4th newsletter

 

Dear LittleBigDreams e.V. friends and supporters

We hope you are all well and healthy!

A lot has happened since the last newsletter, which we would like to share with you.

 

General news from Vietnam

There are great news: While surrounding cities are affected by Corona, fortunately, there are no newly infected people in Kon Tum. This is a massive relief for Teresa and a great joy for the children because they can finally go to school normally. Despite this fantastic news, caution is advised. Therefore, it is now especially important that the children keep the distance rules and regularly wash their hands.

 

Updates on our current projects

Bakery

We are incredibly happy to announce that the small bakery is finally finished! Of course, the greatest joy is with Teresa and the children, who have already baked delicious bread. The bakery helps to feed all children daily, and at the same time, it creates a valuable new source of income for the orphanage. Despite the great demand for fresh bread, there is no other bakery in the orphanage’s immediate vicinity. Together with your support and the hard-working construction workers from the local community, the bakery could be built and the ovens installed in a short time. The result is a spacious bakery, with a tiled floor, stone and metal ovens. Thanks to all who made this possible!

 

Garden

Our garden project continues to progress rapidly. Since the last newsletter, we have built a second water tank that collects rainwater during the rainy season so that the garden can be irrigated sustainably during the dry season. In addition to the irrigation, there has also been tremendous progress in the cultivation of the garden, as 163 fruit trees have already been planted, including orange, coconut, and avocado trees, as well as numerous vegetable plants. For only 5 Euro, you can also donate a tree that will be planted in the large orphanage garden. In this way, you contribute to the orphanage’s independence, and you also do something good for the environment.

Furthermore, Teresa could buy 30 new chickens with your donations, which run around freely in the orphanage. However, the chickens will soon get a new home because Teresa dreams of building a big chicken house with a huge free-range enclosure. We want to fulfill this wish together with you and plan to start building it in the upcoming winter.

 

Boys’ dormitory

The boys in the home are very excited because the boys’ dormitory is finished and soon be ready for the boys to move in. Together with Teresa and Thín, our founding member and architect Duc designed a solid construction plan for the boys’ dormitory, which both creates more space for all the children and allows for the spatial separation of boys and girls, thus making a significant contribution to the children’s privacy.

Based on this plan and layout, 15 construction workers from the local community built the 98m2 dormitory with four 14.8m2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a spacious storage room. There is a large veranda on both sides of the sleeping house where the boys can play protected from the rain and put their shoes on shelves. This way, they do not carry mud into the house during the rainy season, and the bedrooms remain more hygienic and clean. Inside, the four rooms are equipped with new bunk beds, mosquito nets, a large closet, and lamps.

However, there are still missing small and large shelves for shoes and books, as well as curtains and fans. If you want to contribute to making the boys in the orphanage happy, you can donate 8 small or 4 large shelves for 150 Euro, 4 fans for 72 Euro, or traditional handmade curtains from the local community for 328 Euro.

 

New Projects

Girls’ dormitory

As you can probably imagine, the girls are now very jealous that the boys will soon be able to move into their new big sleeping house. Of course, they now have the old dormitory to themselves, but it is poorly insulated. In stormy times it still rains in, and in winter, it is often too cold at night to sleep there. Therefore, we want to fulfill the girls’ wishes and build a girls’ dormitory with your help. The designs have already been finalized, and the construction will probably start in November if the rain has stopped by then. The girls’ dormitory will be similar to the boys’ dormitory. However, we will build six rooms instead of four, as there are more girls than boys in the home. The rooms will be furnished with the bunk beds from the old dormitory and new shelves for shoes, books, and large closets.

 

Multi-purpose room

We plan to renovate the old dormitory so that it can be used as a common room in the future. This is amazing because it offers enough space for all the children and is located right next to the kitchen, making it the ideal place for a dining and common room. So far, most of the children eat outside, some of them sit on tables, the rest eat on the floor. This will change with this new multifunctional room. Besides eating, the place could also be used for singing, dancing, and playing. If you would like to support us in making this space a reality, please feel free to make a donation.

 

Education building

We are delighted to present to you our new project: We will build an educational building! Currently, we are still in the planning phase, in which we are developing a concrete construction plan together with Duc, Teresa, and Thín. With the educational building, we want to create a place for the children where they can study and do their homework in peace. We also plan to integrate a small library into the building so that the children can escape the hustle and bustle of the home, read in a cozy corner and immerse themselves in their own little fantasy world. The educational building will also provide a space for the younger children to experience early childhood education. And the teenager should also benefit from this project. Therefore we want to provide them with computers on which they can improve their English and do their homework independently with learning programs.

Further news

The LittleBigDreams family is getting bigger…

Teresa and Thin have warmly welcomed 22 new children into the large LittleBigDreams family over the past few months. There are now 72 children and teenagers living in Teresa’s orphanage in Kon Tum. Unfortunately, we have only been able to arrange personal sponsorship for 22 children so far. With only 93 cents a day, you, too, can help one of our children grow up and pursue their dreams. In addition to personal sponsorships, we also arrange class and company sponsorships. Please contact us if you are interested or have any questions.

 

What is currently needed most urgently in Vietnam?

Unfortunately, none of the 72 children in Teresa’s orphanage has health insurance. This is problematic since visits to the doctor in Vietnam are very expensive. Therefore it is Teresa’s great wish to have health insurance for each of the children. With a donation, you can help us to make this wish come true.

In addition to health insurance, the new school year’s beginning was a big financial challenge, as many new school uniforms and school materials were needed. And there is still a great need for bicycles, pocket calculators, rain jackets, and reusable water bottles. On our website, you can find an overview of all the donation packages we offer. We are grateful for any form of support!

 

Committee work in Groningen

We are happy to welcome two new members to our committee in the last weeks. And there are more news from our committee work in the Netherlands: After some deliberation, we have decided to restructure our committee to make our work more effective. We are more motivated than ever, and despite Corona, we hope to achieve a lot in the coming time.

 

Kleiderkreisel & Vindet

Since a flea market is not possible due to Corona, we decided to sell second-hand clothes online. Therefore we created an account on Kleiderkreisel and Vindet. If you would like to support us, you are very welcome to provide us with your old clothes, which we will put online and sell for you. If you are looking for a new piece of clothing, take a look at our accounts; maybe you will find your new favorite piece.

On Kleiderkreisel you can find us under the username: Littlebigdreams_ev and on Vindet under: Littlebigdreams

Have fun browsing!

 

Auction

A generous supporter has agreed to design and build an incredibly beautiful table, which he will auction for us on eBay. You can find the video about creating the table on his successful youtube channel “create”. Of course, you are also very welcome to participate in the auction.

 

1 year LittleBigDreams e. V. 

We say, thanks!

There’s reason to rejoice: A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the first anniversary of LittleBigDreams e.V., and we’re still overwhelmed when we look back at what we’ve been able to achieve together with you in just one year.

Since then, we have

– 5 bathrooms & sinks built

– 163 fruit trees planted in the garden of the orphanage

– The boys’ dormitory built

– The bakery built & the first bread baked

– 2 sustainable rainwater tanks built 

– 30 chickens bought 

– 22 personal sponsorships arranged

– Many wonderful events organized 

 

Most importantly, however, all 72 children are healthy and able to attend school. Together with your help, we have made so many dreams come true and started dreaming bigger and bigger. Without you, none of this would be possible! Thank you for supporting us and accompanying us on our way! We are looking forward to everything that is still to come.

Stay healthy, and believe in your dreams!

 

The LittleBigDreams e.V. Team