Library of Hope has just opened

Library of Hope

Miss Thanh from SVA writes the following;             “I am glad to share with you a brief note concerning the charity library at the Truyen Tin Orphanage sponsored by the Solvay Vietnam Alumni Club (SVA).  In just 2 months, SVA raised 83,000,000 VNĐ (~4,000 USD) in cash and donations in the form of books, stationary, furniture, and a computer. On 23rd January 2011, the grand-opening of the Library of Hope was a blast. Many volunteers and donors participated in guiding the children in how to use the library. I could see smiles on their faces.               Thanks to the donation of tables and chairs from Akzonobel company, and books from … Continue reading

Christmas 2010

Christmas cheer! Father Paul ( on the right) is such a jolly Father.

On 21st December, we had a Christmas dinner and gift giving at TTO. Due to the construction of the new building, we had to have the dinner inside the house. There was no space in their yard, for there were materials for construction everywhere. Father Paul brought his youth group of about twelve people and I took a few friends with me. I met Ms. Mai there, who is an oversea Vietnamese. She happened to know TTO the day before the dinner party and she couldn’t help but staying over the night, seeing how much Miss Cu needed help. She is such an angel. We had spring rolls, rabbit curry, … Continue reading

New faces and Christmas preparation

Hang, 4 years old.

In early November when a friend and I visited TTO, there were three new faces. One baby was just a week old and another one, two weeks old. Miss Cu received them with open arms. She is such an angel! I, as poor a musician as I am, like to sing and here am I teaching the orphans to sing some Christmas songs and others in English and Vietnamese. They sing Vietnamese very well, of course. The orphans are singing with me (Mati). Miss Cu likes singing too. Christmas dinner/gift giving will be held on 21st Dec. and I’ve been fund-raising for this occasion. If you’d like to give this … Continue reading

A reading room for Truyen Tin Orphanage fundraising starts

As you may know that our Solvay Alumni Fund (http://solvayalumnifund.wordpress.com/) is setting up a reading room for Truyen Tin Orphanage in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City. The goal is to help improve the level of academic and social knowledge through reading and learning. SAF will financially support the set up of the reading room to serve 60 orphans with books, multi-media facilities, and furniture. The reading room will provide printed books, magazines, periodicals, novels as well as media such as television programs, movies and music. In addition to providing a physical reading room, SAF will involve tutorial services to help children with difficulties they face in school, and … Continue reading

Clowns’ visit

Clowns

In early October we had a group of clowns visit from the USA. They were so funny and made everyone giggle. Please look at the photos. You can see the big smiles of the orphans. This kind of acts of kindness really mean a lot to the orphans. Thanks, clowns. You did a fantastic job! … Continue reading

Mid Autumn Festival 2010

My husband and I host Silver Lining English club weekly. On 22nd Sept. some of the students from SLEC and their friends, about fifteen of them visited TTO (Truyen Tin Orphanage) on the occasion. Every year, 15th of eighth lunar month, the people of Vietnam celebrate this day. It’s also called Children’s New Year. The parents want to show their love to the children. About a month before this day, the streets here have many stalls selling the moon cakes and lanterns. We also gave them moon cakes, fruits, many snacks, notebooks, toiletries, pens, pencils and used clothes. When we went there, the orphans welcomed us with their smiles and … Continue reading