Category Archives: Rose News

UK to Mongolia in and old Suzuki and support for Rose Charities. Bravo to the mighty Midgleys and Lee Schab !

khan-touch-this-finishAll and every congratulation to Will and Henry Midgley (NZ) and Lee Schab (Vancouver, Canada) for the epic journey to Mongolia in their little 1000cc second-hand  Suzuki car.  12 countries and thousands of kilometers many over the most difficult roads.  The photos below give a pictorial account of the trip.  The team made Rose Charities one of their two sponsored organizations.  The whole Rose network is hugely grateful   To date almost 1000 pounds have been raised for Rose international projects.  To donate (click)

 

 

The start …

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Left to right. Barbar Reade (Rose Charities UK), Will Midgley, Lee Schwab, Henry Midgley

The journey…

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Difficult moments…

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Excellence in Education: Uganda March 2013

Kampala, Uganda, will see Rose Charities, partner organizations, supporters and anyone interested meeting to discuss and hear presentations on education and health training.   Rose Charities organizations ‘Brighter Smiles‘  and Stand Tall Education will be the main organizers but input from others such as the Hillman Fund , HEADA , Greater Learning is anticipated. Topics will be widespread but cover such interesting areas as peer-to-peer education, health promoting schools (Dr Andrew Macab is an expert in this field), goal focus  and enrichment of the education process, and new health promoting and training initiatives. There will be visits to the project sites of Stand Tall and Brighter Smiles, and (on Sat 9th) a strong discussion involvement by school children themselves.  The goal is to educate and increase the practical  knowledge base of participants, network and update on current areas of success in new health and education initiatives.

The conference is open without charge (up to a certain seating limit, after which a charge may be requested ) to an genuinely interested and/or group representatives.

Download program and information sheet and registration form   nb these sheets will be continually updated so please call back and repeat also)

Rose Charities Canada Jan 2013 Project Forum

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.

 

Talented teenager Andrew Warner to make film in Haiti..

KIDS MAKING A DIFFERENCE -Andrew Warner, aged 15, will be travelling to Port Au Prince with his mom (one of Rose Haiti Project organizers and a pediatric nurse) in March 2013 to film a documentary on sustainable giving from a teenager’s perspective. The project he will be filming involves the neonatal resuscitation course Rose Charities supports for health care workers in Haiti. Andrew speaks French and has always been interested in humanitarian work, and produced a homelessness documentary when he was 12 years old. He has been working as a tutor and madly fundraising to support this trip, from craft fairs to games nights, to slam poetry/music night fundraisers. Attached is the link for a humanitarian poem he wrote that recently won him First Place at a Youth Poetry Slam contest. If you would like to donate, please click on the Haiti project to direct your funds to this project. http://youtu.be/WG1N1JEzBbM

Jessica Blake donates her lovely song ‘The more I see’ to Rose Charities work in Cambodia

Jessica Blake.... writer and singer of 'The more I see'

The beautiful singer and songwriter Jessica Blake has dedicated one of her most lovely songs to Rose Charities.  ‘The more I see’   was written during a visit by Jessica to Cambodia where she was moved by the courage of the poor battling with so much need.  Jessica discovered there of the work of Rose Charities (now around 20 years) in Cambodia and so with huge generosity dedicated this incredible song to Rose work.   Please click to listen to if and, if  you are like it and would like to honour tnd thank Jessica by donating a little to Rose Charities efforts use the donation pageof this site.  The funds will be used to help the poor of Cambodia in one of Rose’s many projects there

Christmas thoughts for Rose Vietnam

 

 

 

 

 

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 ….

  1. Better quality materials (i.e. paper and dyes);
  2. 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;
  3. Training for young people in tourism/hospitality so that they can ensure the long term success of the project;
  4. Language training to act as guides and interpreters;
  5. Enrollment in accounting and business to ensure proper management; and, most importantly,
  6. 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

 

 

Copyright © 2012 Rose Charities Canada, All rights reserved.
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Social Enterprise Seminar – Vancouver

Social Enterprise Seminar 2012.

Held at the Creekside Community Centre Vancouver in Fall 2012, the seminar attracted a group of Rose Charities enthusiasts and supporters with wide interests and areas of involvement.  Rose Charities organizers believe very much in sustainability and local support and involvement for all projects and one way to achieve this is to incorporate social enterprise components wherever possible.

The meeting spanned initiatives both at the donor end as well as the field project end, as well as those which bridged both.  Moderated by Rose International Members, Linda Roberts and Will Grut, the keynote speaker was Margaret Mason of Bull Housser who outlined some of the basic and most important aspects of social enterprise projects.

From the Vancouver end, the ‘Lot To Give‘ and ‘Give Group‘ programs were presented by Laura Benson and Kris Roberts respectively  In principle these are based around the concept of supply of a service either online or through other sources or retail outlet with significant focus on charitable donation.  With Give Group this is through real-estate transactions.

From the field, projects presented included Rose Vietnams paper flower making at Than Thien Village, a centuries old historic art which Rose Vietnam has been helping to revive.  Beekeeping in coordination with the Bee World Organization in Zambia and Cambodia,  brickmaking in Uganda with Dr Andrew Macnabs Brighter Smiles group, and volunteer tourism and elective student field experience trips in Cambodia.  Lawrence Keenan, continually one of the main project instigators and supports in Sri Lanka, outlined the current social enterprise initiatives there, including the amazing  Rose Sri Lanka microcredit program and other initiatives embracing health and food distribution.

Janine Vertone’s initiative (Ukama Arts) of import and sale of Zimbabwe sculptures , with much of the proceeds being returned for Zimbabwe school support is a project which links both the field and the donor end.  The honey projects mentioned above also fit into this category as the Honey Bee Centre in Surrey will, if possible, purchase and import any honey not sold locally through its international projects.  Finally Malambo Grassroots in Zambia also has several womens groups who produce handicrafts, some of which are sold in Vancouver

Following presentations were discussions on some of the challenges the projects faced, how they were planned and established as well as future projections.  Interchange of ideas was beneficial and interesting and groups came away with new ideas for further development of plans for their areas.

Refreshments were kindly supplied by some of the participants (thank you Linda Roberts) and there was general agreement that the seminar was both beneficial and interesting, and should be repeated in 2013.

 

RoseJet powers up Sri Lanka kids education with K2K

As the 2012 school year enters its final months, it’s time for Rose Charities Sri Lanka to begin implementing its K2K (Kid to Kid) or JET Scholarship Program for the 2013 school year. So far, 16 students from the Natpiddimunai, Annamalai, and Pandirupu areas have been identified as needing special help and support. These 16 students, ages 6-15, come from families which have been severely affected by tsunami, war, or other hardships. All are missing at least one parent, and all face great obstacles to receiving the basic necessity of a proper education.

Rose Charities has worked with community support workers, local public school administrators, and the divisional secretary’s office to identify those children with the greatest need. After background checks and verification was conducted by RCSL, 16 students and their families were brought together for a meeting on August 30th with Rose Charities Sri Lanka CEO Anthony Richard and Rose staff who implement this program. Each of these 16 students will receive continued financial and material support provided by generous overseas donors participating in the K2K program. Initially, this will include a school supply package consisting of pens, pencils, a geometry set, textbooks and exercise books, and a backpack. In addition, an educational savings account has been opened for eight of the older students with an initial deposit.

CEO Anthony Richard talked with the families about the importance of saving for a child’s educational future and of the great empowerment and success that can be attained with a quality education. He also stressed accountability for both students and parents in keeping Rose Charities up-to-date so that it can provide continued support, and in ensuring that the funds donated to the K2K program are making a real and lasting impact on children’s lives.

More information on the K2K program can be found here: http://roseeducation.wordpress.com/k2k/
We wish these students the best of luck as they enter the 2013 school year, and we look forward to many future successes!

Cambodia Medical Elective program upgraded..

The PPSC Rose Medical Elective Program is newly established although Rose has had experience in providing a medical elective program in the past. Our star Surgeon, Dr Nous Sarom has moved to become the Head of Surgery at the Preah Mettokelea Surgical Centre (PPSC) at the Military Hospital in Phnom Penh. Dr Sarom has had a long history with Rose and we have adapted our program to follow this wonderful surgeon and teacher. The Program is now being administered by Ms Sophak Chim who has excellent organisational skills and fantastic written English. She is managing our complicated schedule and ensuring that students receive communication from Cambodia upon receiving their email enquiries. Obviously being a new program there will be teething problems but we hope that the program will evolve to be a leading elective program in Cambodia, especially with the assistance of great feedback from the students!  … read more…

Sight-saving truck for Cambodia: with love from NZ !

Rose Charities NZ has donated the funds for a truck to Rose Cambodia Eye/Sight Centre for their outreach program.  Collecting for the truck was primarily orchestrated by Mr Mike Webber, Optometrist and Rose Laureate 2009,  of Wanganui  who worked tirelessly to see the project through. In Mach 2012 a fundraser was held  (
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/truck-in-sight-after-eye-fundraiser/1293047/) which hosted over 110 people and, thanks to the Wanganui attendees,  raised over $NZ5000. The remainder was donated with huge generosity by a private NZ Foundation which specifically targets international projects which have outstanding cost effectiveness (as the Eye Centre does) .

The Rose Cambodia Sight Centre / Eye Clinc has now been operating since 1997, some 15 years (at the time of writing). It has treated well over 100,000 Cambodians the majority of who have been extremely poor, giving them free or low cost blindness preventing treatments or restoring sight mainly through cataract operations.
Many of the techniques for low cost eye surgery have historically been thanks to great New Zealanders such as Ray Avery or Fred Hollows so the centre carries on a  a long and distinguished NZ history
Rose Charities New Zealand’s relationship with the Cambodia Sight Centre was initiated by John Veale (Optometrist Christchurch) in the year 2000 who then introduced Mike Webber and Dr David Sabiston (retired). The three have spent over a decade working with Drs Hang (clinic co founder) and Natalia Vra suppling materials, equipment, and most importantly of all, their considerable expertise to help bring the clinic to the leading eye Centre it is today in Cambodia.
In recent years, outreach programs for village level screening and eye care promotion have played an increasingly important role. Some of the roads to the villages become almost impassable in the wet season so a strong vehicle is needed, both for access and to be able to return patients to the clinic.
The truck is a fantastic gift, so needed: it will be pivotal in the continuation and expansion of delivery of high quality eye care to poor Cambodians.   Thank you Wanganui and other generous donors !