Our email appeal for the Recycled Bicycle project in 2016 received enthusiastic responses from many members and supporters, some of whom took the initiative to organise activities to raise funds for it.
The SA Asian Golf Association (SAAGA) in Adelaide hold dinner at a local restaurant early this year and raised $1,306. The Canberra Gentlemen, friends and associates of our member Mr. Trần Tấn Tài in Canberra, contributed $1,190. Dr. & Mrs. Trương Hổ Tuấn, in Sydney, through their sales the Entertainment Book, raised $238.
On top of these amounts were the repeat donations from many donors of previous years. Thanks to these efforts, and the generosities of many silent frequent benefactors, a total of $10,696 was raised.
Letter from one of the students
With some additional fund from our general pool, the amount raised enabled the recondition of 300 bicycles for distribution. In addition to distributing 200 recycled bicycles in Central Vietnam (Thừa Thiên, Quảng Trị and Quảng Ngãi provinces with the help of former scout leader Mr Trần Văn Hồng), this year Vietnam Foundation also worked with a volunteering group in Saigon named Hành Trình Yêu Thương (Journey of Love, or HTYT for short). HTYT reconditioned and distributed 100 bicycles to poor students in the delta region of southern Vietnam (Tiền Giang, An Giang, Đồng Tháp and Trà Vinh provinces). HTYT also contributed to the transport cost of shipping these bicycles to local schools for distribution.
The happy faces of school children who received these bicycles and their sincere thank you notes are our rewards. We would like to thank all donors who have brought smiles to many unfortunate children in rural Vietnam, at the same time giving them the opportunity to attend school from remote villages.
To encourage writing skill of local students and with the financial support of Professor Trần Nam Bình, Vietnam Foundation set up awards for best essays from recipients of these recycled bicycles. The rewards were announced in early February 2017. Please see our article on Essay Competition 2016.
Tô Hiệu Primary School at Đak Ngô Village, Tuy Đức District, Đak Nông Province was created out of Kim Đồng Primary School in early 2011. At the time, the newly created school had 400 students from Year 1 to Year 5 in 14 classes with 7 classrooms, of which
- three were built by Vietnam Foundation in 2010
- two were built by local government and
- two were temporary, of timber construction, built by parents
In December 2012, Vietnam Foundation agreed to support the building of 2 new classrooms to replace the 2 temporary classrooms built by parents. The funding arrangement was:
- Vietnam Foundation contributed 324 Million VN Dong (about AUD 15,000) toward the cost of classrooms construction
- Parents and local people contributed ground preparation work (about VND 23 Million), and
- Local authority gave exemption to all taxes.
Construction was completed and the new classrooms used since early 2013. The Official Opening Ceremony was on 17 December, 2015.
Some of the Vietnam Foundation delegates and school’s staff at the opening ceremony
Teachers and students at the school at the opening ceremony
On this occasion, a delegation consisting of 12 Vietnam Foundation members attended and raised VND 17 Million ($AU1,000) to provide 25 scholarships to the students of the school.
Students receiving scholarships
Students and two of the scholarship donors
Vietnam Foundation was a joint organiser of the World Festival of Vietnamese Traditional Music 2015 held in Sydney from 14 to 16 August 2015. This is the third time that such a Festival was organised. The previous festivals were held in Toronto, Canada in 2011 and in Seattle, USA, in 2913.
The Festival consisted of sessions of talks, presentations, music demonstrations, etc., with the participation of established musicians, artists and scholars from around the world, including local academics such as Prof Aeron Corn of the Australian National University and Prof Diana Blom of the University of Western Sydney.
The highlight of the Festival was the Gala Concert at the modern 300-seat Bryan Brown Theatre, in Bankstown, NSW. Tickets for the concert was completely sold out many days before the event.
Concert Audience in the Bryan Brown Theatre
The concert was indeed a very rare event where more than 50 artists of more than 10 music groups from 5 countries (Canada, USA, France, Norway and Australia) coming together to showcase Vietnamese Traditional music.
Vietnamese World Festival Orchestra playing Imperial Court Music
The concert program was varied and enticing. Traditional music of various genres and from different regions of Vietnam were presented: from traditional folk songs to imperial court music to music of the cải lương (reformed theatre) style. For the first time in Australia đàn Đá (lithophone) from the Central Highlands of Vietnam was introduced and played in a public concert. Other interesting items of the concert included a recital of Mozart’s Alla Turca with the đàn T’rưng (made of bamboo, also from the Central Highlands of Vietnam) and the recreation of ‘Danse de l’Indochine’ (Indochina Dance) which the French legendary ballerina Cléo de Mérode performed with a group of Vietnamese Tài Tử musicians in the Paris Exposition in 1900.
Improvisation by Back to Back Zithers Group
Geraldine Balcazar dancing the Indochina Dance
Vietnamese Artists Union in Australia in a scene of Nửa Đời Hương Phấn
Đăng Thảo Ensemble playing the Khúc Hát Ân Tình
Duy Tiến and Việt Hải playing Hành Vân
Lý Ngựa Ô being performed by Tre Việt, Hướng Việt and Phượng Ca Oslo groups
Artists of Phượng Ca Paris, Phượng Ca Oslo, Tre Việt and Hướng Việt performing Xàng Xê
Sound of the Golden Bamboo performed by the Golden Bamboo Ensemble
The audience was so enthralled by the beautiful music and superb performances that they stayed clued to their seats till midnight when the four-hour concert concluded with a rousing standing ovation.
Prior to concert, many Vietnamese Traditional Musical Instruments were also exhibited at the lobby of the theatre.
For more details of the Festival please visit the Festival website
https://vietmusicfest2015.wordpress.com/
The Festival was widely reported in the press. Some festival goers have also made recordings of some items of the concert. For examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOhaySuXWg8
http://www.australiaplus.com/international/2015-08-20/the-sounds-of-vietnam-enthral-sydney/1483716
http://tuanvannguyen.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/xem-buoi-dien-am-nhac-dan-toc-o.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHmw0xGkvYQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOk7PxcQPr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgIr21nZFGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CgXyV4MGIo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haGZybPRR8o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l80tm_EBb_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcEoAdem5Vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_iWRP1YqC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olLha1VsuY4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwZg4jo-KZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1KKR_Mj8J0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Re31890-lc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSjpWuo7bJ4
Postscript: A DVD of the whole Festival concert has been produced and distributed to many public libraries around the world. See cover
* Photos on this page are courtesy of Mai San
Front cover of the CD album
On 26 July 2014, Vietnam Foundation members and friends attended as guests at a special concert by the Guihangtar Duo hosted by the The Vietnamese Australian Scientists and Professionals Association (VASPA) at the University of New South Wales, Kensington Campus.
Guihangtar is an expression of tradition, innovation, and global interaction. Comprising guitarist Le-Tuyen Nguyen (Australia) and percussionist Salil Sachdev (USA), the musical duo group initially emerged as a potential collaboration incorporating the guitar and the Hang (a percussion instrument invented in Switzerland in 2000). However, Guihangtar’s maiden concert in 2010 evolved to include other percussion instruments as well. The duo performed compositions and arrangements inspired by nature and traditional music not bound by cultural confines. Traditional melodic and rhythmic idioms weaved with Western music exploring the technical and expressive dimensions of the guitar, enhanced with percussion instruments from various parts of the world.
Guihangtar’s album Dawn of the Mountain Forest is now available both in CD and MP3 downloads.
- CD available at Guihangtar official webpage: http://www.guihangtar.net/#!buy/c2250.
- MP3 downloads available from iTunes store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dawn-of-the-mountain-forest/id948326925
Back cover of the CD album, showing its contents
The Mái Ấm Tình Thương (Love Shelter) orphanage is in Lagi, Bình Thuận province. It is operated by the sisters of the Mến Thánh Giá (Lovers of the Holy Cross) church in Nha Trang. Since 2005 it has been carrying out many “pro-life” programs, which include counseling and helping unmarried pregnant mothers to avoid abortion, giving them shelter in the orphanage, bringing up orphans, as well as caring for the poor, the sick, the disabled, and the people affected by Agent Orange in the area.
Through their work, hundreds of babies have been saved from abortion; nearly 60 abandoned children have been reunited with their mothers. Every day it provides hot water and soups for about 150 poor patients seeking medical treatment at the nearby Lagi hospital.
As at the beginning of 2013 the orphanage houses 93 orphans aged between new-born and 8-years old and is run by 10 sisters, 18 assistants and many volunteers.
Due to the increasing demand for the services from the locals, the existing facilities become inadequate. There are not enough rooms for the growing up orphans to sleep in, to play and to learn.
The orphanage planned to construct a new, additional building which can accommodate 150 orphans (from 2-days old to grown-up) and has enough space to provide adequate facilities in support of up to 300 disabled persons who come monthly for food and medicines.
In September 2013, two sisters from the orphanage, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai (director) and Nguyễn Thị Thanh Trang visited Australia, touring many cities to seek support for the construction of their second building.
When in Sydney, through a fundraising dinner on 6 September 2013, 
Vietnam Foundation contributed $11,677.70 toward the construction project.
Construction has been started and is due to complete by the end of 2014.
