Connections

Just look at this smile! This gentleman is Kim Anh's Dad. his leprosy has been arrested but he was so happy to receive the bandages that were delivered to his village from Salt Spring Island where a group of us have been knitting for the D.O.V.E. Fund Bandage Brigade. A group from Salt Spring who went on tour to Vietnam earlier this year volunteered to deliver these precious hand made bandages. The group stuffed the bandages in the nooks and crannies of their suitcases and then left them with friends in the town of Hoi An for eventual delivery to the leprosy village of Hoa Van. 

I will try to briefly recount the events in this lovely serendipitous chain of events.

• Bruce and I visited Hoa Van leprosy village with Le Ly Hayslip and the Global village foundation in  2008 bearing gifts of blankets, food and bandages
• We returned to the village in 2009 again with Global Village Foundation along with our neighbours Stan and Marie, again taking food and bandages
• In the meantime, with the support and encouragement from Linda Stoker and her D.O.V.E. Fund Bandage Brigade in the USA, Canadian women began to knit up a storm
• We met Linda Hutchinson-Burn, founder of Children's Education Fund, headquartered in Hoi An where we work each year
• CEF began to sponsor promising young scholars from Hoa Van leprosy village so that they could complete high school
• Journeys of the Heart loved the idea that children from Hoa Van and began to channel some funds to CEF in 2010.
• Kim Anh was one of the first children from the village to be sponsored by Journeys of the Heart

So many people and so many organizations connecting to ensure that these sweet people gain some relief from their poverty and discomfort.