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Charlotte Community of Mindfulness In the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh |
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A Letter from Anh-Huong Nguyen |
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Anh-Huong with children of a nursery school |
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Dear Friends of the MPCF:
Twelve years ago Thu and I and some friends created the Committee for the Relief of Poor Children in Vietnam (CRPCV). We were aware of the suffering of so many poor children and their families in Vietnam, and we wanted to reach out to them. Working with Plum Village, we focused our attention on the needy children of Quang Tri province in Central Vietnam. Monastics and social workers told us that educational and nutritional support for pre-school and school-age children was a priority need. Over the years we have raised funds, and contributed our own money, to build nursery schools, pay for nursery school operational costs (including the costs for hot meals for the children), and provided scholarship support to school-age children. |
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At the beginning of 2007, CRPCV helped provide food and schooling for 220 nursery school students and scholarships for more than 200 elementary and middle-school students. In early March, I made a trip to Quang Tri Province to visit the children, teachers, and nursery schools we help support.
Often, I was taken on mopeds to visit nursery schools because the roads were too poor to travel by car. In the remote areas of Quang Tri, the land is very much like beach sand and is not suitable for any forms of cultivation except growing rice. The children’s hearts opened through their eyes, and each child’s eyes had a story to tell. Innocence was still there intact on their baby faces, yet the clouds of joy and sadness, love and fear, strength and vulnerability were floating in the morning sky of their eyes. My mind was saying, “If I were born 45 years later, I could be one of them” —my grandmother was born in the district of Gio Linh, in Quang Tri. Every time I said goodbye to the teachers and the children, my heart sang “No coming, no going. No after, no before. I hold you close to me. I release you to be so free. Because I am in you and you are in me. Because I am in you and you are in me.”
The recent big typhoon caused great damage to the land and brought much suffering to all of Central Vietnam. The water of the Fragrance River in Hue rose to 4.5 meter, even higher than it was during the big typhoon in 1999. Many homes were submerged in the water or blown away by the wind. Monastic and lay rescue teams have brought blankets, instant noodles and rice to flood victims. Several CRPCV nursery schools were badly damaged.
After my return, we decided that we had to do more. We will expand our programs, allowing us to increase the number of nursery school children supported from 220 to 400. We will also fund the construction of two new nursery schools: one with 2 classrooms and a toilet in Hai Khe Village and one with 3 classrooms and a toilet in Hai Thanh Village. To support 400 pre-school children and 200 student-age children and build the two schools, our 2008 costs will be about $45,000, $10,000 more than we raised in 2007. Additionally, we have been asked in 2008 to begin taking over responsibility for the salaries of the teachers and staff in the CRPCV schools. (Until now the salaries were paid through funds raised by Plum Village.) It is only $35 per month per teacher, but with over 30 teachers and other staff, it increases the amount we must raise by at least another $12,000 per year.
I fervently wish we could support every needy child I saw while I was in Quang Tri. Even now, months later, my eyes moisten when I think of them. Please join with us in opening your hearts to the poor children of Vietnam.
$100 will provide lunch for 20 children for a month. $1,200 will provide lunch for 20 children for a year. $2,500 will build a new classroom for a school. $10,000 will build a nursery school complex for 75 children including three classrooms, kitchen, and toilet facilities.
CRPCV is a federally recognized charitable organization – all donations are tax deductible. Further, 100% of the donation supports poor children and their families in Vietnam. There is no overhead—all of the administrative time and costs are borne by our limited staff. Donations can be sent to CRPCV, 10413 Adel Road, Oakton VA 22124.
On behalf of the poor children and their parents in Vietnam, we are sending you warmest wishes and deep gratitude this Holiday Season. May each of your days in 2008 be filled with ease and joy.
Many blessings, Anh-Huong Nguyen for The Committee for the Relief of Poor Children in Vietnam Website: www.crpcv.org Email: info@crpcv.org |
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Note: Anh-Huong Nguyen and her husband Thu Nguyen have practiced the art of mindful living with Thich Nhat Hanh for 28 years. They have led mindfulness retreats in the United States since 1988 and in 1992 were among the first students to be ordained as Dharma teachers by Thich Nhat Hanh. They are principal teachers at the Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax (www.mpcf.org). |
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Children having lunch at a nursery school in Kim Long hamlet, Hai Que village. |
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Hot lunch is served to children. |
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Children napping in their classroom after lunch. Trung An hamlet, Hai Khe village. |
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Lunch is transported by bicycle from the kitchen of a bigger school (in Don Que hamlet) to a smaller one (in Kim Long hamlet.)
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Bringing food to flood victims. |
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For more information about Charlotte Community of Mindfulness, Leslie Rawls leslierawls@carolina.rr.com Tel: 704-583-1279 PO Box 38325 Charlotte, NC 28278 |
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