Future huts to be rebuilt in 2008 include the remaining three huts:
Thiet Thi Vo family: Thiet’s father has a deformity in the right leg due to polio. Both of her parents farm in the little piece of land in front of their hut; the yield is hardly enough to feed this family of 8. The hut was issued by the government in 1996. The structure has rotted and can collapse anytime but the family can not afford to fix it. Currently, the entire family resorted to living and sleeping in the kitchen area. The roof is spotted with holes. When it rains the mother gathers all the children under a nylon tarp. Thiet’s two older sisters did well in school but their father had to take them out of school because he couldn’t afford the cost.
Thiet is standing, 2nd from left.
Thiet’s kitchen
Ngoc Thi Tran family:
Ngoc is in the 4th grade. She lives with her two younger siblings, father, and grandmother. Ngoc’s father has muscular atrophy in the legs and is slowly getting worse. He works as a hired hand in the field and sells lottery tickets. They are currently living in a small government issued hut. The government is taking back their hut to expand the road without a replacement program. The locals know very well how desperate this family is and are pleading with the government to find them a small piece of land so a home can be built for them.
Ngoc with her two younger sisters & grandma.
Ngoc with father & sister.
Nguyen Tan Do family:
Nguyen is handicapped in one eye but that hasn’t deterred him from coming to school every single day. His mother works as a day laborer to support Nguyen and older brother. They don’t have a home and currently live with his aunt’s family in his aunt’s hut.
Nguyen (middle) with his mom & brother in front of his aunt’s hut.
Tran family:
The Tran family has 3 children. The oldest son is 14 but doesn’t know what a classroom is like because his parents cannot afford for him to go to school. The hut they are living in is tiny & substandard.
Trang’s family:
Trang’s father passed away and she lives with her mother in a very torn hut. It is made out of a material called “dem” in Vietnamese which is even cheaper than the dried leaves. Trang’s grandfather can only afford to buy them a tarp to cover over the bed so the rain will not get them wet them during rainy nights. Trang’s mother works as day laborer.
Little Trang 
Big holes in the ceiling
The plastic tarp over Trang & her mother’s bed.
More holes in the walls.
December 22, 2008
On behalf of Sowing Hope Foundation, it is a great honor and privilege for me to write the very first end-of-year report to give you insight into our young Foundation’s activities.
Sowing Hope team consists of five members. We have an architect, a software engineer, a marketing director, a customer service operator, and a full-time mom. Although we come from different backgrounds and are on different career paths, we all share a common desire to help the less fortunate, namely the poor families and children in Viet Nam.
Since November 2007, we concentrated our effort on applying for tax exempt status for non-profit organization. At the same time, we also completed rebuilding two uninhabitable huts in 2007. Late April 2008, we were elated to receive the approval from the Internal Revenue Service for tax exempt status for both Federal and State of California.
With the new approved tax exempt status, our team immediately went to work in our spare time to set up the infrastructure of the organization. We have built our website, conducted fund raising campaigns, set up our accounting system. We have also added another volunteer to help with organization compliance and government relations.
As of to date, we received $14,279.25 in donations since November 1st, 2007. We’ve disbursed $13,200.00 toViet Nam to rebuild 8 huts and renovate 2 huts. We are proud to acknowledge that none of the donation was used for any overhead costs. In January we will post pictures of these newly built homes, so please visit our website at www.sowinghope.org. I also would like to mention that, along with everything else, the cost of building materials has risen drastically this year. It now costs $1,500 to rebuild one hut. Our goal for 2009 is to design a more standardized and sustainable home that is both cost-effective and functional.
We have accomplished much this year with minimal resources. Our motto is to rebuild one hut at a time as funding permits. So far, 10 families now have dry and safe homes to live in. We could not accomplish all of the above without the dedication and tireless effort of our volunteers (here and in Vietnam), and, more importantly, the financial support from donors like you. Your kindness and generosity have truly given hope to these poor families. Your gift of a safe home is one that keeps on giving; for that, these families and all of us at Sowing Hope are forever grateful.
As 2008 is drawing to a close, all of us at Sowing Hope would like to wish you happy holidays, and much health, happiness and hope for your New Year.
Sincerely,
Phuong Nguyen
Sowing Hope Foundation