Shelter - basic human need

25th September 2019

Mr Anh and his family lived here. Being disabled, his wife is the main labourer. Their house was very degraded and did not provide warmth or refuge from the rainy season or very hot summers. Thanks to a generous donation from a friend (who wants to remain anonymous) we were able to build them their new house. Many many thanks to you and to everyone who has contributed to #missionnampossible.
#charity #helpingthedisadvantaged #shelter #basichumanneed

You raise me up

23rd September 2019

10 year old My’s mum has ‘blood cancer ‘ and needs transfusions every month at a hospital 8 hrs away she can’t afford. Thanks to donations for her over the years to #missionnampossible for her schooling, a cow donation from Brigit  and kind donations from  Terri for supporting monthly hospital trips this year, things are looking up. There’s no dad around either to help and so we stepped in to help. #charity #ruralvietnam #payitforward #sustainabledonation #onefamilyatatime #changetheworld #bethechange

My just wrote me this letter:

To Dearest Aunt Anna,
It has been long since I last met you. Just when I finished studying today, I realised how much I miss you. This pen I am holding is trying to take words deep down from my heart to send my gratitudes to you.
Aunt Anna, how have you been? I hope you are well? Your family is still good and all? I first wish you nothing but the peace, the luck and the success in life. Oops I have been too busy asking about you that I nearly forgot to ask about your baby! I wonder how old is your baby? Is the baby growing up well? When you come back here, please take the baby with you! Aunt Anna, since we met you, our life has been saved from being a shaking boat in the middle of the stormy ocean. You are the only benefactor that I feel grateful of in my whole life. You have been supporting me from the tiny little things, the food, the clothing and even the study. It has been a source of not only material but also emotional support that raises up our life. How could I ever think of paying you back? The only thing I know for sure is to try my best to study so that I don’t take your care for granted. Do you know.. the cow you bought for us gave birth to a very cute baby cow. I feed and wash them everyday. I hope you feel happy about this. Another thing that I remember is the trip you organised for us to visit Hoi An. It would have been more fun with you coming. When you come back, I will tell you everything about the beauty of Hoi An from my eyes. There are wonderful sights across the country that I wish to take you and your baby to come along!
Again, I nearly forgot to tell you about my mum. She has been unwell, been sick very often. Right before I entered a new school year, I went with mum to do the blood transfusion at hospital in Hue. I feel so worried about mum and only wish that she could stay with me forever. I feel for her so much! Thanks to your help, we have been able to afford these visits at the hospital. Otherwise, I could not dare to think what would have happened?
You are the fairy in my ordinary life, the only real fairy that I adore. I wish you a life of good health and happiness so that we can always keep in touch like this.
I am still curious about your baby being a girl or a boy!
I have been writing so long that I just realised it is late already! Aunt Anna, I really have to end here. My last words are spent to thank you for helping me and my mum, and to wish you a life of good health and happiness.
Bye for now,
Your little girl - My

Reflections

27th July 2019

I received this letter from one of the girls #missionnampossible supports after their exciting outing out of the mountains.

”To dearest Aunt Anna,
On the occasion of the trip to Hoi An organised by the council and funded by you, we were all glad that it was so beautiful over there. The landscapes are beautiful and the climate was cool and fresh there! Also there were many games that we liked them very much.
 I held on my pen and quickly jotted down few things I had kept for a while and would like to send my greatest gratitude to you.
First of all, I wish you and your family happiness and a good health. Besides, are you having any difficulty at work or anything? Thanks to your care and support, the disadvantaged families have risen to survive better and you still spare a thought to organise a trip for us to visit place to place, from which we learn new things and expand our knowledge. Everyone is happy and grateful to have you and see you as the second mom. We will try study at our best and become good citizens, contribute to our society and our country to keep our words with you. About my own family, everyone is doing fine, we are earning more money compared to few years ago. I would like to let you know how we are going so that you feel excited for us. Thanks to your good heart, we have been supported to overcome troubles and two of us are able to go to school. This letter has been quite long, I would like to end here and again send a good health, a lot of happiness and good luck to you, your family and also your relatives. We would love to have you come back soon”.

The Alam family purchased them a cow in Jan 2017 and we support Grandma to send both girls to school.
We can make a difference one little person at a time. #charity #education #littlebitoflove #caring #payitforward #education #makeadifference #bethechange

Life doesn’t have to be perfect to have joy

13th July 2019

Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be filled with joy. My friends in rural Vietnam we support with cows, building houses and paying for educational scholarships know this. It’s summer holidays there. These kids have never left their commune or the mountains. I decided that they needed a day of joy. A day to be kids and focus on their self esteem and psychological development; to enjoy their summer vacation a little and to be able to go back to school with a story of something they did over summer. So I planned a huge day out for them: two buses took all the kids we support to stay in school and their guardian on a long bus ride to go see the ocean, visit historical town of Hoi An, an amusement park, enjoy a seafood lunch and ice cream, see a bookshop and a shopping centre in the town. Tears to my eyes when I received these pictures of them. One 70year old Grandma who attended cried and said that in her entire 70years of age she had never visited Hoi An or had a day like this.
Huge thanks to donations that made this memorable day possible for them. #missionnampossible #charity

Achievement!

2nd July 2019

29 children covered to remain in school for another year ✅
4 more cows bought ✅
1 house built ✅
1 yr hospital fees for monthly transfusions for single mum with blood cancer ✅
Cannot thank everyone enough for their donations and making this possible. #missionnampossible #charity

Computers

30th May 2019

I am so proud to be a director on the board of GGC Volunteers and coordinate projects such as this one!

We strongly believe and value education, health, hygiene and supporting the communities that need support. We have just funded a disadvantaged school with computers and computer tables for their classroom! Previously, computer class was taught from a book and these children never even touched one!
#charity
#ggcvolunteers #ggcvietnam #volunteering #volunteer #volunteers #vietnam #disabilities #disability #physiotherapy #occupationaltherapy #payitforward #love #helping #disadvantagedchildren #ngo #volunteerprogram #rehabilitation #orphanage #shelters #rehabilitationclinics
#education #donation

No more leaky roof

4th February 2019

Mrs Inn and her husband both have agent orange disabilities. Mrs Inn’s husband died last year from his agent orange disabilities. Mrs Inn ‘s son and wife and their two children stay with her. They live in a remote mountainous district part of an ethnic minority group. When I say they stay together, they live together with no toilet, a kitchen is like a camp fire outdoors and they only have a leaky old rusted metal roof for shelter.
Well..... just in time for Lunar New Year, we have built them a house!!!!! Comes with classic Vietnamese tiles and all! A huge thanks to Daniella L who donated to make this possible.

#charity #missionnampossible #agentorange #disabilities #ethnicminority #shelter #house #basicneeds #payitforward #giving #helping #humanity #nomoreleakyroof

A new home...

5th December 2018

It’s completed! Grandma Hoa and her granddaughters have a house, electricity, a cow for income and the girls #education is also covered!!! What an amazing accomplishment. Thank you all who have #donated. #Change starts here. One family at a time. And by golly gosh we are doing so much and touching so many families 😊 Ngan who is in grade 6 wrote us a letter of #gratitude:
“To dearest Auntie Anna,
On behalf of my whole family, I am writing this to express our deeps thanks and gratitude to you and your charity for your kind #support. Thanks to you, we have been granted a nice #house and #scholarships so that we are able to get new clothes and school supplies.
From there, three of us (the family) have had a warm nest to stay away from the usual cold rain during wet weather.
We promise to pursue our study as it is how we pay back your help. Auntie Anna, our #cow is growing up so quickly!
Again, we wish you a good health and a lot of happiness.
From
Nguyen Thi Thanh Ngan”
#missionnampossible #ruralvietnam #disadvantagedfamilies #charity #changingtheworldonefamilyatatime

Combined efforts

13th November 2018

Some of you may remember Grandma Hoa’s story I posted recently: struggling to look after her granddaughters in a broken ‘house’ with leaks and holes and no electricity. Mission:nampossible and John and Rita purchased her a cow to give her an income. Leah has sponsored the girls’ education and school fees.
A combination of donations have now built her a new house!!!!! It is currently under construction and Grandma Hoa cannot believe her luck.
It is amazing what a difference a few people can make. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to mission:nampossible and has made this possible for her. We got in just before rainy season too!
#donations #charity #payitforward #ruralvietnam #missionnampossible #shelter #education #makingadifference #onefamilyatatime

Meet Jill

17th September 2018

Meet Mr Hao and his wife Mrs Huong. This is both their second marriage and between them, have 5 children they are trying to support. The children are between 11 years old and 2 months of age. Mr Hao works as hard as he can to support them all – a great responsibility and testament to his character to take on another man’s children in this community.
‘Jill’ the cow was purchased with funds from Rotary Club of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrooke. Many thanks for your donation.

Meet Gwen

17th September 2018

Meet Mrs Vien. Her husband died from agent orange complications in 2011. Mrs Vien still takes care of her 88 year old mother in law. She also has 6 children, all extremely smart. She believes in education and has taken out loans to support her children’s education and future.

Truong Thi Anh Ngoc, born in 1994, graduated from the University of Agriculture and Forestry-Ho Chi Minh City but could not get a job, so nowadays works at a restaurant in Da Nang.
Truong Thi Anh Nga, born in 1996, graduated from high school.
Truong Thi Anh Nguyet, born in 1998, is currently attending second year at Quang Nam Medical College.
- Truong Quoc Hau, born in 2001, is a good student, preparing to enter grade 12.
- Cheung Quoc Duc, born in 2003, is a good student, preparing to enter grade 10.
- Truong Thi My Hanh, born in 2007, is a good student, preparing to enter grade 6.

‘Gwen’ the cow was purchased from a donation from Rotary Club of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrooke. Many many thanks for your donation.

A gift from God

Meet Grandma Hoa. She is 56 years old and takes care of her two granddaughters. This is a very poor family, they don’t even have electricity, but use little oil lamps. Grandma Hoa is the breadwinner raising 2 granddaughters by herself.
Ngan was born in 2006.
Ngan's dad is Grandma Hoa's son. He lived with Ngan's mom in 2007 and after a while, he brought Ngan back home for grandma to take care of her since Ngan was 1 year old. Ngan has been a good student and achieved excellent results for 5 years in a row. She is currently in year 6.

An was born in 2014. In 2013, Ngan's dad got married to a woman who gave birth to An. When An was 8 months old, the mom left then at the end of 2016, the dad finally disappeared as well. Grandma Hoa no longer has contact with either of them.

Grandma’s dreams are:
+ Please assist Ngan to stay at school as the family is too poor to afford the fee.
+ Support needed to provide electricity for the family. Cost is 4 million VND - $240.
+ A cow is also in need as an extra earning.

‘Theodora’ the Cow was purchased by a generous donation from John Tchetchenian and family. The cow was named Theodora as the name means a gift from God/ the one who is an answer to your prayers and we thought it was fitting for this grandma.
If anyone would like to take on Ngan’s school fees for high school, please let me know. I have committed to installing the electricity in their house as living and studying by those two little oil lamps broke my heart (again).

A cow named Benny

16th September 2018

Meet Ms Lua. She comes from a very poor household. She is a labourer in the fields who also takes care of her sister, Ms Tham who has a mental illness.
Ms Lua has a daughter, Nguyet. She has just finished year 12 and awaiting her results. In the meantime, she has gone to the big city to sell lottery tickets on the streets.
I have to truly thank Brigit Rosenmai for her donation in the form of a cow called "Benny".

A letter of hope

15th September 2018

Some of you may remember Grandma Hien
Who received chúc may mắn"- the 'Good Luck' cow donated by John and Rita.
Grandma Hien’s daughter at the age of 30 had a stroke whilst working in a factory and died. Her husband then disappeared, leaving behind their 5 year old daughter, never to be heard from again. Not wanting her to end up in an orphanage, Grandma Hien has been battling to provide for 8 yr old Truc.
Truc wrote me a letter when she received her scholarship again for this year.  I attribute her gratitude to John and Rita for changing their lives with the cow and to the donors of the scholarships.

The letter reads:
To dearest Auntie,

To begin with, I really do not know what to say. I wish you a good health. Unlike my friends, I was born in an unhappy family. Having neither mom nor dad, I live with my elderly grandma. Luckily our very hard life is saved by you. Your kind support helps me have a chance to go school like other kids.

Auntie, we owe you a debt of gratitude for what you have done. From the bottom of our hearts, we can only say thank you for being our light at the end of the tunnel. I promise not to fail your faith but to keep doing well at school. For my last words, I send you more good health wishes.

Doan Phan Thuy Truc

#missionnampossible

New school year goals

14th August 2018

Well the school year starts again in September for Vietnam and I am so happy to be able to say that with donations, we are able to support 21 children with educational scholarships to continue with their schooling. You can find their stories on http://missionnampossible.blogspot.com.
This is amazing and has cost us around $3500.
I’d like to seriously thank Deborah, Bianca and Ashleigh-Rose who have been depositing a small amount every fortnight to mission: nampossible. That small amount which is seemingly ‘nothing’, has accumulated and will pay for at least 7 of these children to attend school. Million thanks!

The epitome of filotimo

18th July 2018

Huge thanks to Gina for this follow up interview and recognising the medals I received in Vietnam for what we do. Again, not possible without you all and your support!

https://greekcitytimes.com/2018/07/17/anna-papoutsakis-the-epitome-of-filotimo/amp/

A letter of gratitude

9th July 2018

Some of you may remember Mrs Phi and her four daughters. Her story can be found here:

http://missionnampossible.blogspot.com.au/2017/01/you-dont-lose-anything-in-supporting.html?m=1

Mission:Nampossible has been supporting the four girls with education scholarships. Thank you to all who donate.
Ly, wrote the following letter to me this week:

To dearest Aunt Anna,
I wish you good health and truly congratulate you and your family on the birth of your son.
Aunt Anna, my whole family has thrived for a better life thanks to you and your charity organisation. Especially for me, I have been supported to pursue my study. So far, I have had a rather satisfying exam period and will get more assessments to complete the first year in August. Apart from going to college, I also work part time in order to assist my mom with our living expenses.
Despite the hard work, I promise you to do my best to study as well as to overcome the hardship that life brings to us. Only by doing so, I feel worth of your kindness and generous assistance.
All of my siblings are doing well at school and coming up with good results. They are now having summer holidays. My mom is still working as usual.
My final words are to thank you so much as well as to wish you and your family happiness and good luck. More blessings for your charity organisation.
Goodbye for now,
On behalf of my whole family
Nguyễn Thị Trúc Ly

#missionnampossible
 #charity
#education

More cows!

16th June 2018

Huge thank you to Rotary Club of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook for their donation to purchase three more cows for disadvantaged families in Rural Vietnam. Huge thanks also to their member John Tchetchenian who also personally gave me funds to purchase another cow for a fourth family. I am humbled and grateful for your support. One family at a time. We are making a difference!

Feeling famous

Throwback to 6th June 2017:

Huge thanks to Lorraine Clifford for writing this article about me and mission:nam'possible