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No.
23 Oct. 2009
Dear
friends,
 At the end of September typhoon
Ketsana hit Danang with severe winds. 163 people died,
14 were missing and 616 were injured. Three ships
stranded on the seashore, lots of trees fell and floods
destroyed houses and crops. The ones who stayed at our
center had a frightening experience. The sound of the
storm was horrifying. Although we boarded up the
windows, the storm was so powerful that it pulled off
the sheets. And when the wind found holes under the roof
tiles, it pulled them in the air like flying feathers.
Even the big parabol outside the center had to bow down,
but amazingly the front door stayed intact. We were very
thankful that nobody was hurt. This was our first huge
storm since the center was opened..
Four
new workers
One month ago two young men walked into
our center. They had traveled a long way from the
mountains to Danang and introduced themselves as members
of the Katu minority. They had heard about our work. The
Katu people have been misused for cutting trees in the
forest. The economy forced many of them to accept this
kind of illegal work. In search for new opportunities
Nui and Loc came to Danang. We accepted them and now
they are a wonderful asset to our work. A few weeks
later two deaf workers from North Vietnam came to our
center also in search for work. One of them had been
working in Danang before, but his work schedule did not
allow him to help other deaf people.
Outing to Bana
mountain
We organized an outing for all
the workers. Some of them could not join but we ended up
with a group of 14 adults and 5 children. We drove with
a mini-bus to Bana, a mountain almost 40 km outside
Danang. Bana is 1.487 m high. Earlier this year they
opened a 5,042-meter-long cable car ride to the top. We
all enjoyed the 15 minutes breathtaking ride. At the top
of the mountain we had a wonderful view, took pictures
and visited several places. During lunch it started to
rain and the temperature dropped down. We decided to go
down and drive home and were very thankful for an
unforgettable day.
A
great visit
A Dutch family came to visit us. They had
been traveling through Vietnam. One of them wrote in a
letter: “This was the
moment we were waiting for, a visit to the Solar Serve
center. We recognized the building from afar. Mr. Bich
was waiting for us, ready to give us a tour and to
explain the use of solar cookers. The center was
peaceful and orderly with lots of space. Meeting the
deaf was inspiring. First they were shy but slowly they
opened themselves up. Language barriers were removed.
Bich's wife took my hand and walked with me hand in
hand. Words were not necessary. It was a great
moment”.
Training
school for disadvantaged
Two
months ago we were invited to a school in Quang Tri. A
few years ago this school trained disadvantaged students
to make wheelchairs. Nowadays they hold cooking classes.
There were about 50 students together with several local
and one foreign staff. We were given the opportunity to
present our Solar Serve project and show the solar
cookers. A sudden strong wind caused the cookers to move
during cooking, but it was solved quickly and the
demonstrations became a success.
 An
Introductory
seminar
A Swiss
business development organized an intro-ductory seminar
at our center for small entrepreneurs, learning how to
do business based on good, right and clean principles.
We as Solar Serve were very interested in it. If we want
to expand our project and also the business side of our
work, we really need to learn this. We found more than
20 other entrepreneurs and spent one day together. It
was great to learn how we could change our thinking and
have an impact on society. We will be more planned,
goal-oriented and future-focused. It was a great
initiative and all participants were very
excited.
Commitment
During the International 4 Days of Marches in Holland,
almost 37,106 of the 40,645 participants finished the
four days of walking successfully. One of them was Fred.
He is not only handicapped but he has also been
sponsoring our project for years. This year he had to
walk 160 km. With only one blister he finished the four
days happily. An amazing person and what a commitment to
sponsor our work in
Vietnam!
A chicken story to end with
Thanh finished his school,
mentioned in our last letter, and graduated in August.
He told us that he had a wonderful time. They organized
a small party at our center for the students. Three
tables were served with delicious food and some of the
plates were decorated with the heads and tails of the
chickens. Maybe it sounds strange for foreigners but in
Vietnam the chicken head is a delicacy. One of the
leaders was blessed with one of the heads, but how great
it was when they offered the other heads too. We had a
good laugh!
Conclusion
We don’t know if you still want to visit us. We
promise you not to serve chicken heads. But you are more
than welcome to sit with us at our tables and enjoy one
of the meals cooked by Tho, the wife of Bich. She is
doing a wonderful job in taking care of her children,
cleaning the center, and also cooking every day for all
the workers. It is great to be a part of the Solar Serve
family.
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| | 
