Activities in 2014
Kim Son
January 2014 - Kim Son provides free education to about 65 children in the area who cannot afford to attend public school. We were asked to provide a gift for Tet (Vietnamese New Year) to each of
the children to take home to their families. Each child received a care package of noodles, sugar, milk and treats. We also bought some supplies for the nuns including oil, mushrooms, soup mixture and soy sauce.
Phu Quang
January 2014 - The head nun at Phu Quang had provided us a detailed list of supplies they needed. Firstly, she wanted to make new clothes for all of the children as a gift for Tet. She had already purchased the fabric but needed supplies such as cotton, elastic, buttons, tape measures, a ruler, scissors, zips etc which we were able to purchase. The nun also requested an electric stove so that if the children were sick at night they could boil water or heat food. I purchased this at a local store and delivered it along with their request for paper and calligraphy pens for the children.
Mau Thi Ny
January 2014 - Late last year some volunteers visited a poor village a few hours away, which had recently been in famine and were in desperate need of help. There they found tiny Ny, she was filthy, blind from malnutritionand could not walk or talk. Her mother died when she was a baby and two days after the volunteers left her father died of cancer.
Ny is cared for by loving nuns at Phu Quang orphanage. Due to our donations and those of others Ny was taken to Ho Chi Minh for surgery on her eyes and is learning to walk and talk.
Hoa Sen
January 2014 - Hoa Sen charity school, about 25 km’s from Nha Trang, provides free education to children of this fishing village. As the nuns also provide meals for around 20 children, we donated rice, sugar, noodles, milk, soup mix and treats for the children. A few days later, we returned with new outfits and shoes for all the children.
Loc Tho
January 2014 - We threw a bash for the kids at Loc Tho charity school and orphanage. Friends provided music and games, Hiep had organised bags of presents and we had a wonderful time awarding prizes for best dance moves. While in Vietnam I regularly visited Loc Tho and was able to donate new prayer clothes, food supplies, t-shirts for the older kids and gifted pencils from a young boy in America.
Mr Duong
January 2014 - In April 2013 staff at my hotel told me that their guards granddaughter was very sick and asked if I would visit the family as they knew I helped other children in need. Previously I donated money to the family to pay for Nhung’s expenses and I wanted to do the same again. We purchased milk powder as Nhung cannot eat, medicine to reduce her pain and I also left them money to support their other children.
Pinky
January 2014 - A friend asked if I would like to visit a family who she knew were very poor. In the home is a grandmother, mother and daughter who live in extreme poverty. Hong is an 18 year old girl who received a scholarship to the best school in Nha Trang but she studies on a concrete slab next to the stove and an open drain. I was astonished to hear that she is top in her class! Quan Am donated food and supplies, a new school bag and stationery, as well as paying for the remainder of her schooling.
New playgrounds
May 2014 - What an exciting day when three brand new playgrounds were delivered to Loc Tho school and orphanage. Thanks to wonderful donations from PwC New Zealand and my (amazing!) Mum, we were able to create a happy and bright environment for children at school. The pre-school children received a ball pit, swing and slide and the primary children received a large outdoor playground.
Khanh Vinh
2014 - My good friend Hiep contacted me last month about a trip she has organised to visit children in the Khanh Vinh province. A very poor community, she was seeking donations to buy school uniforms, school bags and supplies to enable the local children to attend school. Quan Am was pleased to donate 40 school bags and notebooks.
PRAYER TIME
2014 - The nuns at Loc Tho Orphanage and School asked us to donate prayer clothes for all 120 children. Loc Tho is a dedicated Buddhist temple where all the children are taught and raised by nuns.
A new bike
2014 - The Christina Noble Foundation Australia was recently asking for donations towards bikes so that children have easier access to school. I was pleased to be able to donate a bike – and you can too for only AUD $130.
Ninh Tay
2014 - My friend Ngoc had planned to visit the Ninh Tay village after I left Vietnam earlier this year. Her and her friends work very hard to provide assistance to this village living on the very extreme end of poverty. Quan Am donated almost $600 to contribute towards an incredible humanitarian effort.