Since that post, we have gotten more accomplished and we are excited to
give you an update. Below are the main areas of work that we have been
pouring ourselves into as well as an update on where we are so far in
each area.
As previously updated, we have decided to move forward with building 8
homes rather than building one large orphanage. We want to pursue this
direction because we want the opportunity for the kids who will be
living within this “orphanage” to be afforded every opportunity to live
life as a normal Vietnamese kid. We have received so many different
quotes but believe that we have come to a consensus on the costs that we
are going to incur when building here in Vietnam. We are going to be
rolling out various campaigns in the near future targeting capital
raising in order to get the building process underway. Be on the lookout
for those campaigns and ways that you can get involved!!
Licensing:
I would encourage you to read our previous update on where we stand so
that you can see how far we have come. We are still in the process of
getting our license here in Vietnam to be a recognized organization
which would then allow us to begin the process of building so that we
can begin functioning as a children’s home and to start having a major
effect on this community. We have met with many more people who have
continued to give us input on how to better present ourselves and our
project to the government. We have a major meeting planned for this
coming Monday, September 5th where we are seeking to get some
assistance from an organization in Vinh Long who supports international
agencies who are coming into Vietnam. As we move further and further
along in this process, we have more and more hope that we will be able
to get through this process quickly and easily without incurring much
resistance. The people and government of Mang Thit like us just about as
much as we like them!!
Feeding ministry:
This is an area where we have seen rapid advancement in just the past
25 days!! Only4 weeks ago we laid out the plan to start a feeding
ministry and set forth in the fundraising efforts. And in only a short
time period, we started to see people joining with us in the effort to
help take care of people through providing food for them. By providing
food for these families, we are helping them to obtain one of the basic
needs that they need for survival. It was amazing as just a few days ago
we had the honor of running the first month of our feeding ministry
where we invited 10 families to come and visit with us as we had
purchased food to give them to help them for the month. This is a
project that is ongoing so if you are interested in supporting this
ministry of VOHF, you can visit both the blog You Can Feed A Child to learn more as well as visit our fundraising site directly to make a donation.
Land acquisition: We have been blessed to have been given a
plot of land that is almost 8,750 meters squared. This is the land that
we are using to build our houses and village center upon. As we are
building, we will use the land not currently in use to continue growing
rice for food as well as to sell if surplus exists. One desire of VOHF
is to be a self-sustainable organization so we are always on the lookout
as to how to achieve that. We are wanting to purchase extra land along
the way in order to continue to grow crops on it so that we can sell the
rice in order to help fund VOHF. As we have been evaluating our
situation we have decided that land acquisition is currently not in our
best interest so the idea of purchasing further land is going to be
re-visited in the near future.
Community
:As we have continued to search out more people to get to know so that
we can further build our community, we have had the opportunity to meet
some amazing people. Just the other day we were sitting at a cafe when a
girl walked up and asked to sit down and practice her English with us,
in English. We were astonished. We got to sit and talk to her for some
30 minutes, and then we have gotten to meet with her twice since just
spending time getting to know her and her family. We have continued to
teach our English class 3 times a week and we have seen growth in the
attendance of students. We have had opportunities to visit a brick
factory, a water plant, a rice mill, as well as visit many more homes
within this community. Many people recognize us as we walk through the
market, and we are beginning to recognize more and more people also.
Fundraising:
We are currently in the process of formulating 6 separate fundraisers.
We are going to be rolling them out in waves so make sure you keep an
eye out for what is going on. We are going to be fundraising for 2
different projects, building and feeding, as well as our general
operating costs. We are currently in the process of creating 3 videos,
and 2 new blogs to keep everyone as informed as possible about the
fundraising opportunities that we are working on. As we continue to move
forward with the process of creating the children’s home, we are going
to be searching for partners to join with us financially for all of our
areas of need; building, feeding, as well as our general budget.
Language acquisition: Heather
has been inundated with opportunities to further learn Vietnamese. Our
translator sits down and works with Heather constantly as well as a
friend of Heathers who texts heather all the time solely in Vietnamese
so that Heather can further her knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. As
she has been immersed in the language, it has been coming to her so much
easier than when we first got here. She is hoping to continue studying
the language once returning home so that she can become fluent and make
communication here in Vietnam much easier once she returns to start the
children’s home. She is currently studying grade one Vietnamese and soon
hopes to graduate to grade two. Rosetta Stone and picture dictionaries
are also helping her tremendously. It is awesome to see how much one
person can learn in such a short time period once they are thrown into
the language head first.
75 days down and so much done, 25 days to go and so much more to accomplish yet!
