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No.
21 April
2009
Dear
friends,
It
has been awhile since we posted our last newsletter. The
only excuse is that some of us have been away. Hans left
for three months to his home country and Bich joined a 6
week business course in Thailand. So we had to make
priorities and decided to postpone this letter till the
end of March. Only one of you asked us about this delay,
so we believe that the rest of you could live with it.
Thanks for your patience.
 A
special wedding
 Trung and Kim were our first deaf
couple who got married. They invited more than 200
guests to their wedding party. They came on stage with
lots of confetti and bangs. The father of the groom gave
a short speech and after a photo session they walked
around to welcome the guests at the tables. Meanwhile,
the wedding meal was served and some people entertained
the guests with singing. After the meal, everyone stood
up and said good-bye. It was a wonderful day for Trung
and Kim.
Bookmarks and round
mobiles
 We printed three-dimensional bookmarks and
round mobiles. We asked our staff to cut and glue them.
First it was difficult, but after a few days the result
was great. We have two different kinds of bookmarks
which have a picture of the center at the back. The
three-dimensional mobiles are made of round paper
coasters. In front are pictures of the box cooker, the
center and the parabolic cooker, and at the back some
information. Also a limited number of mini- cookers have
been made. The bookmarks, round mobiles and mini-cookers
are made for support and will be available for tourists
visiting our Solar Serve Center.
 Tour
groups
Last year we had several
tour groups visiting our center. The first 21 tourists
were retired and middle-aged people. We met them at
Marble Mountains and drove them to our center. After an
introduction we gave them a tour at our factory. They
found it very interesting and took lots of pictures. We
also sold some bookmarks and after one hour they moved
on to Hoi An. We were all encouraged by this first
visit. Two weeks later another group came to visit us
and showed the same interest.
 Introduction
course
Bich and Hans traveled
to Hanoi to attend a short introduction course. A
businessman from Europe gave lots of information on how
to establish an enterprise. It was based on good and
right principles. It was very instructive and many new
ideas came up during these two days. After that Bich
decided to attend a six week business course in Thailand
with many lectures in class and in the marketplace. It
was a short but intensive course. Bich learned a lot and
received his diploma last month.
Artists, dancers and
volunteers
  We had several groups
from Brazil, Korea and San Francisco visiting us. They
all showed their excitement after seeing our center.
Some of them were circus artists and dancers. It was
great to see the joy appearing on the faces of children
and adults when they performed. Even our deaf workers
enjoyed it. Another group performed a drama based on a
Vietnamese legend. The locals loved it and it was really
appreciated.
Misunderstandings
The
seven deaf workers did not show up for their work at the
center. We found out that they were very confused about
their work and had taken wrong conclusions. Our hearing
staff is not yet able to do the sign language well.
Eventually Bich spoke with their parents. He had several
meetings with them. They came up with some good ideas.
The next day all deaf workers came back. It was good to
be open with them and to show forgiveness and
understanding. After that the peace returned.
More
visitors
 Other
visitors from Holland, Switzerland, Finland, Singapore,
USA and Vietnam visited us. Three Vietnamese professors
wanted to see the solar village near our center. Several
newspapers had written articles about this village which
we supplied with solar cookers last year. Several people
came to visit this village already. Also the professors
wanted to know if it worked. Later they came to our
center and were very pleased with the results.
Heart
Surgery
Do
you still remember Lien? He was working with us a few
years ago? See our web site (Solar Serve News No.6). He
came back to Danang with his son Hiep. They received
financial support from an organization for Hiep to have
heart surgery. After Hiep was born they discovered a
hole in his little heart. Two months ago some foreign
surgeons did the operation. It lasted 4 hours. The
operation was successful and Hiep is now recovering at
his home.
 Nominated
Fred
has been handicapped since he was young, but has been
sponsoring our work for years. During a sport gala he
was nominated. After 20 years of hard work, courage and
pressing on, he received his award from his local mayor.
His sponsor walks (160 km in 4 days – every year) have
been an example for many people (photo: Fred
right).
Finally
•
During this Summer we will be
working in Ouang Tri province (north of Hue city) to
help the poor with solar cookers. We will also check up
the cookers we supplied last year in the same
province.
 •
We are still working in the
solar village Hoa Quy near our center. An article was
published in a major Vietnamese newspaper and was
translated for several other English newspapers. Please
click: Villagers
go solar
• We have also been
asked to provide 20 parabols and 30 box-cookers in Kon
Tum, a province located in the Central Highlands near
the border of Laos and Cambodia. We are waiting for a
confirmation.
•
We
have closed our information room near the airport. Since
we opened the center near Marble Mountains there is no
need for this room anymore. We will consider other ways
of making our work known.
 • The kitchen parabol
cooker still needs improvement but it works. It can burn
newspapers like the Olympic torch.
Well, this is all the
news we have for now. Thanks for your friendship
Warm solar
greetings from Danang,
Solar Serve Team
Called To Serve
See also:
No.1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|
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