Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Thursday, August 17th, 2017
Thiên Bình children achieved academic excellence in the 2009 – 2010 school year
| H4VO is proud to recognize many Thiên Bình orphans who achieved academic excellence in the 2009 – 2010 school year. With your support and partnership, H4VO continues to work with the administrative staff at Thiên Bình and other orphanages to provide opportunities for the orphans to achieve their dreams and potentials. |
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Jewelry fundraising event by Khoa To
| In October 2010, Khoa To organized a private jewelry sale fundrasing event, benefitting the children of Thiên Bình. At the conclusion of the event, $1100 was raised, $1000 of which was matched by National Instruments. All $2100 was donated to the children at Thiên Bình. |
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Donation from the children of St. John Neumann Catholic Church
| In June 2010, the children of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Austin collected pens, pencils, and tooth brushes for the orphans in Vietnam. |
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2010 visits to orphanages
Last year, many friends and staff members of H4VO made special trips to the orphanages. They also brought gifts and donations to the children.
- During Christmas 2010, H4VO staff visited Thiên Bình and Điều Giác orphanages. They brought foods and gifts to the children.
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- In June 2010, Khoa To visited Thiên Bình orphanage and delivered the donations from the children of St. John Neumann Catholic Church to the children at the orphanage.
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- In January 2010, Jennifer Le visted Thiên Bình orphanage.
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- In January 2010, 20 bicycles were donated to the children at Điều Giác as gifts from Tài Lê and H4VO’s matching fund. The bicycles are used by older children at Điều Giác to shorten their long commutes to school.)
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
July 2011 Vietnam Trip Report
13/08/11 09:15
Our orphanage trip was a great success, even though it only lasted two weeks. We visited eight orphanages, a mental institution (Trại Điên), and children at a cancer hospital (Bệnh Viện Ung Bứu). Among the eight orphanages, two of them are the orphanages that we currently sponsor, Thiên Bình and Diệu Giác, three orphanages are in Bà Rịa, Vũng Tàu, one is in Bình Chánh, one is in Hóc Môn, and another is in Hồ Chí Minh City. In addition to clothes and basic medicines like Tylenol and vitamins, we donated soccer balls, crayons, pens, and Frisbees to the children.
In the first week, we organized small feasts at our sponsored orphanges, Diệu Giác and Thiên Bình, for the children and care takers. We had a great time enjoying the party and bonding with the children. After that, Kathy Nguyễn, one of the volunteers, spent a week at Thiên Bình teaching English, math, and playing with the children. Chương Ngô, another volunteer, also spent a full day at Thiên Bình with the children. On the other hand, Jessica Vũ and her young chidren, spent time with her sponsored child at Diệu Giác. It was great to see the bonding and connections among our volunteers and the children. This was not only an opportunity for H4VO volunteers to bring joy to the children, but it was also a great way for the children to learn about H4VO at a personal level. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Kathy, Chương, and Jessica for being great H4VO’s goodwill ambassadors on this trip.
We are pleased to report there has been a lot of great progress that Thiên Bình and Diệu Giác made in the last two years. For example, at Thien Binh, the children receive tutors afterschool to help them with homework. They also are taking full advantage of the computer lab that H4VO donated to them last year. In addition, they have a teacher who comes once a week to teach the middle school, and high school children separately in two group on how to use MS Office applications, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Each course is one year long, and they plan to add the basic web design and building (HTML) to the existing curriculum.
We also had the opportunity to watch some of the older kids showing off their vocational skills. Kathy and Chương even sat down with some to learn the art of making flowers. Flowers made by the orphans are sold at the libraries to supplement the orphanage income. A few seventeen years old or older children are enrolled in carpentry and paper mill trainings at the local shops with the potential of being offered jobs there after the training. At Diệu Giác, out of the five orphans who recently turned eighteen, one is in a vocational training, three are preparing for the college entrance exam, and one is still undecided.
Aside from Thiên Bình and Diệu Giác, we also visited other orphanages and talked to the administrators for better understanding the needs and the best way for H4VO to extend our assistance to other orphans beyond Thiên Bình and Diệu Giác:
- Từ Hạnh Temple manages an orphanage with seventy-six children. They are all are under sixteen years old, in which many of them are under five. Due to its vicinity being close to factories with poor surrounding population, the number of dropped off babies has increased in the last five years.
- Vĩnh Phước Temple is another orphanage managed by the Buddhist nuns. It is a small place and isolated from the main road with only twelve orphan girls.
- Rosa orphanage is managed by Nam Hưng Catholic Chuch. It is located in Hóc Môn with about thirty children.
- Phổ Hiền Temple orphanage is in Vũng Tàu. The head nun at Phổ Hiền treats the orphans like her own children and does not even consider her facility as an orphanage. This is the best managed and organized orphanage with much welcome and hospitality. We often visited this orphanage in our previous trips to Vietnam to give mental support and respect. She often referred us to other orphanages that need support.
- Bửu Tích Ni Tu orphanage is in Vũng Tàu with thirty-seven children who are all girls. The children were studying during our visit. They learn Chinese in fifth grade. During this visit, we also made donation to fulfill their wish lists, including calculators, sandals, and books. This orphanage requires children to go through seven years of Buddhism theology, after which they can select their paths in life.
- Tu Viện Thành Long orphanage is in Vũng Tàu with forty children who are all boys. This place is more isolated and does not get a lot of visitors.
Along the way, we also heard heart-breaking story of a father dropping off his baby at the orphanage, but then took her back after two months. The child later died due to insufficient care. It is our hope that as we expand H4VO sponsorship to new orphanages, stories like this can be avoided. By working with the administrators at our sponsored orphanages to improve the basic living conditions and offer long-term education, and career development, we hope that parents in destitution can find some comfort and hope in entrusting their children lives in the care of these orphanages.
Besides the orphanages, we also visited the Mental Institute (Trại Điên). We brought 500 kg of rambutan, tea bottles, bread, and cooked corns and handed them out directly to everyone. We also visited the children at the cancer hospital, and handed out cash, cookies, and candies to each of the children.
In summary, it was a short but very memorable trip for everyone. We were happy to meet the cheerful children and see significant progress at our sponsored orphanages. We are also glad to have the opportunity to learn and develop relationship with other orphanages. It is our great honor to be entrusted with your donations and support, and to see how our partnership is taking part in helping these orphans feel loved and be productive citizens! We also would like to relay the gratitude of the orphanage administrators to you for your support. Prior to H4VO, the orphanages occasionally received donations from visitors, but it is the long-term commitment from H4VO, through your donations and support, that enables them to implement the long-term education, and career development planning for the children.
We would like to thank our friends and volunteers for making this trip a productive and memorable experience. We would especially like to thank ChịNinh and Chị Vân for being our guides and providing us with great hospitality while in Vietnam; Kathy Nguyễn, Chương Ngô, and Jessica Vũ for sharing invaluable moments with the children. Above all, we would like to thank every friend of H4VO. It was your support and generous donations that enable H4VO to bring the cheerful smiles and hope to the orphans.
Sincerely,
Thắng Trần.
A generous donation from Tài Lê this holiday season.
December 2011
H4VO greatly appreciates the donation of 1100 presents to be given during Christmas holiday to orphans and elders at many orphanages that we visited during previous trips from Mr. Tài Lê. Additionally, his donation is also used toward purchasing a second solar heater for Từ Hạnh orphanage this winter season.
H4VO formally added Từ Hạnh orphanage to our list of sponsored orphanages.
October 2011
 For the past few months, H4VO has been working with the orphanage administrators at Từ Hạnh orphanage to finalize the logistics for sponsoring the orphanage.
We are now pleased to formally welcome Từ Hạnh to our list of sponsored orphanages!
H4VO provides long-term financial committment to our sponsored orphanges to ensure the well-being of the orphans. We also receive regular reports from orphanage administrators regarding the well-being of the orphanage, and of the sponsored children.
Vietnam trip brought back photos, stories, and report of great progress.
July 2011
 This past July 2011, Thắng Trần, director of H4VO, made a two-week charity trip to Vietnam with his family and three volunteers, Kathy Nguyễn, Chương Ngô, and Jessica Vũ and her young chidren. They visited H4VO-sponsored orphanages, Thiên Bình and Diệu Giác, and six other orphanages.
Some of the volunteers spent days at some orphanages playing with the children and teaching them math and English. This was not only an opportunity for everyone on the trip to bond with the children, but it was also a great way for the children to learn about H4VO at a personal level. Along with great memories and photos, they also brought back valuable information about the needs of other orphanages in the region.
H4VO 2011 Summer Benefit Concert concluded with great success.
June 2011
 On behalf of the Vietnamese orphans, H4VO would like to express our gratitude to our volunteers, performers, sponsors, and everyone who has made this event a great success.
We also would like to thank Jaime Richards for this review of H4VO’s Summer Benefit Concert in the Oakland Tribune.
We look forward to having another great event next year.
An email from Kelly Le.
April 2011
We would like to share with you an email that we recently received:
My name is Kelly Le, also known as Ai Lien. I am an orphan myself, and used to live and grow up in Dieu Giac Orphanage. However, I am more fortunate to be adopted and brought to America. I am going back to Vietnam this December and asking for donations from friends to help the orphans over there.I admire you, and those who have good hearts to help people who less fortunate. Because of people like you, the orphans like myself have hope for a better future.
Kelly Le
PS: my website is bringsmiles.webs.com
Please check out Kelly’s website and help support her projects.
Thiên Bình adopted more babies
March 2011
Three more babies have recently be adopted by Thiên Bình. The orphanage now has a total of over 100 children. With your support and partnership, H4VO continues to work with Thiên Bình and other orphanages to help supplement daily diets and care for these youngest orphans.
 
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
August 2012 Vietnam Trip Report
09/12/12 12:06
This year marked our second annual trip to Vietnam. We visited 8 orphanages, and a mental institute, and a leper center.
Thanks to the regular support from H4VO, Thiên Bình and Từ Hạnh have been able to take in more orphans. To help with the cost of diapers and milk, H4VO accepted 8 more new babies during this trip to help with the cost of diapers and milk. We also treated everyone at Thiên Bình with a barbecue feast.At Diệu Giác, the number of orphans remains the same. One orphan from Diệu Giác has gotten a scholarship to Richmond College in Dallas, Texas. H4VO is in discussion with our affiliate, VNHelp to see how we can help with financial support for him. We also treated everyone at Diệu Giác with a barbecue.
For all 500 patients at the mental institute, we served everyone with a bowl of soup and drink. We also presented each family at the institute with 200,000 VND. (Note that all donations and costs from this trip come from personal funds, and not from the H4VO donations.) and treated everyone to a nice lunch.
We also visited many orphanages that are not sponsored by H4VO. The purpose of these visits is to help our affiliated orphanages connect with other orphanages in the region, and to learn from the success of other orphanages. We also want to see if there are things we could help with at those orphanages, whether it be one-time financial donations, or fostering collaborations among different orphanages.
This trip would not have been made possible without the support of many friends of H4VO that joined us on the trip.
Our thanks to Kathy, who joined us for the second year. Kathy hang out with the orphans at Thiên Bình for one week. Kathy also donated 150 presents for the children at the leper center. Our thanks to Mr. Ngô Đức Hòang director of ICDREC (icdrec.edu.vn), a university in Vietnam for donating 3,000,000 VND, and for introducing his teenage daughter and her friend (Vi & Vivian) to volunteering at Thiên Bình for several days.
We also would like to take this opportunity to thank Rocky and his friends, Annika, alicia, and Sean as they conclude their volunteer mission at Thiên Bình. Sean helped build a guest house at Thiên Bình. Annika and Alicia spent most of their time taking care of the babies.
And most of all, we would like to thank all of you who have been supporting H4VO mission for all these years. Without your support, none of these successes would have been possible.
View photos of the trip hereSincerely,
Thắng Trần.
H4VO would like to thank Rocky as he concluded his volunteer at Thien Binh
October 2012
H4VO would like to express our deepest appreciation to Rocky for spending many months at Thien Binh. Rocky volunteered at Thien Binh from January to September of 2012. During his stay, Rocky had helped build the guest house, played with and taught the orphans English. Rocky also introduced his friends, Annika, Alisha, and Sean to Thien Binh.
Rocky’s stay will be long-lasting memory for the orphans! His time at Thien Binh was a gentle reminder that there are strangers out there that care, and that they are not forgotten, even half way around the world.
Click here to view some photos of Rocky and friends at Thien Binh.
A shout-out to Rocky, our volunteer-in-residence at Thiên Bình
January 2012
H4VO would like to give a shout-out to Rocky, a young American with a big heart! Rocky is staying at Thiên Bình for 6 months to teach English to the orphans. He lives in similar housing as the children, no air conditions, and has daily meals with the kids. We look forward to conversing in English with the kids on H4VO’s next annual trip to Vietnam this summer. Thank you Rocky for being there for the kids!
Rocky’s friends, Annika, Alisha, Sean, will be joining Rocky volunteering at Thiên Bình from June to August.
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
Fundraising event hosted by Villa Song
H4VO gratefully express our appreciation to Villa Song for hosting The Spirit of Christmas fundraising event, benefiting H4VO.
A Time For Us annual fundraising event
A Time For Us was our 2013 annual fund raising event. H4VO would like to express our sincere thank to everyone who supported this sold out event!
H4VO expands our partnership to Guise Mai Am Orphanage
September 2013
With the fund received from Hong Gam 83’s alumni in 2013, we reached out to Guise Mai Am orphanage through a former teacher at Hong Gam, Soeur Hong Quy. Giuse orphanage was established in 2009 and under a supervision of Mr. Da Minh Nhat. Its mission is to provide food, shelter, and educational support to underprivileged children in the Kontum vincinity. As up until 2013, it has been receiving funding but limited from the local Catholics parish to support 32 children Jarai minority, in which 6 of the 10 orphans are within the school-ages.
With H4VO’s long-term financial support, Mai Am Guise is able to ensure the stability of its operation as well as provide assistance and care for more children of the low-income families or orphans as needed.
H4VO is proud to support Maria Loan for college nursing degree
September 2013
H4VO is proud to continue support Maria Loan, an H4VO orphan, for her college education. Maria Loan graduated highschool and is on the path to obtaining a college degree in nursing.
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
July 2014 Vietnam Trip Report
07/09/14 22:40
This summer, we again travel to Vietnam to visit the children. We visited 6 orphanages. We awarded the children who did well in school last year with gifts and treats for all the children, After many years of visiting Thien Binh, the children was happy to see us and called me “chu Thang” which was a very warm feeling. It is a privilege to be part of the children’s lives. After many trials and thanks to Kathy, we were able to install Skype with audio at Thien Binh, now, the sponsors can communicate with their children directly. Kathy also brought gifts from her family and friends to donate to the children.
At Thien Binh, there are 2 deaf children, Sen and Hieu. Sen is one of our sponsored children. We took Sen to Photonak for screening, the good news is that her hearing can be restored with the best hearing aid. The cost for the hearing aid is $5300 which includes life-time guarantee, and 6 month of training and learning. In addition, one new baby, be Tuyet, was born without rectum. We took her to a children hospital in Saigon, and she was diagnostic with other medical conditions, hydrocephalus and no hip bone. The surgery to remove water from her brain was done to prevent brain damage. We are raising fund to help be Tuyet with other surgeries; http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/gift-of-hearing-and-gift-of-life/206373
We received good news that a charity group has agreed to sponsor 35 children from Tu Hanh which bring the total number of supported children to 60. At Diệu Giác, the number of orphans remains the same. The total number of sponsored children is increased to 75.
We also traveled to Pleiku/KomTum to visit our sponsored orphanage, Mai Am Guise. This place is hard to reach, it took us 2 full days on the road to travel and return. The children are very timid and not use to have visitor. We are currently sponsored 6 children from Mai Am Guise and the wish of the director is to increase to 12 children.
We also visited 2 orphanages, Mai Am Rosa in Hoc Mon and Pleiku, that are not sponsored by H4VO. The orphanages have about 75 children and are managed by Da Minh Catholic Church; they are potentially our next sponsored orphanage. The orphanages include many minority children from Pleiku and Komtum. They also have a vocational training center in Ho Nai for 33 children.
And most of all, we would like to thank all of you who have been supporting H4VO mission for all these years. Without your support, none of these successes would have been possible.
Sincerely,
H4VO 2014 Newsletter
The 2014 annual report is now available.
Help an orphan overcome medical issues
H4VO is working with Thien Binh orphanage to help an orphan with medical issues. She was diagnosed with multiple health issues: Hydrocephalus (water in the brain), no hip bones, only one kidney, no anus, and all critical tubes merged into one. The brain surgery is most critical and was successfully performed. The second surgery with external anus was done, and she recovered well. There are multiple surgeries to correct the other issues over one year. The estimated costs for all procedures is $5000-$10000.
Here are some of her photos
 
Second Annual Spirit of Christmas
H4VO gratefully express our appreciation to Villa Song for hosting second annual The Spirit of Christmas fundraising event, benefiting H4VO. The event was held on December 7 with Ms. Van Nguyen and Bich Dung as representatives for H4VO. Some children from Thien Binh orphanage were also present to greet guests.
With the success of last year’s event at Villa Song Hotel, Ms. Quoico established the English program at Thien Binh orphanage. The children excel in English at school and are much more confident with speaking English. If anyone visits Thien Binh, please check out their English skill. I cannot wait to talk to them this coming summer. We would like to shout “thank you” to Ms. Ines Quoico of Villa Song Hotel and Ms. Nhan Nguyen, English teacher.
We would like to duplicate the English program at other orphanages. Ms. Nhan has agreed to teach at another orphanage. Hope and future for the children are our goals. Please donate to support these programs.
KIND Gala fundraising event
KIND Gala on November 22 was a huge success! It was a joint fundraiser of VNHELP and Hope for Viet Orphans (H4VO).
Besides raising funds for programs assisting children in Vietnam, the two co-founders – Thu Do of VNHELP and Thang Tran of H4VO – officially announced the incorporation of H4VO into VNHELP. H4VO has become an affiliate of VNHELP and will continue to focus on programs helping Vietnamese orphans. Thang joined the VNHELP Board of Directors earlier this year; his first initiative is to merge the two Sponsor A Child Programs for consistency and resource sharing. In their opening remarks, the two leaders believed the combined strengths will triple or quadruple the impacts of their programs in Vietnam.
KIND stands for Kids In Need of Dreams.
Here are some photos from the event.
Our trip to Vietnam this summer
This summer, we again travel to Vietnam to visit the children. We visited 6 orphanages. We awarded the children who did well in school last year with gifts and treats for all the children. Please read our trip report here.
The drawing below by an orphan at Mai Am Guise and was given to us as a gift during our visit (click on the drawing for larger view).
Here are some photos from our trip.
Villa Song is helping Thien Binh orphanage with iPads
Villa Song is spearheading a program to provide Thien Binh with 15 iPads for reading and learning English. Some of the funding came from this past Christmas fundraising event (also hosted by Villa Song), and had been used to purchase 4 iPads. H4VO also donated 2 additional iPads to Thien Binh.
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