The tag line at Reaching Out where we volunteer in Vietnam is "gifts that give twice", meaning that by buying a gift in this fair trade social enterprise, the recipient of the gift is happy and also the disabled artisan who has made the gift is happy with his or her gift of independence and pride.
I love this idea and the expression holds true for me. I have loved opening the mail these days, to find cheques for our Journeys of the Heart. Our generous donors are also feeling the satisfaction of sending a child to school, supplying library books for remote villages, giving a victim of Agent Orange a "leg up" in starting a new home based business or sponsoring the training of a disabled crafts person. The recipients of your generosity will be happy for many years as the gifts go on and on, as their opportunities expand.
In early January, a tour group from Salt Spring will be taking a supply of bandages to Hoi An for distribution to a leper village. These lovingly created cotton knit bandages provide relief from irritation, pain and injury.
I am grateful to all who have contributed this year to our projects in Vietnam.
I am also grateful to the people with whom we work, who have dedicated their lives to enabling the Vietnamese.
- Linda Hutchinson-Burn: Children's Education Fund Vietnam
- Linda Stocker: Bandage Brigade
- Le Ly Hayslip: Global Village Foundation
- Phuong, Hoa and Tinh: Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange
- Mai Thi Kim Quyen and Le Nguyen Binh: Reaching Out Vietnam
