Random Act of Kindness

Rotary Club of Port Moody Random Act of Kindness Vietnam Location: Nam Van Commune, Nam Dinh City, Vietnam Funds; Two bags collected from members totaling $60 A matching contribution from Rotarian Frank Matchett $60 A contribution from myself to make up a shortfall $100 Total $220 Activities It is difficult of a foreigner to do anything of a spontaneous nature in Vietnam, particularly when it involves interaction with the locals. So, rather than directly carry out an Act of Kindness, I gave 65 children in a poor commune in the Province of Nam Dinh (90km southeast of Hanoi) the opportunity to do something. Even this required approval from the Chairman of the Nam Dinh City People's Committee (the equivalent of the City Mayor), who I happen to know quite well so this part was easy. The commune is under his administration. With advice from my Vietnamese colleagues I chose Nam Van Commune as it is very poor, has a large population of young children, many of whom work in the fields, and has a receptive Chairman. The children were informed via word of mouth and I went to the commune on June 26 to tell them what I wanted them to do. The turn out was about twice what I expected with a total of 65 children in attendance. We held he meeting in the community center as it is currently summer vacation time so I could not use the local school as the venue. A few adults including the Commune Chairman and local police were also in attendance. Given that many of the children had been working in the fields all day helping with the rice harvest with a temperature in the high 30's and high humidity this was quite a turn out. You can only imagine how hot it got in the community center which was packed to overflowing with only two small fans to keep some air moving!! With the help of my interpreter I explained that I would give each child 20,000 Dong (about $1.25) for them use to give something to someone else as an act of kindness. To put things in perspective a good monthly wage in this part of Vietnam is about 160,00 Dong ($100). It is probably the first time that most of these kids have had the opportunity to spend money on someone else so they got pretty excited about it. Each of them filed out a form to ensure that they understood what was expected and I then returned to Hanoi for a few days while they went about carrying out their individual acts of kindness. I plan to meet with the children again on Tuesday night (Canada's birthday) but my colleagues have informed me of the some of the initiatives and sent a few pictures. A brief summary: 17 gave a gift to their mother or father 14 gave a gift and help to disabled people six of whom were victims of Agent Orange, 14 gave a gift to a neighbour 12 gave a gift to their grandparent Others included siblings, classmates or other relative. Several of the children added some of their own hard earned money match the Rotary funds. At the second gathering we will listen to some of the children talk about what they did and hand out prizes and small rewards to the children that participated. The idea has really caught on and the Swiss company I work for, Colenco Power Engineering, and my project will each donate money for children in two craft villages where we are currently working to carry out similar acts of kindness. This should result in a total of over $600 and who knows, it may continue beyond that. I have included a couple of pictures and hopefully can get a few minutes at my next meeting to show some more and give a bit more detailed presentation on what has been a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience. own hard earned money match the Rotary funds. The idea has really caught on and the Swiss company I work for, Colenco Power Engineering, and my project will each donate money for children in two craft villages where we are currently working to carry out similar acts of kindness. This should result in a total of over $600 and who knows, it may continue beyond that. I have included a couple of pictures and hopefully can get a few minutes at my next meeting to show some more and give a bit more detailed presentation on what has been a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Estimated fund for the acts of kindness N o. Unit price (VND) Quantity Amount (VND) Amount (USD) 1 Kick off meeting Refreshment (fruit) 200,000 2 Fund for childrend's implementation: 20,000 x 65 children 20,000 65 1,300,000 3 Wrap up meeting Refreshment 300,000 4 Awards 1st prize: mini bike 400,000 1 400,000 2nd prize: 45,000 5 225,000 encouragement prize: 25,000 23 575,000 Participation gifts 10,000 34 340,000 5 Fuel for Nam & Thuy 300,000 Total 3,640,000 216.7 The idea has really caught on and the Swiss company I work for, Colenco Power Engineering, and my project will each donate money for children in two craft villages where we are currently working to carry out similar acts of kindness. This should result in a total of over $600 and who knows, it may continue beyond that. I have included a couple of pictures and hopefully can get a few minutes at my next meeting to show some more and give a bit more detailed presentation on what has been a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience.