Education | Rose Charities International

Dr Andrew Macnab. Expert on Health promoting schools

and founder Brighter Smiles Africa

An amazing group of people attended the Jan 2013 Rose Charities Canada Project Forum of varied interests and backgrounds and organizations. A comment from one of the participants summarized it well ‘I cant believe the amount of shere competence and expertise present in this room this evening; The meeting was held again at Creekside Community Centre. False Creek, Vancouver

This year the format was slightly different. instead of fixed presentations the concept was to more to generate debate, comment and constructive participation. In the first half Will Grut of Rose International summarized the network in an individual presentation but invited the various project groups to update as their projects were presented. In the second half a panel consisting of Dr Andrew Macnab ( www.brightersmilesafrica.ca ) , Dr Ruth Brighouse and Annette Borkent (www.safemotherhoodproject.org ) facilitated discussion using aspects of their excellent projects to focus on particular issues.

Food, sushi, dips, cakes, cookies and coffee were kindly provided by some of the participants, notably Dr Diana Carter (UBC Psychiatry Dept)

Attendees concentrate on a presentation

Notable attendees in addition to those mentioned above, were Ms Sue Ishii www.amdacanada.org , Nicole Schouela, Honey Halpern and a team from www.standtalleducation.org , Prof. Jane Roskams of the The Ha Mpiti Project/Mathabo Leadership Academy Project, Lesotho, Liz Moss of Proyecto San Gerardo Costa Rica, Luke King of Rose Madagascar www.rosecanada.info/madagascar/ Will Grut represented Roses Cambodia and Vietnam www.rosecambodia.org www.rosevietnam.org and Dr Yoga Yogendran of Rose Sri Lanka Committee www.rosesrilanka.info . International Counsellor (original organizer of 2005 Rose Tsunami post traumatic counselling program) Yaya de Andrade ( see http://rosecharities.blogspot.ca/2009/12/impact-of-disasters-on-children-by-dr.html ) attended as well as Emily McCance and
Pierre Etienne Banville
of the Rose Social Enterprise Committee (see https://rosecharities.org/2012/11/social-enterprise-seminar-vancouver/ ) . The Hillman Fund www.hmef.info were well represented by Dr Joanne Young and Mr Craig Keeting , as were International Health Initiatives, Juliette www.internationalhealthinitiatives.com . Dr Ellen Coburn of www.mayanproject.org Guatemala school project contributed an excellent update. Mrs Janice (and husband Dr David) Wensley of the Safe Motherhood Committee of Rose Charities came as did Rose Charities Canada’s Chair, Maggie Francis and Hon Treasurer Eric Vanderluit Accountant Kevin Simpson, (who carries out pivotal accounting work for Rose Canada) as did a fellow accountant and Rose supporter, Richard McCallum

Dr Ruth Brighouse and Anne Borkent of Safe Motherhood

Guatemala

The atmosphere of the meeting was stimulating, creative and constructive. Discussions ranged around many areas though focusing on transfer of training and teaching schools. Such skills transfer is very much the focus of the projects (Birthing attendant skills Guatemala and Health Promotion in Uganda) . The Rose Charities network is now fairly broad as well as deep and the forum allowed organizers from dispersed parts of it to meet and exchange ideas.

A big thank you to Maggie Francis (Chair Rose Charities Canada) and Linda Roberts(Rose International Hon Sec) for much of the structuring of the meeting.

Dear Quizzers:Thank you for supporting the Rose Charities quiz night.The funds we raised will provide continued education to the 200+ children in the Mahastara school in Madagascar, and support for the 50+ street children in the Rose VN school in Thanh Tien. We also provided Saturday lunch for approximately 30 at the Union Gospel Mission with the Quiz Night left-overs!Below is one quiz category on Vietnam that we did not get to on Quiz Night:

Question 1: How much does it cost to provide a university scholarship for a gifted Vietnamese student? (Answer: $400)

Question 2a: How many street children in Thanh Tien are receiving an education and a hot meal everyday from Rose Vietnam? (Answer: 50)

Question 2b: How much does it cost to support these children? (Answer: $25/month)

Question 3: Thanh Tien suffers extreme poverty because:

a) It was bombarded with Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.

b) It is battered by typhoons and winter storms annually.

c) It was caught in the cross-fire of the North/South armies

duringthe Tet offensive.

(A: All of the above)

Question 4: How much does it cost to provide basic vaccinations for 4 children in Vietnam? (A. $100)

Question 5: What is the cost of building a brick home for an extended family in Thanh Tien? (A. $2000*)

*Rose Vietnam receives support from a Canadian Company -PEB Steel, who have committed to providing the roofing on all construction in Thanh Tien.

Please keep these answers in mind as Christmas approaches. You can give the gift of education, sustenance or shelter in the name of a friend or family and we will send them a card on your behalf. If you, or a group of your friends, decide to support a brick home for an extended family in Thanh Tien village we will happily put your name on the home, eg — “Donated by the Dunbar Book Club, Vancouver, Canada”. Rose Charities is a registered Canadian Charity: tax receipts are issued for all donations over $25.

For more information on the Rose Vietnam please visitwww.rosevietnam.org.

For more information on Rose Madagascar Mahastara please visitwww.rosemadagascar.org

Below is a detailed report of the Rose Charities Vietnam Thanh Tien community project which outlines our plan to lift this village out of poverty. If you have a moment, please read it… our goal is to raise $25,000 to make this happen. You’ll be amazed at how much we will accomplish with that much money.

Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you at next year’s Quiz.

Jan and Cathy

Rose Vietnam Community Development Project

For 400 years Thanh Tien village has been producing beautiful hand-made paper flowers. These flowers are particularly significant during the lunar new year holiday (Tet). Before the war Thanh Tien village thrived from the sale of these flowers, which were popular and much sought after throughout the country. But this village has not recovered from the devastating effects of the war, compounded by the damage wrought almost annually by typhoons and major storms.

In 2010 Rose Vietnam was approached by Thanh Tien’s Chief and village elders for support to revitalize this indigenous craft. They feel this renaissance and the related stimulus to tourism will alleviate poverty by creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, many of whom are currently forced to leave home in search of work.

Rose Vietnam has set out a three-pronged plan to implement the project:

PHASE I

1.Refurbish the facilities where the flowers are currently made, which will also serve as a “class-room” for the flower making classes offered to tourists. Provide funds for the local villagers to purchase quality materials for the hand-made flowers. (This has been partially accomplished)

2.Initiate training programmes for guides / translators (ESL essential, and other languages), hospitality, marketing and accounting courses. (Deferred for lack of funding but is a high priority).

3.Design the Welcome Center (This has been accomplished with the assistance of a local architect who donated his services).

PHASE II

1.Establish the Welcome Center, featuring a pictorial history of Thanh Tien village and the hand made flower-making tradition, as well as a coffee shop/restaurant and an outlet for visitors to purchase the flowers. (Pending).

2.Establish a Board to oversee the activities and growth of the project comprised of the village Chief, members from the local community and a representative from Rose Charities Vietnam.

PHASE III

1.Market to local, national and international travel media and operators. (Members of the Rose VN Board have personal connections with Saigon Tourism, the Saigon Times and individuals in the travel industry in Vietnam).

2. Prepare multi-language visual and written media re the history of Thanh Tien and the historic significance of the paper flowers. This information will also be produced in Braille by the Rose Vietnam school for blind adults currently supported by Rose Vietnam.

3. Prepare press materials for local and national media.

Funding will provide ….

Better quality materials (i.e. paper and dyes);
An attractive Welcome Center where visitors can buy and/or learn how to make the flowers and learn about the history of this village and this craft;
Training for young people in tourism/hospitality so that they can ensure the long term success of the project;
Language training to act as guides and interpreters;
Enrollment in accounting and business to ensure proper management; and, most importantly,
Assistance with marketing and media to promote tourism to the village.

The timing for this project is serendipitous: Hue is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the central coast of Vietnam. In 2012 the Ministry of Tourism in Vietnam is promoting Hue through “National Tourism Year”. Statistics from the Vietnam National Tourism Board show that in 2011 international visitors to Vietnam reached almost six million; international arrivals in 2012 are up over 20%. Given that Hue is among the top five Vietnamese cities visited by foreign and local tourists, we can anticipate that a minimum of 15% of these tourists will visit Hue and Thanh Tien Village, which is located on the Huong River about 5km downstream from Hue and opposite the ancient town of Bao Vinh.

Through Rose Vietnam, a licensed charity in Vietnam, we have established a strong relationship with the elders and the village community and are supporting a number of projects in Thanh Tien. These include a school for blind adults, income generation programmes for the blind, a school for street children and the construction of brick homes for impoverished villagers who are either homeless or living in shacks. Rose Charities believes that a relatively conservative investment in the 400-year-old indigenous craft will lead to an improved quality of life and ultimately prosperity for this entire village.

Thank-You for your interest in our project!

www.rosecharities.ca