Putting Knowledge into Practice

- by the SET Team

The fifth annual Special Education Training Conference at Hanoi National University of Special Education was a success this summer. We had a team of seven women, educators and a child psychologist. The receptivity and response from the audience were encouraging and inspiring to us, and brought home the truth that we can use our jobs to engage society.

After the conference, our group divided into smaller teams and worked at three different locations where children with disabilities are served. The team at the Hope Center  trained staff, administrators and parents how to promote and utilize parents’ input as part of the specialized education/treatment plan. Another team went to the Autism Center at the National Hospital of Pediatrics and shared about strategies to incorporate Applied Behavior Anaylsis into their existing program. The team was also invited to speak to a “Parents’ Club” for parents with autistic children. The third team went to Kindergarten Sun to train the teachers on using student centered instruction and hands on activities, and they also had the privilege of teaching a class of five year olds interactive lessons on insects. One of the most encouraging things during the trip was seeing information and materials presented at the conferences over the past five years being implemented. Our labor is not in vain and we have a deep desire to continue using our jobs to engage society for the sake of the Kingdom.

We were met at all locations by a great team of educators, doctors, and care-givers. We have known and worked with many of these people for several years. One of the wonderful blessings we receive is the relationships that we have been able to develop over time. They are not only our partners in education, sharing in a passion to empower students with special needs to succeed, but they have also become our friends. It brings great joy to be reunited with them and to see our bond of friendship grow. We anticipate these relationships to continue to grow as we work and learn together.

And a final Thank You to the incredible support of the GVI Hanoi staff! We couldn’t have done what we did without them!
 

Paid in Full

- by Tim Bird and Sherman Chau

GVI's Poverty Alleviation Program has made a big impact in a short time. Not only has the program helped poor families, but all of the families in the program have fully paid back their loans, on time and with full interest.

The Bac Ha Farmers' Association, GVI's partner in Lao Cai that supervises the loans, considers the program a success and is excited to partner with GVI over the next several years. Thirty-nine loans were disbursed to families in Lau Thi Ngai commune when the program was launched in March of this year. The small loans (maximum $125) were generated by NorthWood's Poverty Alleviation program and are collected by the Bac Ha Farmers' Assocation.

The concept for the Poverty Alleviation program was suggested by officials in DoLISA (the department of Labour, war Invalids and Social Affairs - the equivalent of our welfare agency here in the US) during NorthWood's October 2007 discovery trip. Through the collaborative effort of NorthWood, GVI, and officials in Lao Cai, a program was created to provide bridge capital to local village businesses and farmers in times of emergencies and to provide business expansion loans for village businesses and farmers. Lao Cai is located in northwest Vietnam and is one of the poorest provinces in the nation.

A Word from the Hanoi Office

- by Pham Thanh Thuy

[Thuy (pronounced "Twee") handles trip logistics and office administration for GVi's Hanoi team. She contributed this note for this month's newsletter.]

I loved all summer teams! We worked together. We had a good time together. When I saw the American volunteers playing with the orphan kids in summer camp, I understood that love has no borders. Love doesn't need language to show. We just need to follow our hearts because love is a langugage that everyone can understand. That's the most important thing I've learnt from this summer. Many of the volunteers are now my dear friends. But the most precious asset that I've got from this summer is my friendship with Jill Roberts. We became close friends. We hung out almost every night after she finished her working day at SS3 [a local orphanage that GVI supports]. Sometimes we just don't need to talk. I love the feeling when she rode on my motorbike, listening to music and enjoying the streets. After trying to teach Jill Vietnamese, I can affirm my decision two years ago to not become a teacher!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye...

- by Sherman and Becky Chau

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since we came back to the US for our homeleave! When we arrived in Keller TX last September, we had no idea how rich and full our year would be: we've soaked up a lot of American culture, reunited with friends and relatives we haven't seen in years, and have gotten to know NorthWood much deeper and more intimately. Most importantly, we are all going back as changed people. Hannah and Allison have grown so much in  NorthWood's incredible children's ministry, and Becky and I have been sharpened and have grown through Bible studies, friendships and our experiences on Quest.

We've set up a blog for our family news and general goings-on in Hanoi. If you're interested, go to shermanbeckychau.blogspot.com

There is a lot more I could tell you about our year but can't because of space. The last line of John's gospel is one of my favourite Bible verses for it's personal tone and literary flourish, so a paraphrase of it would be a fitting way to sum up our homeleave year in the US: There were so many memories and blessings from this year. If all of them were written down, I suppose that even the entire world would not contain the books that could be written.

Thank you, NorthWood for making us feel at home this year and making this an awesome experience for us!

The NorthWood Special Education Training team...

...and their counterparts from the Hanoi University of Education.

Farmers in Lao Cai have paid back their microloans, which will in turn generate more loans for other people in their community

Pham Thanh Thuy: don't learn Vietnamese from her

Come visit us in Vietnam!