Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Kids Without Borders Night Benefit Concert

Kids Without Borders - Rotary HumaniTour
Day 6 - May 13, 2012


In spite of the heavy rainstorm, the benefit concert raised more than VND10,000,000 for the "Loving Bridge Project" by the Viet Horizon Club charity organization.


THANK YOU to all of the musicians and performing artists: Tran The Hien, Thuy Vu, Khuong Ngoc, Phan Ngoc Luan, Ly Mai Trang, Minh Dao, KATA group, ... for donating your time and talent.


THANK YOU to Tina Thien-Nga Nguyen, owner of the Faifoo Boutique Hotel (www.FaifooHotel.com)and her staff for donating the use of the hotel and volunteer the staff.


THANK YOU to the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation(www.asiainjury.org) staff for their generous donation of VND2,000,000.


And THANK YOU to Minh Huynh, founder of Viet Horizon Club, and all of her volunteers.






Monday, May 28, 2012

Reunion of the Teach Me To Fish Program Alumni

May 13, 2012
Day 6 of the Kids Without Borders - Rotary HumaniTour Viet Nam

Tonight's Kids Without Borders "Loving Bridge Project" benefit concert is also a reunion for the orphans involved in KWB Teach Me To Fish program. In spite of the heavy rainstorm, more than 40 of these orphans (and some of their families) gathered at the Faifoo Boutique Hotel for the dinner prior to the concert.

After a brief delay due to power outage, the show went on with beautiful music performed by many famous musicians and singers.






Viet Horizon Club "Loving Bridge Project"

May 13, 2012
Day 6 of the Kids Without Borders - Rotary HumaniTour Viet Nam

Tonight a concert is organized on behalf of Kids Without Borders to raise funds for the "Loving Bridge Project". This project by our partner Viet Nam based charity organization Viet Horizon Club is to fund for a replacement bridge in the central area of Viet Nam. The Bong Lai hamlet is located in Hung Trach Commune (Bo Trach District) in Quang Binh Province. The small wooden bridge over the Bung River was destroyed during one of the many typhoons and for the last two years the river divided this hamlet in two. Half of the population of 1,200 (270 households) live on one side of the river across from the other half. In order to visit the market, go to school, ... one has to walk or swim across the Bung River.

All proceed from the concert will go to support the construction of a replacement bridge for the people of Bong Lai. All musicians and performers donate their time and talent to this concert.
Also in attendance beside our HumaniTour team are our friends Roni and Laurens Wildeboer from Artists for Orphans (Australia), and members and families of KWB Teach Me To Fish program.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Saigon - May 2012

May 13, 2012
Day 6 of the Kids Without Borders & Rotary HumaniTour

Our team left Hue City early this morning and took a flight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). It's coming home for Son Michael, back to the city where he was born and then left some 37 years ago at the end of the Viet Nam war.





Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Rotary brings clean water to Dong Son Commune

May 12, 2012

Day 5 of the Kids Without Borders (KWB) - Rotary HumaniTour

There are currently 284 families living in the Dong Son Commune. Half of the population living in Dong Son used to live directly on the former A So base and were relocated to the village in 2000 when it was determined that the former air base still had elevated levels of dioxin from Agent Orange on the base.

Thanks to the Rotary Foundation, the U.S - Viet Nam Dialogue Group, and the Aspen Institute, the families in the Dong Son Commune now have clean water. After the dedication ceremony, our goup visited some of the families and distributed gifts to children in the commune.





Sunday, May 20, 2012

A Luoi Valley in central Viet Nam

May 12, 2012
Day 5 of the  Kids Without Borders (KWB) - Rotary HumaniTour

7am in the morning, our group of 20 traveled by bus to the A Luoi Valley. We visited Dong Son Commune in A Luoi back in October 2011 on the previous KWB - Rotary HumaniTour. Dong Son Commune is located near the Laos border and is considered an Agent Orange hotspot. For background information on this area, visit:
A Luoi Valley & Agent Orange
Joining us on this visit are Rotarian Bill Boyd, Chair of Trustee of the Rotary Foundation; Rotarians from Australia, California, and Washington; Charles Bailey Aspen Insitute Director of Agent Orange / Dioxin Viet Nam program; and members of the U.S - Viet Nam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange / Dioxin.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Hue City

May 11, 2012
Day 4 of Kids Without Borders / Rotary HumaniTour

Today we travel to Hue City in the central area of Viet Nam.