One Grain of Rice

1. One Grain of Rice “We can not do great things on this earth, just small things with great love” Mother Theresa. 2008 came and went, with it our first year living in Vietnam. We are now midway through 2009 and we continue to find small projects which we can carry out to help improve life for the orphanages and the children living there. This presentation gives a brief description of some of the projects One Grain of Rice has been involved with.

2. New Floor

3. At the beginning of the 2008, we broke out an old concrete floor where the young toddlers played and ate, and replaced it with a new tiled floor. This has made cleaning much easier, improving hygiene immensely which has a big effect on the health of the children. Total Cost: US$182.00

4. Special Dinner

5. There were 75 children here, with disabilities such as being deaf, mute, or blind, having deformities, being mentally and/or physically disabled, missing limbs, and even one child with a very severe case of Hydrocephalus. Cost: US$87.00 We arranged a special dinner for some handicapt children at a government run orphanage to help them celebrate the Vietnamese New Year.

6. Going along with Tradition

7. We gave each of the 160 children belonging to the government run orphanages, which included the 75 handicapt children mentioned earlier, 20,000vnd (a little over 1 usd). Total Cost: US$198.25 Here in Vietnam, it is a tradition on the Vietnamese New Year to give children an envelope with money.

8. Something Extra

9. Over the time we have been here, we bought a lot of extra supplies for the orphanages, which included, foodstuff, tools, cuttlery, baby articles, pots and pans, school materials, medicines, etc, etc. Using the materials we had bought, we gave english lessons to the children for a few months. This wasn’t easy to begin with, but within a couple of days it was going quite well. We filled the lessons with singing, dancing and actions, which the children really enjoyed. Total cost of all extra supplies: US$1235.50 We also carried out a lot of reparations around the baby rooms which included building new shelves, fixing the ceiling fans, repairing the safety gate on the stairs, etc, etc. In this photo you can see the kids happy faces after we repaired their shower system, installing new shower hoses and showerheads, and buying them extra soap and shampoos. To help the volunteer teachers to give english lessons, we bought them some professional programs, books, teacher aids, music and lesson cd’s, posters, games, etc, etc.

10. Day 0ut at a Waterpark in Pleiku

11. Everyone had a fantastic day (us included!). They spent amost the whole day in the water and it was difficult to get them back in the bus. The children said they weren’t tired yet, but within a couple of minutes they had all fallen asleep in the bus. The whole day only cost us 150 USD, with which we were able to give 25 kids a great day out! Total cost: US$150.00 Often Ingrid and I would take a few kids on a day out, which usually consisted of a picnic alongside the local river. This time, with One Grain of Rice’s help, we took a busload of children to a water park in Pleiku, which lies 50km from Kontum. Here they enjoyed themselves by running around the park, looking at the different animals, swimming and by playing on the water slides. Of course we also included in their day out a delicious picnic lunch.

12. 2 days at the Kon Da Sieng plantage

13. In June we took 60 children to a plantage in Kon Da Sieng. This piece of land belongs to the convent and lies 10km from the orphanages. Here they grow bananas, pineapples, cashew nuts, cassava, etc., and also have a small fish pond where they raise fish to eat. There was still a bit of work to do around the place before we finally cleaned up and headed back to the orphanage. All in all, a fantastic weekend. Everyone had a great time. Total cost: US$321.00 On the first day, everyone had to pitch in to get things organized. Some of the kids helped get the sleeping places ready, while others started preparing the food for dinner. We contributed to these 2 days by donating food and other items. That evening we had a fantastic meal! The next day we did all sorts of games and sang songs with the children. Mostly the songs which we have been using in the english lessons. That afternoon we all went down to the river to cool off with a swim.

14. Sewing School

15. Beside the orphanages lies a small school which teaches girls how to use a sewing machine and how to make clothes. This gives them a chance to work when they return to their villages. This was of course very much welcome! Total cost: US$85.00 With some help from our German friends who work in the textiel business, we were able to supply the school with a large amount of material for them to use in their lessons. There was no cost for the material but there was a transportation cost of 85 USD.

16. New Watertank

17. A new dormatory had just been built which included toilets and showers. Unfortunately the project did not include any connection or outfitting of a water supply. We solved this by donating a new watertank and construction. This was our last project for 2008. Total cost: US$316.00

18. Projects In 2009 At the beginning of 2009 we had 2 projects already in mind. Both of these were in conjunction with the new dormatory which had been constructed for the boys. One was to construct a roof over the concrete area outside the dormitory, and the other to pay for the construction of 24 bunk beds to bed 48 boys. Later came a third project, to build a new storage room for rice, flour, noodles and other foodstuff. The first two are completed, the third is just beginning…

19. New roof

20. We wanted to build a roof over the concrete area outside the building to give the boys a dry area where they could wash and dry their clothes, sit to eat their dinner and to study. This roof needed to be 42 meter long en 3 meter wide and initially was going to cost 3566 USD. After some redesigning the price was lowered to 1800 USD. This amount was still too much for us at the time so we met with an American group who often visit here and told them about this project. They agreed that it was a worthwhile cause and came up with the funding. The project has now been completed.

21. Bunk beds

22. One of the old rooms One of the new room with the new bunk beds The new dormitory was finished but it needed new beds. At the time we started this project the children were still sleeping in an old shed with 2 boys to a bed (see above in the left photo). There are 4 rooms in the new building and we decided to place 6 bunk beds in each room. This came to 24 bunk beds. Total cost: US$1242.00

23. To add the finishing touch to the bunk beds our German friends came through again and donated 50 plastic matresses which are filled with small water pockets. These of course do not compare with the matresses we in the western world would sleep on but the kids were VERY happy with these. They are also easily cleaned and as a lot of these young children once in a while happen to wet their beds, this not only adds to the hygiene but also keeps those sleeping on the lower level dry! Total cost: US$600.00

24. New Project: Rat proof Storage Room

25. Our latest project is to make a new RAT proof storage room. The room in the above photos will be totally renovated. It will need to receive a ceiling, be tiled, the walls will be rebuilt and replastered, and it will be lined with wire mesh. This project is running at a cost of 675 USD. We recently heard we would receive a donation of 200 USD from the Degenhardt Foundation’s “Aid for Kids”, which we hope to put towards this amount. The rest we are hoping to raise soon Total cost: US$675.00 They would also like to have a large metal cupboard built, similar to the one in this photo but much larger. This would be an addition to the rat-proofing and has been estimated at having a cost of about US$450.00. We are waiting with this until we see how the room turns out and also if we have funds over.

26. One Grain of Rice would like to thank all those who have been responsible for making the completion of these projects possible. We do not do much but we try to help with anything that can improve quality of life. We hope that with your help we can continue to make a difference to the Vinh Son Orphanages and add something good to the lives of these children. www.onegrainofrice.nl onegrain@home.nl