Eurasia Foundation and Association Christmas 2015 Newsletter

Dear friends and members of Eurasia,

We are sending you our kindest and best wishes for a Peaceful Christmas Time and a Happy New Year. Eurasia and Peaceful Bamboo Family Team are happy to share with you joyful and dynamic news from our work. We are trying our best to contribute to a wholesome, inclusive and sustainable development full of HOPE and JOY

The work of Eurasia Foundation and Association in the field of special education, social therapy and bio dynamic agriculture and training in Vietnam, started officially in the year 1999. The fruits of all these years of commitments and many realizations allow us now to make new steps, also the Gross National Happiness framework has helped us to deepen our engagement in many fields.

Please visit our new website: www.eurasia.org.vn

Eurasia Learning Institute for Happiness and Wellbeing: ELI

We have been conducting courses and training programs ever we since we started our work in Vietnam, but recently a new phase has begun. We are expanding beyond the field of Special education and are serving a much broader audience.

• The Call to Care pilot program: developing Mindfulness and Compassion in schools has been implemented with over 500 primary school children in Hue city. The preliminary assessment has proven that there is a very positive outcome. The next step will be to implement the program in all of Hue province, but we still need to find the necessary funds to do so. We are thankful for any financial support that will help us to  implement this extraordinary project that can have a powerful impact on the overall educational system in Vietnam.
• We have conducted a series of presentations and seminars in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and we were positively surprised to see the interest and engagement of many people, especially among the younger generation. We covered themes such as Gross National Happiness, Educating the Heart, Mindfulness and Compassion, GNH in business and more.
• Hoa Sen University, a large non for profit private University in Ho Chi Minh City has decided to implement a “Mindfulness based Compassion and Happiness” for all their students. We have committed to training during one year a core group of about 40 professors, students and managers who will become the trainers and will disseminate the program in the university. The first module of this year long program was conducted very successfully in a National park in south Vietnam with almost 50 participants
• We have co-facilitated a workshop with Dr. Russia Ha Vinh Leuchter and three other researchers from Lausanne and Geneva University on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Mindfulness in Hue
• We have organized a workshop in TTG with all our ELI partner to design a strategy for the years to come.

These are just some examples to show how ELI has developed in an amazing way in just a very short time. And most of these workshops have also generated income for Eurasia. So there is a lot of hope and also a lot of work!

Signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with Hue Province

On November 20, we have signed a new MOU with the People’s Committee of Hue Province that will give us a stronger legal status in Vietnam and will help us develop Eurasia and ELI in a broader way. It also gives us the basis for the development of the “Call to Care” program at the Provincial Level.

It is a further encouragement that shows the high level of acceptance that Eurasia receives from the Vietnamese authorities.

Tinh Truc Gia Peaceful Bamboo Family TTG

TTG a living and vocational training community for young adults living with disabilities, is at the heart of ALL the work of Eurasia. All realizations in TTG are Eurasia pilot projects that are inspiring other organizations and attracting more and more interest in the country: the National TV aired a wonderful documentary on TTG. The community is thriving and many youngsters get trained and find a meaningful and adapted work, find friends and have a good life here! The social entrepreneurship in the different workshops is starting to develop more and more. The teahouse, the food processing workshop, the painting workshop, the biodynamic garden attract more and more customers. Mr. Tu the director and his team are doing a wonderful work! Our community is now able to contribute to almost 50% of its running costs through the income generating activities - which is a great achievement - but we are still dependent on your generosity to raise the remaining 50’000 US$ to guarantee its yearly functioning.

Inclusive Waldorf Kindergarten in TTG

There are now 13 children in TTG inclusive Kindergarten. Mrs. Hoa and Mrs. An and a new teacher Ms. Thuy are creating a wonderful atmosphere of Love and Joy for the children to grow and learn. The Teachers also continue to receive training and joined a module of Waldorfkindergarten training in Saigon lately.

Biodynamic garden in TTG

We started the biodynamic garden in 2011 with the help of Mr. Marc Blachère from Copake Camphill Community USA. In 2014 we bought a new land for medicinal herbs and for collecting biodynamic seeds. Seven youngsters and 3 gardeners work on the 4000m2 of land. After 4 years the soil has become rich, there are many animals enjoying the healthy earth, birds, frogs, bees….

Through the support of Dr. Frank Mueller and Dr. Annelie Mueller we now are able to buy 2 cows to support our bio dynamic work! We are looking forward to welcome them as new members of the community!

We also have a new watering system now, as we finally found groundwater. We could dig a well by hand! It was too deep for machines, and we now have a pond and a flow forms fountain to collect and purify the water. Thank you Bob and Gitti!

New Adolescent project in TTG

TTG is a social therapy project for young adults living with disabilities. Working, living together is at the center of our work in TTG. But more and more parents of adolescents with developmental and behavioral difficulties, from 12 to 18 years old, are approaching us because their child cannot integrate the normal school system. Families are exhausted and are about to break down and to despair because they cannot find an adapted education for their child with disabilities in this specific age range. We plan to open a small adolescent sector where some of these teenagers can get the care adapted to their specific needs. They still need to learn and to get educational and therapeutic support. We are looking for funding and support for this very important project that will complete Eurasia’s care all the way from early childhood until adulthood and old people’s care (In Tinh duc pagoda)

Early detection and parental advise office in Saigon

Mr Khanh, Eurasia representative in Vietnam, and his team have moved to a new office in the 7th district in Saigon. During this year they accompanied children with developmental problems from the age of 28 months until 7 years. Children receive therapeutic and pedagogical care and the parents get advise from a team of educators and psychologists. The Office still needs financial support but also more training. The reputation of the office is growing and they hope to become financially independent in 2 years. The team is more and more invited to schools to give trainings and advise.

Christmas 2015 is also a challenging time for the world. Exclusion, fear, violence are menacing our global humanity. In a very humble way we try to contribute to bring about a deeper Peace, Inclusion of all those who are different and healing and to bring Joy and Love

Thank you and all partners, friends, donors for your faithful support and your friendship

For your Donations :

Association Eurasia

CCP 17-496738-5/

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Compte 987.86.01

IBAN CH78 0076 7000 A098 7860