Dorothea's Project Legacy Takes Another Step

GIVING IT BACK TO KIDS

Today’s note is written by our extraordinary and very special Southeast Asia Director. As always, if you feel led to send out a note of encouragement, I will forward to her. 

It has been a while since I wrote the last time. Just want to give you an update on what is going on in Viet Nam and with GIBTK. Covid19 has been under control in Viet Nam thanks to good strategies from the government and trust that people have in the leadership of this country. There were three outbreaks in Viet Nam but each took the government about a month to put everything under control. It was difficult and very uncomfortable not to be able to go out and go to where we like but staying-home strategy has brought a great success to Viet Nam in putting Covid19 under control whenever a new outbreak happens.

Although outbreaks happened, GIBTK has done well in Viet Nam. Our programs are still going well here. When we could not gather at the office, we worked online from home. When our teachers could not go to Legacies to teach, they did online teaching sessions through zoom calls with students. To those who did not have an access to smart phones, we reached out to support them by regular phone calls. When our teachers of emotional health and life skills could not go teach at public schools, we increased the sessions when students could get together to make sure kids did not miss a lesson. Things happened but we could still accomplish the work and launched Legacy 3 in Oct 2020. We doubled the work when we could and we stopped when we had to, and finally we reached our goals. We have 5 teachers working at Legacy 3 at this time, serving 66 students in all subjects like Math, English, computer science, sex education and emotional health and life skills. We also have a nurse who do weekly trainings for 14 pregnant moms. In general, the number of students is still limited but we are growing each day. Kids love going to our Legacy 3. 

Legacy 1 and Legacy 2 are going well too. We have served about 207 kids at these two places which makes up 7,092 participation each month. Kids enjoy attending classes and participating in real experiments after classes. They have showed great progress in studying. 

Below is a thank-you note from a girl attending classes at Legacy 3

My full name is Ho Thi Tien, I am in Grade 10 now. On behalf of the students of Dorothea’s project legacy 3 in Hiep Duc district, Quang Nam province. I would like to send my best wishes and sincere thanks to Mr Larry and Ms. Michelle for creating a safe learning environment for students who are in less-fortunate circumstances in Hiep Duc district. I am a Ca Dong ethnic minority member, from the mountainous area of Hiep Duc. My parents are farmers whose income is very low and unstable. It is really difficult for me to take extra classes and learn life skills after school time. During almost the whole year round, my parents are busy with their work in the fields, even sunny and rainy seasons. Understanding the hardship of my parents, I am always determined to study well. I have studied for 4 months at legacy 3 and I always receive enthusiastic guidance and attention from the teachers. I have attended most of the subjects at this community center such as Math, English, computer, life skills and emotional health. I am different from the first time I joined the classes. I become more confident and raise my ideas more than the previous time. I make new friends and learn more about their family circumstances. Especially, the teachers are very dedicated and passionate, so we feel valued, loved and inspired. From the bottom of my heart, I wish both of you are safe and healthy. I do hope the pandemic COVID 19 will pass soon. Hopefully, you guys will come to Viet Nam in the near future and visit us. I promise that I and others students at legacy 3 will make our efforts to study well. We feel very lucky to become students at this community center. We are looking forward to seeing you in Vietnam soon.

Sincerely,

Ho Thi Tien

I am so thankful that I can still do what I love to do in a time that nothing is certain. And I am so thankful to the donors who are so generous in giving to help us keep everything going. And I am thankful that God is so faithful. Every day passing will be one day closer to a beautiful day, so keep hoping for good days to come and serve more kids.

With loves

Tam Tong 

Robert Kalatschan

Giving It Back To Kids

www.gibtk.org

robert@gibtk.org