Dear LittleBigDreams’ friends/ supporters
We wish you amazing holidays. And enjoy your Christmas time wherever you are! 🙂
We are back again with exciting news from Vietnam. But this time, we will also tell you three more aspects: about our great Christmas events, Christmas packages and some side informations. These packages are amazing gifts that you can give to your loved ones for Christmas. And yes, you are right. All of this money will go to the children!
News from Vietnam
As you may have read from our previous blog, the hurricane Typhoon GONI ravaged Vietnam, leaving devastation and death in its wake. Sounds scary? Well, the children were very worried as well. But, despite that, everyone at the orphanage was safe and untacked by GONI. Typhoon GONI led to significant flooding in the interior, which resulted in the flooding and destruction of about 100,000 homes. Fortunately, the location of the orphanage is high enough to be spared from the hazardous floods. We are so grateful and happy that Teresa and the children were safe!
There are some sad news: due to the heavy rain, some of the children fell ill. It was quite stressful for Teresa, because their cold did not stop for days. BUT, the good news is that: thanks to a generous anonymous sponsor, Teresa was able to buy rain jackets for ALL the children.
The children were extremely grateful and happy. Look at those lovely smiles. (see picture below)
Updates on our ongoing projects
Education House
Great news: Together with Teresa, Thin, and our founding member and architect, Duc, we agreed on the final floor plan for the educational building. Since there are no more storms, construction has already begun at the beginning of November. The plan is to build the educational building between the dormitories and the main building. Thus, the children can study there without noise pollution, nor any direct sunlight (due to the south orientation).
There is also going to be a library in the building, where the children can escape the orphanage’s hustle and bustle. Hence, surround themselves in the world of books, which we plan to equip the room with.
Next to the library, we are building a separate computer room. This room offers a fantastic opportunity for the older children to do their school and university work on computers and improve their English skills with learning programs. The educational building also has two learning rooms, one for the younger children and one for the older children. Teresa will also use one of these rooms to teach the children English.
With the new education building, the old semi-open classroom will soon be used as a music room. There, the children can relax from their studies with music. (There are studies that show the strong association between stress and music). Since Teresa’s brother works full-time as a musician and instrument maker, he already offered to teach the children. And coincidence or not, we received a generous donation from Thomann’s music company (thank you immensely for that) ! Therefore, we are thrilled to buy two guitars and guitar bags for the orphanage from them.
We are delighted that the children will soon have the opportunity to learn music because music makes people happy, connects, and simply makes life more colourful.
Below you can see the final decision of the education house plan.
Boys’ dormitory
Finally, it is so far: The boys could move into their new sleeping house!
The last furniture was finished and brought to the sleeping house. Of course, the boys are very excited and are very happy about their new rooms. Now not only can each of them sleep in their own bed, but they also have, due to the smaller rooms, much more privacy than before. Teresa is also pleased about this great success and organized a little party to celebrate the day. Yey!
Girls’ dormitory
The girls now have the old dormitory to themselves, but it is not well insulated. It still rains in stormy times, and in winter, it is often too cold at night to sleep there. Therefore, we would like to fulfil the girls’ wish together with your help and start building the girls’ dormitory soon. But at the moment we still lack the necessary funds. We are happy about every donation, no matter how small, to be able to fulfil the girls’ dream!
Christmas at the orphanage
The children in Teresa’s orphanage are already very excited because it will soon be Christmas. This is also a special time for the children in Kon Tum because they and Teresa belong to the Montagnards’ Christian minority. Therefore, Christmas is also celebrated in Teresa’s orphanage. To make this time memorable for the children, Teresa tries to decorate the home with Christmas decorations and to get presents for the children with the little money she has available. Unfortunately, this is not possible every year. On Christmas Eve and the first day of Christmas, Teresa attends the service together with all the children. Afterward, they all play something special together, dance, and sing. Also, Teresa tries to prepare a festive meal as good as possible.
Christmas events
Mindful Sunday: Flexibility, Creativity, and Reflection in Wintertime
We are happy to invite you to our online event “Flexibility, creativity, and reflection in winter times” on December 13th at 16:30 pm. This reflective Advent afternoon is organized by psychology students and yoga teachers who will give you an interactive lecture on the topics of expectations and disappointments as well as circles of thought and how to break through them. This is followed by a Feel & Flow Yoga class and then by a meditation on the theme of accepting and letting go. This Advent event is for everyone who is interested in mindfulness, reflection, yoga, and psychology – no matter what age or previous knowledge you have, we look forward to meeting you! As this event is on a donation basis, we expect a donation to LittleBigDreams e.V. in return for your participation. How much you want to donate is up to you.
Vietnamese cooking course
We are currently in the middle of planning to offer a virtual Vietnamese cooking course. In this course, we would like to prepare delicious Vietnamese dishes together with you. Due to COVID, it does not seem possible at the moment to hold this cooking course in real life. Therefore we will create an online page where you can access the cooking classes and recipes at any time. As soon as we have more detailed information about the recipes and the event’s design, we will share this with you.
Updates on our second-hand sale
Since Corona makes a flea market impossible, Malin from our LittleBigDreams committee sells second-hand clothes online. The profits she earns from this sale are donated to LittleBigDreams, e.V. If you would like to support us in this, you are very welcome to donate 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 account, you might find your new favorite piece there.
On Vinted, you can find us under Littlebigdreams.
Have fun browsing!
Christmas packages
Also this year we offer different Christmas packages, which we would like to present to you here. All Christmas presents can be picked up in Hamburg and in Groningen. Of course, we can also send them to you by mail, but you would have to pay the postage yourself. In the following, you will get a small overview of all our gift options.
Sustainability Package (only available in German)
The sustainability package includes a lovingly designed card, which you can obtain from us free of charge. You can give it to your loved ones as a gift and check the things you give them, such as a mango tree (5 euros), coconut tree (5 euros), chicken (10 euros), pig (55 euros) or a vegetable patch for 30 euros. Then you transfer the amount accordingly because happiness doubles when you share it! With your gift, dear lucky charm, you help us continue cultivating the large garden of Teresa’s orphanage. In addition to the card, the presentee will also receive a small cloverleaf made of seed paper. If he/she moistens the cloverleaf, thyme grows. This way, we can help green the world together, both in Vietnam and at home.
Health Package (only available in German)
The health package also includes a beautifully designed card that you can get for free. In addition to the card, you will also receive a symbolic LittleBigDreams patch, as the money you donate will go towards building an infirmary where the sick children can recover in peace and in good hygienic conditions. You can give this card to people to who you wish all your love and especially health. Simply enter how many brick packages you would like to donate for the construction of the sickroom (one brick package = 5 Euro).
Loving Christmas postcards
This year you can also get three different Christmas postcards from us. The beautiful motives were painted by Y Loan (7 years), A Lieu (14 years), and the 11-year-old Y Ru. To ensure that trees are still planted and not cleared, we have had the postcards printed on certified environmentally recycled paper. For a donation of at least 2 Euros, you can receive a Christmas postcard from us. For a minimum donation of 5 euros, you can get all three postcard motifs from us. Just transfer the money and write how many postcards you would like to receive for your donation in the subject line. Alternatively, you can also send us an e-mail. Important: Please do not forget to write about how we can best send you the cards. If you want us to send them to you by mail, write your desired delivery address and transfer the required postage. Especially in times of social distancing, your loved ones will undoubtedly enjoy Vietnamese Christmas greetings.
Von Herzen Salt
This year we also offer a Von Herzen salt for a minimum donation of 9 euros. This gift arrives in a beautiful glass mill decorated with a LittleBigDreams logo and decorated with a rosemary twig. This unique Von Herzen Salt is made from sea salt, tomato chili, garlic, edible hearts, basil, oregano, and peppers.
In addition to the salt, you will also receive a QR code that will take you to a website where you can view delicious Vietnamese recipes and a Vietnamese cooking course for free.
If you would like to receive one of these lovingly composed salts as a thank you for your donation, please write us a message or add the amount of your desired salts in the transfer subject. If you have any questions, please contact us at any time!
Vegan LittleBigDreams Soap
Especially in times of COVID, hand washing is more important than ever, so we are especially pleased to introduce our LittleBigDreams soap to you. For a minimum donation of only 5 Euros, you will receive a homemade, vegan soap that smells of delicious lemongrass.
“Dreams” scented candle
For a minimum donation of 6 euros, you will receive a beautiful “Dreams” scented candle in a jar. Share the love and gift this light to someone as a Christmas present.
Three different Christmas sets for Teresa’s orphanage
So that the children can also enjoy beautiful gifts and a happy Christmas, you can donate one of the three Christmas sets. These sets contain only things that the children in the orphanage dream of. We take special care to ensure that several children can use the gifts simultaneously, such as group games, painting materials, and books. Contribute to making wishes and dreams come true this Christmas at Teresa’s orphanage and ensuring that Christmas brings a bright smile to the children’s faces there as well.
We offer the following Christmas sets:
Small: 5 Euro; Medium: 10 Euro; Large: 20 Euro
SIDE INFORMATION
Can we send Christmas presents to Vietnam?
Unfortunately, this is not possible this year, because the postage and customs fees are too high. Therefore, this year, we offer three different Christmas sets that will make children’s hearts beat faster. With these donations, Teresa buys all the things that the children have long desired. This also supports local businesses and stores in Kon Tum, Vietnam. If you still want to send a personalized Christmas greeting to your sponsored child, you are welcome to send us an e-mail or scanned cards, which we will forward for you. If you have any further questions, please contact us.
Sponsorships
We are still looking for dear sponsors who would like to take over a personal sponsorship for only 93 cents a day. You are also welcome to give a sponsorship as a Christmas present or to take over group and company sponsorships. On our website, you can find out which of our children would still be happy about a personal sponsorship. If you are interested, you can also write to us at any time, and we will find a suitable child for you!
Blog
At this point, we would like to remind you that we have a blog on our LittleBigDreams website. On this blog, we share with you all updates on the projects, invitations to our events, news from the orphanage, and exciting information about Vietnamese culture. Come and visit us to join us!
Thank you!
Once again, we would like to thank you for your generous support. Without you, all this would not be possible! We wish you a wonderful and contemplative Christmas time and a beautiful start to the new year 2021. We look forward to the new year with confidence and anticipation because we can dream bigger and bigger together with you.
Giáng sinh Vui vẻ: A Merry Christmas Season and stay healthy!
The LittleBigDreams Team
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