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| Mr. and Mrs. Tuan-Ngoc (Chieu Tam Group) and Mr. Hung (Help The Poor) handed the check to nun Minh Hai. |
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| Nun Minh Hải (left) prepared receipt of the fund received while Mr. Thang, Hung (Help The Poor) and Mrs. Ngoc looked on. |
Baria - Vung Tau (April 10 2007) - Help The Poor, on April 10, 2007, handed the fund of 144 millions VND to the Buddhist nun Thich Nu Minh Hai. This is part of a plan to help Tu An Pagoda build and upgrade its facilities for the orphans being raised here. The kitchen area is to be constructed first as the rainy season is approaching.
After several visits to this place, Help The Poor members have decided to help to make this place a good home for the orphans. The project started with a request by nun Minh Hai to fix a battered hut to accommodate some male orphans. This pagoda accepts some male orphans at a younger age but will transfer them to a male pagoda-orphanage when they reach the age of 10 or so. Still, the existing living area is crowded for more than 30 kids ranging from 1 year old to 17 years old. These kids are from different areas of the country. Some are montagnards, some are from poor broken families who cannot feed all the kids and give them a decent education. Help The Poor has granted scholarships for all the children here starting the first term of 2006-2007.
Help The Poor and nun Minh Hai have been working together to come up with a building plan consisting of a new kitchen, a new bath area, a washing area, a dining quarter and a new living quarter. Extra land space needs to be purchased and that was taken care of by other donors.
Representatives of Help The Poor and Chieu Tam Group (a Saigon based charity group) handed the nun a check of 144 millions VND which covers the cost for building the new kitchen (32 million VND) and the cost of land purchase.