The Vernon’s monthly newsletter on the Vung Tau Orphanage. Above, Huyen with her lanyard.
Ron and Ailsa Vernon have returned to Australia after spending a number of months in Vung Tau helping at the Vung Tau Orphanage and being such an important part of the 4th Annual ANZAC Friendship Match.
Below is an extract from their Princess Project Newsletter No. 16.
Hello everybody, we finally made it back to Australia and are getting back into the routine of things at home. We had a very busy and fulfilling time in Vietnam during which we had the pleasure of introducing the students and staff from Burdekin Catholic High School to the Centres for teh Protection of Children (in Vung Tau and Long Hai) and to the interesting and rich culture of Vietnam.
It was especially exciting to watch as Noelle Relf bonded with Huyen, the little girl who the Relf family sponsor. Noelle left her lanyard with Huyen and arranged for a fish tank to be bought for the room Huyen lives in. The fish tank is the centre of attention in the room now and Huyen was proud to show off her lanyard when we visited before we left.
After our visit to the indoor play centre we bought some tables and chairs, teasets, blocks and karaoke keyboard to equip a playroom at the centre for the kids. It has been a great hit and good to see the children having so much fun with their own toys.
…Recently a group of three dentists, two from England and one from Vietnam spent time at both Centres doing much needed dental work on all children. Apparently there was much drilling and extraction done and children were like children the world over, not at all impressed by the gift donated by these generous people. However, it was really an essential service and it is hoped that they will come back and do follow up work. Especially the HIV children who have such strong medications and who have such low immunity need good dental health. The HIV children were the last to be done and all equipment was discarded after use.
Trang Dai, has now left her position as Director of the Centres and has taken up her new role in Social Services. Hopefully she can make a difference through this government department. My Huong is now Director at Long Hai and still very involved in the day to day work especially working with adoption families at P Centre and their sponsorship program.
The Vietnam Swans, an AFL footy team, comprising mostly western expatriates from around the country, have become very special friends of ours in Vietnam. They treat us as family and have taken an interest in our projects in the Ba Ria Vung Tau Province. Following the ANZAC Friendship Match and Gala Dinner, a donation of A$1,025 was made to the Centre which has been used to replace the old blinds at the Long Hai school. They also made a generous donation to the Swim Vietnam Program. We are very grateful to the Swannies for their interest and fellowship.
On ANZAC Day, the patrons at Tommy’s Bar contributed to a generous donation which was used to purchase new cupboards for the Ngo Quyen children to store their belongings . Thanks to Glenn and Trang Nolan organising this fundraiser and for all the generous support and interest they give to the Centre.
Read the full newsletter
To read the full newsletter, click Newsletter No. 16.
