PBMCSP Update - March 2010.
The Peter Brock Memorial Child Sponsorship Program is critical.
As one of very few that give all donated funds to the designated children, we are looking for people who really want to make a difference, and who know that their dollars will do that to the maximum.
See the Your Way to Help page!
Picture at left: HRA Patron Dr Peter Stewart, HRA Director Chris O'Dempsey, and Vietnam HRA Director Mrs Tuyet.
Tan Thach Primary School (Mekong).
New Medical Clinic.
The long awaited Medical Clinic in Tan Thach, Ben Tre, Vietnam, is closer! Delays have followed the initial sourcing of frames and roof trusses (courtesy of Truss Rite Vietnam) due to Vietnam’s usual "red tape". The delay was prolonged when the government decided to build 5 new classrooms (long overdue) but the "up" side of this has been that official documents have now been signed, and a start date has been set for May 2010.
The builders chosen to provide the classrooms will also reconstruct the Medical Clinic, which is located in the School grounds. We need funding for cladding, internal fittings, and equipment.
This Clinic is to be a local health education centre, and we want, in time, to employ a full-time nurse. The clinic will have a special "Health Care" card system for poor families.
There are several major hotels in Ho Chi Minh City who have medical personnel on-staff who have volunteered to assist periodically at the Clinic following its completion. These volunteers will liase with the full-time nurse, who will attend to consultations and health education programs in the Tan Thach region.
Sponsors Needed.
We have 88 children listed as needing sponsorship. 35 are in Tan Thach (Mekong Delta), six in Quang Tri (the old border between North and South), one in Hanoi, five in Dong Nai (North of HCMC), one in a school for the blind in HCMC, and 41 in various other locations.
As at April 2010, more than half of the above 88 children receive either insufficient or no sponsorship. The AU$25.00 a month is 100% given to each child's family (or guardians), and we check on each child during the three field trips HRA undertakes each year.
Administration costs are paid by our major sponsor, Laser Sight Centres (Dr Peter Stewart is himself involved in programs in HCMC, and visits as many of these children as he can when he is in Vietnam).
The value of sponsorship can be seen in the results of those who have been assisted over the past two years since the program began. Of all the children sponsored, only one has not done well. This unfortunate situation has largely arisen because both parents are bed ridden, and the child has to work, help in the home, sell things to get money, and go to school in between. At present we are looking for a "best way" to help in this sad situation long-term.
Of the other children, 70% have have achieved marked grade improvements, and all others have done well. One in particular, Mai (see below), has become the top student in the Ben Tre Province, and has maintained that status into High School. She is one of the poorest children, but PBMCSP sponsorship has allowed her family to ensure she can study fulltime. One wall of their humble shelter is covered in certificates and awards, and her future is bright due largely to the PBMCSP.
In the Quang Tri region, 11 yr old Quynh and her 13 year old sister look after their young mother, who has been increasingly bed-bound during the past 7 years. We were able to give her a new wheelchair, and buy warm blankets for the family. When we last visited, the mother had a small charcoal fire burning under her bed to try to get warm! The blankets we brought changed their lives! Such simple things... but then not simple if so poor as this.
In Dong Nai, the prospects of the seven children of a single Muslim lady have improved dramatically. Three of the girls have had eye operations to correct "turned" eyes. Subsequently their grades have improved. One, who missed school because of her eye problem, lost a year but nevertheless is improving. They dress well and are always clean and happy despite their surroundings and their very basic housing. They are a special family and always a delight to visit. Sponsorship has given them a new life and a future to look forward to!
These are just some of the stories; but many are not yet told as we seek sponsors to help them go to school, or get medical assistance. We need you to help us help them.
Sponsored Children.
HRA's Peter Brock Memorial Child Sponsorship Program has 35 children in the Tan Thach area.
Five of the 35 are from a single parent family (seven children) in Dong Nai. The mother is extremely poor, but they have now all been able to attend school. All five have passed well.
Mai.
12 year old Mai, who has topped her school (Tan Thach Primary School), is part of the 'Exceptional Student' sponsorship of HRA in Vietnam. This sponsorship allows for education beyond high school.
Mai rides her bicycle to and from school six, and often seven days a week. More about Mai...
Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City.
The engineer at HCMC Medical University Hospital welcomed the defibrillator donated by Laser Sight Australia, HRA's major sponsor.
In February 2009 Dr Peter Stewart (Laser Sight Australia) travelled to Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, for a week-long visit. During his visit he delivered lectures, examined patients, and discussed procedures and treatment with medical staff at Cho Ray Hospital, HCMC.
The humanitarian aid support of Dr Peter Stewart was repeated in late February 2010 when he returned to Vietnam’s Cho Ray hospital. During this visit Dr Stewart continued the training and assistance given to these top eye doctors in HCMC.
He observed, shared examination appointments, assisted in operations, and delivered lectures aimed specifically at the specialist ophthalmic issues he had observed during the examination and surgical sessions. His expertise is greatly appreciated by the Vietnamese surgeons, and his mentoring enables them to gain valuable insights into modern surgical techniques and knowledge.
To follow up on from these valuable training visits, Heart Reach Australia and Dr Stewart are seeking to develop a scholarship program. It is proposed that some of the surgeons should be sponsored to visit Australia to undergo intensive training in specific areas. This program was requested by the head of Cho Ray Eye Department, Dr Chuc, and would greatly benefit all members of his staff.
Dr Peter Stewart advised surgeons on procedures, and observed their techniques, in the operating theatre at Cho Ray Hospital.
Dr Stewart delivered lectures to medical staff, surgeons and personnel.
Dr Stewart examined patients and discussed procedures and treatment with medical staff.
The private blind school in Ho Chi Minh City.
This privately set up facility boards 25 students, and trains, teaches and encourages them in many areas of life and life skills. Most of the children have come from poverty, and a number from orphanages.
Little Hau is one whom HRA was able to bring from the North to live here, through the sponsorship program.
This bright 11 year old sings like an angel, reads braille, learns music and the computer. She is a long way removed from the shy and withdrawn child we first saw in the orphanage in Giao Thuy.