How far they've come….... how far they'll go!

 Recently, I was sitting here at the computer, wading through the end of financial year administration jobs, thinking about what I'd rather be doing. The admin side of things is not my idea of fun I must admit. But I was soon reminded of just why we're doing this, and why I'm so lucky to be doing this.

Gmail has a chat function to speed up written conversation. Out of the blue a message popped up,  "Hello Mrs Alison, are you had dinner?" (sic)

On further investigation, I realised that the sender was Hong, one of our blind students, and recent ACCV staff member. I was very impressed at how well she was doing with the computer, gmail functions etc., and I told her so. She then asked me if I had "skype" because the students would like to talk to me.

What followed was without question, the highlight of the week.

All connected up, I had the loveliest chat with a number of our students. They were great fun! Giggling away, they fired questions at me, what did I have for dinner? How are the different members of my family? Who's coming with me on my next trip to Hanoi? They interrupted and corrected each other, tried out a few new words.

The voices and laughter drew my son Alex into the room, so they had a bit of a chat with him too. They are such enthusiastic, fun loving, bright sparks!

 

The conversation only lasted 15 - 20 minutes, but I have thought of it often since. I have thought back to when I first met each of the students, the sad and lonely existence they were leading.  I thought about when we first talked about an English language program for blind people. I thought about the first time we funded an IT course, when we organised computers for the centre. I remember thinking about the completely untapped potential of these young people.

I never dreamt of having a live skype chat, totally initiated by the students, totally in English, no teachers were present.

Yes .... I'm very lucky to be doing this.

kind regards

Alison & Rose

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Thank you! 

Happily ever after ......

 You all know Brian, he's been our main man in Hanoi for the past couple of years. He does a wonderful job supporting us and handling all the finances. He's a great asset to ACCV and a great friend to us.  Brian would be described as one of life's genuinely good souls. He's a good man.

He's also a very lucky man!

 

Brian recently married Kirsten, a truly lovely woman, inside and out.

             Two good people, together they make a wonderful couple.

 

                        We wish them both every happiness...


kind regards
Alison & Rose

ACCV - Child Sponsorship Program...

Over the past few months we have spent time with many families in dire need of assistance. Some of them are desperate to provide their children with basic nutrition or education, others are so poor that the medication necessary to keep their child healthy, or even alive, is beyond their means.

At times the situation was quite unfathomable. We met with a young father who had spent twelve hours on a rural bus with his unconscious four year old son. The child is diabetic, and his parents simply didn’t have enough money for both food and insulin.

Another family had sold off everything of value to try and pay for their child’s medical treatment, they are now in debt and they cannot afford the ongoing medical costs.

 There are many, many stories of families living in poverty who need support to give their children the basics in life. For any child to reach their potential they need nutrition, medical care and education. It is with this goal in mind that we have decided to launch;

ACCV – Christine Edith Sponsorship Program.

A simple donation will go into a central fund to meet the expenses of all disadvantaged children in the program. 

Individual sponsorship will directly support a child and the sponsor will receive a child’s profile, photograph and updates.

At this point we have fifty children we have agreed to support.  In the hospital alone, there are another 170 children waiting for our assistance, many others are waiting for educational opportunities. 

We hope to offer them support once we have adequate sponsors and funding. We’re trying not to bite off more than we can chew!

 At this point we have three forms of sponsorship available:
.

a) $30.00 per month:

Will support a primary school child’s education and basic needs.
 
Will support a chronically ill child requiring daily medication to sustain a healthy life. 

Nutritional and transportation funding will also be provided when necessary.

      

 
b) $50.00 per month

Will support a teenager through their senior high school and university education.
 
Will support a seriously ill child requiring hospitalization for treatments for cancer, heart  disease and    
other serious illnesses.
 
Nutritional and transportation funding will also be provided when necessary.      $30.00 per month

     

c) Individual donation to our general funds
             
We work on an individual, as needs basis and this will not change for children registered in our sponsorship program.    

When families need additional support this will be financed from our general funds.

 Your sponsorship can make a huge difference in the life of a child and their family. If you are interested in  sponsoring a child, please Sign up with ACCV

Please remember that 100% of donations received  by ACCV go directly to help the children of Vietnam.

If you would like more information, please contact us accv@bigpond.com

Once again we would like to thank you for your ongoing support.

Kind regards

Alison & Rose 

MAKE A DONATION

 

Tax Deductible Donation

 
(please drop us a quick email so we can acknowledge your kindness)

Well connected...

One of the dreams we have for the blind students is that one day they'll have a centre of their own. A place for young people to hang out, a bit of a drop-in-come-educational centre.  A place where they can socialise with other young people, listen to music, do workshops and courses, and access computers.

Well, we don't have that centre yet (hold that thought) but thanks to RMIT Hanoi and Wisdom computers in Brisbane, the students now have the computers and accessories they need. We have our very own  mini Computer Listening Lab in the ACCV office...

You can see clearly just how beneficial these kind donations are for the students. And quite apart from being an excellent adjunct to their education, they are really enjoying the whole social aspect.

Our " Listening Lab" gives the students the opportunity to listen to music and other English audio lessons. And while they are upgrading their computer skills, they are also socialising with others which is every bit as important.

The computers are also a great asset to our office, our newest staff member Hong is already making great use of one of the laptops we received. It is without question, that these generous donations give the students a huge opportunity to access technology and everything that comes along with it. They are delighted!

Thank you RMIT (Frank & Gareth) and Grace from Wisdom Computers.... we are really appreciative of your kindness.

Kind regards
Alison & Rose

MAKE A DONATION

(please drop us a quick email so we can acknowledge your kindness)