“Transforming a Village in Vietnam”

 A letter from Barry and Shelly Dawson, serving together as World Mission’s Regional Liaisons for Southeast Asia, based in Thailand

September 2017

Dear Mission Partners,

Binh* rises early, soon after the sun’s first rays streak across the verdant landscape and infiltrate the doorway of his compact home in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Province. The morning light beckons him to wade through the cool waters of the nearby stream and walk along the uneven, winding pathways that will lead him to his elementary school in a remote, rural village. And what does Binh discover upon his arrival? Classmates with smiles and boundless energy, ready to learn and play. Cheerful teachers who truly care for his welfare and safely keep him overnight when the stream’s waters surge. A rather dark classroom building with a sagging, thatched roof. The school’s kitchen stove, nothing more than a tiny, concrete slab embedded in the dark brown earth, where a small fire’s crackling flames cook the kindergarten students’ lunch. Binh also finds a village with no electricity, no clean water system, and no sanitation facilities that promote good hygiene and health.

Shelly experiences the joy of the school’s young students.

“What is the general health of the community? How many school days do most students miss each year due to illnesses connected to the water and sanitation issues? What health and safety risks does the cooking fire present? What can be done to change this situation for the students? How can the health and well-being of the whole community be transformed?” Those were a few of the perplexing questions that surfaced in our minds as we stood in Hung village amidst the laughter of school children and the welcoming smiles of their teachers.

Hope is Spelled “CWS”
Thankfully, the highly experienced staff of Church World Service (CWS) in Vietnam soon answered many of our questions. Mr. NQ Dung, CWS Country Representative for Vietnam, served as our gracious host, dependable guide, and community development expert as we traveled four hours southwest of Hanoi to the Lang Chanh District of Thanh Hoa Province near the eastern border of Laos. He explained to us that Hung village is precisely the type of rural community where CWS can provide life-enhancing solutions that will have positive, cascading effects for the whole surrounding area. In fact, one of the specializations of CWS-Vietnam is working collaboratively with provincial government officials to bring water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects to schools and families in remote, under-resourced communities.

During our three-day trip to that rural region of Vietnam, we witnessed the positive impact that CWS WASH projects already have had on the quality of life in several villages. At the top of one mountain we discovered a whole village of people whose health had been dramatically improved by a CWS-led sanitation project that resulted in every home in the community having a newly constructed outdoor latrine within a four-month period. CWS provided the vision, education, and practical mentoring for the latrine construction. Each family paid for the materials to build their own latrine (average cost: $80 USD equivalent). Then, neighbors worked hand-in-hand with neighbors to construct their latrines. Truly, it was a community-based development project!

What was the net result? The CWS-inspired sanitation project was an outstanding success that has led to far fewer cases of diarrhea and other diseases; healthier children who missed fewer days of school due to sickness; greater community pride; and increased quality of life. It’s the kind of wellness, wholeness, and peace that are signs of the life that God intends for all people throughout creation.

Transforming a Village

Planning a new project to transform the village’s water and sanitation.

While we were standing in the schoolyard of Hung village, the CWS staff members were already beginning to envision the specific life-giving interventions that would address the school’s present health challenges to improve levels of sustainable wellness. The CWS WASH project manager met with local village leaders and immediately began to share with them his initial concepts about how the school could receive a cleaner water supply, vastly improved sanitation facilities, and a new, modest kitchen building where the current safety and health risks from the cooking fire could be significantly reduced. The CWS vision of new life for the school and its young students began to take shape right before our eyes! That initial, impromptu planning conference – complete with in-the-moment sketches of a new kitchen building and an outdoor latrine – all took place as local leaders gathered around a huge rock firmly anchored on the edge of the schoolyard property. As we now reflect on that fantastic scene of vision and community engagement, we are reminded of God speaking through the prophet Isaiah and declaring, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Is. 43:19)

We were particularly excited and energized by the CWS vision and actionable WASH project plans for the children of the Hung village school because CWS has been working in Vietnam for more than 60 years and is a highly respected community development agency. Moreover, throughout our three-day sojourn in the remote villages, it was clear that the provincial government officials who traveled with us were equally appreciative of the collaborative style of the CWS team. We had begun our trip knowing that Presbyterian World Mission (PWM) was willing to make an initial investment in a CWS WASH project in Vietnam, but we left that region absolutely convinced that PWM should be completely committed to fully funding a new beginning for the health of the Hung village children through the CWS water and sanitation improvements at their school.

Current kitchen for cooking kindergartners’ lunch.

Today we are overjoyed to report to you that PWM will indeed be partnering with CWS to completely fund the transformative water and sanitation solutions at the Hung village elementary school. Thanks be to God! Additionally, we have great hope that the school WASH project will be a catalyst that will inspire all the people in Hung village to construct their own latrines, so that the health and well-being of the entire surrounding community will be lifted up by the valuable work of our CWS partner.

Invitation to Partner with Us
As we rejoice in the many ways that our mission partnership with Church World Service is having collective impact results in the Hung village in Vietnam, we are reminded again of how much we cherish our mission partnership with you, your church, or your presbytery. We thank you for the many ways that you encourage us in our ministry, and we invite you to continue to support us with your prayers, your communications, and your financial gifts, all of which are vitally important to our mission work throughout Southeast Asia.

In Partnership with You,

Barry and Shelly

*Binh is a fictitious name used to protect the identity of the child whose true story is captured in the opening narrative.

Please read this important message from Jose Luis Casal, Director, Presbyterian World Mission

Dear Friend of Presbyterian Mission,

What a joy to send this letter! As Presbyterian World Mission’s new director, I thank God for your faithful support of our mission co-workers. The enclosed newsletter celebrates the work you made possible by your prayers, engagement, and generous financial gifts. We can’t thank you enough.

After I began in April, I met with mission co-workers and global partners and was blessed to see firsthand the mighty ways God is working through them! Our global partners are asking us to help them move forward with life-changing ministries. Because of your support, we can say “yes” to these creative and exciting initiatives.

I write to invite you to make an even deeper commitment to this work. First, would you make a year-end gift for the sending and support of our mission co-workers? We need your gifts to end the year strong. With your help, we filled two new mission co-worker positions and plan to recruit for others. The needs in the world are great, and World Mission is poised to answer the call to serve.

Second, would you ask your session to add our mission co-workers to your congregation’s mission budget for 2018 and beyond? Our mission co-workers serve three-year or four-year terms. Your multi-year commitment will encourage them greatly.

Our mission co-workers are funded entirely from the special gifts of individuals and congregations like yours. Now more than ever, we need your financial support.

In faith, our mission co-workers accepted a call to mission service. In faith, World Mission sent them to work with our global partners. In faith, will you also commit to support this work with your prayers and financial gifts?

With gratitude,
Jose Luis Casal
Director

P.S. Your gift will help meet critical needs of our global partners. Thank you!