Friday, September 23, 2011

Dream big........ never give up!

This is a phrase we have been using for quite a while amongst the blind students They have to dream big to overcome some of the hurdles they face. And they do.

Rose, Dave and I were out at the center catching up with our students yesterday. As always it was a great day, they really are alot of fun.

It was music to my ears when I heard the students use this phrase themselves. The subject matter was a trip to Australia for Hong and Dat, who are both employees of ACCV now.

We have been successful with a proposal we submitted in Australia for them to receive intensive training in advanced Braille and IT.  The plan is that they will return to Hanoi with some fabulous skills they can pass along to others in the blind community. The ripple effect will be amazing.

The proposal was only the first step in what we think will be quite a process of approval, fundraising and planning to pull this off. But it was a very important first step.

The second step was to see how Dat and Hong felt about the prospect of heading to Australia to study.

I think this photo tells you exactly how they feel, it was taken moments after we told them the proposal had been approved...


While we were discussing the plans, I mentioned that it could take some time and we had a few hurdles to overcome, the response was ....

"that's okay......We dream big and we never give up"


Watch this space, we'll keep you posted on our progress.


Kind regards 

Alison & Rose




(please drop us a quick email so we can acknowledge your kindness)
Every dollar donated goes directly to the children of Vietnam - all administrative costs are covered


Saturday, September 10, 2011

A terrible compromise.....

A little while ago I introduced you to Khoi and the other CAH children who we are supporting. I'm very pleased to say that Khoi is doing really well. She now receives the medicines that are vital to her good health. She was so sick when we met her, it's really lovely to see her doing so well. She is one of the lucky ones...

 Khoi's parents are delighted, they now have a chubby, healthy baby.

Khoi's health is completely dependent upon receiving her medication. For children with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) daily medication is essential. Sadly, we've learned that for some families just because something is essential, doesn't mean it is always possible.

We are slowly building our sponsorship programme in an effort to help these children to access the medical care that they desperately need.  There are so many children and their families on the waiting list.

Many of the stories are sadly similar....

One family we met has five children, two of them suffer from CAH and require medication every day. The family lives on less than $100.00 per month. To try and stretch the funds across all expenses, including food, housing, education, is difficult. Many families borrow money to pay for their child's medical expenses. The repayment fee adds to the financial pressure.

And something has to give, they have to make a compromise. Most of the children we meet have gone months without their medication because of poverty.It's a terrible compromise, and one that no parent should have to make.

Our goal is to support the medical care and associated costs for these children, while the families establish themselves financially. We want to help them to help themselves. We have had a number of families contact us to thank us for their support and let us know that they can now pay for their child's medical care. They have managed to pay off debts, or go back to work because their child is now well enough to go to school.

Great news! We'd like lots more of it.

Without support, the prognosis for children with CAH is devastating, with medical support there is 100% chance of a normal, healthy life!


If you would like to sponsor a child...


Kind regards 

Alison & Rose





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

Every dollar donated goes directly to the children of Vietnam - all administrative costs are covered