NEWS UPDATE
19 January 2009
A New Chairman
Dear MAD Members,
In order to facilitate the registration of MAD with the NSW State’s laws on fund raising, I will resign as Chairman of the Committee. The alternative was to seek four more members to be on the Committee and no-one has put up their hand (as yet).
Dr. Chris O’Neill, Director of the Sydney Centre for Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, Northern Clinical School, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, . will take on the position of Chairman. I am most grateful for Chris’s involvement and interest.
I will happily assist the Committee in any way I can but will not have a vote in any decisions that they make.
If any of our members wish to become more involved in the workings of MAD and wish to nominate for a position on the Committee please let me know and I will forward your details to the Committee; more involvement by all our members is sought.
I will be leaving for Vietnam and Cambodia on 25th January and will return on 2nd March. Before then I hope that we have raised enough money to pay for one-years rent (in advance) on Laugh Café’s new home – My calculations this morning give AU$5,100 for the rent. In addition we need to set up a new kitchen, provide bedding and uniforms/clothes for more young people, and acquire more tables, chairs, tablecloths, and all the other stuff that goes with it.
Please give some thought to how we can raise funds to address these needs and please, stay in touch when I am travelling. Your emails are greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Peter
5 January 2009
Peter's next trip is scheduled for 25 January, 2009. It coincides with Tet, the Vietnamese New Year which is a bit inconvenient because lots of establishments close for a week at Tet. Since Peter pays for his trips out of his own pocket, he took advantage of a special air-fare. Some of our local supporters will be in Hanoi over Tet so there will be some benefit.
The generator set for AHC is progressing with Johnsons Transport agreeing to move the unit from the old South Sydney Hospital sitewith a 5 tonne forklift. This generosity is most welcome as it would otherwise have cost in excess of $1000.
Monday,
1 December 2008
Dear
Readers,
I
am back in Australia, having avoided the problems in Bangkok. It is true that
on my last trip I did go via Thailand but on this one I used good-old Vietnam
Airlines. Having said that, the VN flight was about 3 hours late in leaving
Saigon, and was full to the brim. But enough about me.
AHC
generator
In
the last week I received some advice that the Sydney City Council, who own the
land where South Sydney Hospital used to be and where the generator set has
rested for the last 10 years, have agreed to give AU$5000 to the cost of
shipping said generator to Cambodia. I will be pursuing this further this
morning for more details.
Laugh
Café
The
house that we found at the other end of Tran Cau Van has given us a small
problem. The property seems to be owned by two brothers and one of them has
insisted on us paying 5 years rent up-front (ouch). Negotiations have stalled
for the moment and we will do nothing for a few weeks in the hope that the
brothers will discuss it and determine a more modest payment. Having looked at
many houses in Hoi An, we had held out some hope for this one.
Songkimthmey
Now
that I am back in Australia I will, once more, start my search for some solar
panels for the Songkimthmey farm, to charge our PCs.
Perhaps
we should be looking at alternatives. I did look a generator attached to a
bike. I have been dissuaded for the moment as the children are small and used
only to pedalling on flat land. Doubts were raised as to the power output of
the children (it would need to be pedalled for about 2 hours a day) and to the
logistics of mounting and dismounting a bike that is in constant demand for
getting to school for 2 children, twice a day. There are two school groups,
those that go from 7am to 12 noon and from 1pm to 6 pm. A bike carries 2-3
children and spends most of its time at school.
What
else should we consider, apart form my current approach of a constant search
for laptops. Does anyone know of an organisation that is updating it
laptops? Songkimthmey is not the only area of need.
A shipment of toys,
books, pens, crayons and paper was sent today. It is scheduled to arrive in
Phnom Penh on the 9th of November. This shipment was due in part to the
generosity of Vic Laurence. Vic sent a container-load of stuff to Soweto and
kndly kept back some toys and books for MAD.
Thank you, Vic!
15
October 2008
A generator set for
AHC.
The Angkor Hospital needs a
replacement stand-by/top-up generator. The existing unit is now longer working.
The hospital has recently moved to the local power grid but still needs backup.
The power supply in Siem Reap can be erratic. I have located a generator but,
and there always seems to be a but, the hospital has no funds to pay for its
shipment from Australia to Cambodia. The unit I have put my finger on was
installed in South Sydney Hospital shortly before it was closed by the State
government. It only has 40 hours on the clock and the manufacturer, Cummins
Diesel, has indicated that they might be able to prepare it for
shipment, at no charge. So far, so good. Now all we have to do is find the
funds to get it there. Time is tight as it has to come out of the old hospital
soon, as it is about to be demolished. Time is also tight, as I am leaving for
Vietnam /Cambodia in 10 days.
The solar panel saga
There has been a
small advance, No, a donor for the panels required for Songkimthmey has not
been found, but, (there is another one) the University of NSW has indicated
that the project might be suitable for a student exercise in 2009. Dr Alistair
Sproul, Senior lecturer at the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy
Engineering. has indicated his interest. This will probably mean a few students
will come to Cambodia and brave the trip out to the Songkimthmey farm to set up
the panels and a data-logger. We do not know when this is likely to happen, but
it gives some hope of addressing the problem of having to continually replace
laptops.
Membership
We have a few new
members, but sadly we have lost one. Peter Lucas, a founding member, died while
on a trip to Europe, in early October. Peter was a Rotarian and a life member
and long standing technical official of Athletics NSW and Athletics
Australia. He pioneered electronic timing and the use of the photo finish in
NSW athletics, and held the post of Treasurer for 20 years.
Peter's schedule -
November 2008
Needed for this trip:
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Make A Difference Inc is an
Australian based charitable NGO, not affiliated with any religious, political
or pressure group.
PROGRAMS
MAD works with disadvantaged children
and young people in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Through our programs we provide
education and training in English, hospitality and computing. Visit the About Us page to read about
Angkor Hospital for Children, (AHC)
Songkimthmey, Laugh Cafe and our
work with
KOTO, or look at our program photos.
Why?
A partial answer might be Albert
Einstein's comment:
"We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each
other."
We believe that it is our duty, and the
duty of all, to to promote the development of people and communities
amongst the poorer nations.
The war in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos means that the populations of those
countries are young and poor. Sixty percent of Vietnamese and Cambodian people
are under the age of 25. All three countries are predominantly rural with 75%
of people living outside cities, and half of these living below the world
poverty line. So there are an enormous number of youth living in poverty with
little hope of finishing school, let alone finding a career, and becoming
productive members of their society. Our limited resources go a long way in
these countries and our few dollars makes a big difference to a lot of people.
One can make a difference
Why don’t we work in Australia?
Peter does similar work in Australia, just not with children. He works with
Exodus Foundation teaching computer literacy and with the Smith Family’s AMES
program, teaching English to migrants in their homes.
