Sunday, May 29, 2011

Helping great people to make lemonade....

By Rose Vidotto...

Have you ever heard the expression “when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade” and wondered what it means? It basically means you should make use of an awful situation to make something good. That is exactly what this very special lady is doing. 

On our last trip to Vietnam we met an amazing woman called Nga, she has been through a lot to say the least. 
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Nga used to be a successful tour guide living quite a nice life, until tragedy struck. Her only child passed away and like most parents would be, she was so grief stricken could do nothing but pine and grieve for her lost child. She was so devastated, she didn't go to work, she stayed at home and did nothing but cry & cry. Her eyes were so swollen that they became infected, her immune system was weak and sickness took hold. Her husband then left, and her life went downhill further. The infection in her eyes became very severe, like many of our ACCV friends, she sadly went blind due to lack of medical care. 
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Nga's brother and his wife brought her to live with them and their children in their very tiny home. Here she was loved and nurtured while she built her new life as a blind person. She slowly learnt massage, made new friends and recently she joined the ACCV English language for blind students course.
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When we first met Nga, we were astounded by her high level of English and her friendly nature. We soon heard her story and were deeply touched. We wanted to help her, but we didn’t know how. Until we  discovered she wanted to renovate a basic room attached to her brothers home so she can practice massage and socialise with her new blind friends because they had nowhere to go to just hang out together.  
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To our amazement, Nga had already saved approximately 20 million VND and she needed double that for the renovations to begin. She had worked it out that it would take her a couple of years to save the rest. That was when we said that ACCV would loan her 20 million ($1000) and we would set up a small monthly repayment plan for her so the restoration of her room can begin. 
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She was so happy, she told us that she is so lucky because now good fortune is coming her way!!
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Life gave her the lemons, but now she surely is making lemonade. 
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Kind Regards
   Alison & Rose



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Thursday, May 5, 2011

How to make a Mother's day....

I recently received the best email I've had in a long time, I just couldn't stop grinning....

I have mentioned Quan and his mum on the blog a few times. When we first met, her fears and concerns for her child were very real to me, and they were a huge catalyst in the development of ACCV. Like many poor blind people in Vietnam, Quan was leading a very isolated and lonely life. Our initial hopes were for him to make some friends, learn to read Braille and maybe even open up the possibilities of earning a living one day.

Well, over the past few years Quan and his blind friends have blossomed far beyond any of our expectations. They are now living life, going to school, making a living and enjoying a social life that has just included a weekend getaway to go visit the folks!

Quan took along his friends Quy, Dat, Hong, Toan & Mai to visit his family over the holiday weekend. Quy actually comes from a country town near by so it was a dual visit. Mai very kindly documented their trip and sent it to me in this lovely powerpoint presentation.

Enjoy...












It's mothers day this Sunday, I guess it came early for Quan's mum....


Kind Regards
   Alison & Rose



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