the boys’ education next year.

 SAVING ONE ORPHAN WITH A HEART OPERATION

  • Objective of this project is to save the life of one child by funding a life-saving medical operation.
  • Funding provided to mother of an adopted baby from Nghe An province.
  • Funding is based on cost quotation provided by Hanoi Heart Hospital.

 KINDERGARTEN AND CLINIC EQUIPMENT TO ONE VILLAGE

  • Objective is to provide seed funding for a village kindergarten and clinic.
  • Chuyen My village kindergarten and natural healing clinic is run by an order of nuns.
  • Funding is for furniture and/or equipment.

 WINTER CLOTHES FOR DISABLED CHILDREN

  • Preliminary visit to Vinh orphanage.
  • Funding was for winter clothing, with sisters in charge of the orphanage doing the shopping and bargaining at the local market.