Three times a week trainers from the local sports club come to the shelter to teach the girls about karate. The training builds up the girls mentally and physically. Daniel and me witnessed the training Wednessday last week.

The training is given for free by the local sports club, and is one exampel on how the voluntary work in the Vietnamese society increases. The shelter also have Vietnamese volunteers helping with homework and with big fundraising events.
 
For me, the activity also shows that our partner is able to get good ideas for extra rehabilitation activities, and often they just do it without noticing us, their partner.

Showing pictures of the girls?
I would like to involve you in a discussion we have had in the DVA board, in the Danish project group and together with the staff at Little Rose Warm Shelter: Does it raise any ethical questions showing pictures of the girls from the center. We have done it over the last year. Not that we have used that many pictures, but still...

Let me emphasize, that we never take pictures without the consent of the children. Sometimes the children say no. And that is always respected. Still we are having an ongoing discussion, because for potential supporters it gives a much better understanding of the center to show pictures with the girls. So that people hopefully can see that they are comfortable at the shelter, and that the activity and treatment looks good. 

A picture sometimes says more than 1000 words. Since the shelter takes care of both girls that have been abused and girls who "just" come from broken or dysfunctional homes, and only the caretakers and the girls themselves know who has which background, we have decided to continue using pictures on our website and materials.  

Yesterday Daniel and I went to the Danish Consulate in HCMC for the monthly social meeting for Danish Expats. We met some of the good doers for The ShelterCollection, Thomas and Klaus and also our friends from NGO Fontana, who are conducting reel good alcohol and drug abuse prevention activities in Vietnam. The photo is showing Daniel, me and Thao from NGO Fontana. I had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Pia from the consulate and again point out the need for more PS/NGO cooperation and that we should do something about it.We are are working on it. Daniel has had a running nose most of the week. We think. that it is beacuse of us being in airconditioned rooms sometime. But we try to avoid aircondition. It hes illnes is getting worse, so I think we will need to go to the SOS clinic later today.Mr. Preben from NGO Fontana made a little speach where he donated a translation of H.C Andersens works to the ambassador. A translation that hes company, Eurocare has sponsored. He also metioned, that NGO Fontana is about to publish a report on abuse amongst street children in HCMC. The abuse rate are high, so he told, without going into details. We must wait for the publication later this year to know more. My conclusion is: there is an increasing need for shelters like the Little Rose Warm Shelter. Is shelter is housing 20 girls at the moment, but there is room for 45 if we had the money....

This is my desk at Little Rose Warm Shelter. The next 3 months I will work from here. Daniel has a sofa opposite my desk where he can do his homework. 

I am not working in the same room as the staff. I think they like it that way 
:-). But I have been well received by the staff, and I hope that they are not seeing me as one who is coming to controle them, but one who is here to help them and have a mutual and respectful working relationship.

I brought my iPad and will use it for pictures and video shooting. The first days I have had some jetlag and Daniel has had a running nose, probably due to too much aircon and maybe some allergi. We are trying to find out and get the right medicine.

My Name is Ole Riis, I am a 53 year old teacher from Denmark. I am married to Else and we have to children: Daniel (15) and Katrine (14). They are both adopted from Vietnam and are biological siblings. 

I have been the project coordinator for a Danida financed project since 2005 supporting most of the costs at Little Rose Warm Shelter.

In addition to the Danida funding we have received contributions mostly from Danish companies located in HCMC. The biggest donors have been Scancom, Sunmark A/S and Sonion A/S. Also organisations like Soroptimisterne in Denmark has contributed. The extra money we have received has been used for additional fund raising training for the staff, social activities for the children, house repair and las but not least build up a buffer for the post Danida period in order to secure the financial sustainability of the shelter.

Normally we, the project volunteers work from Denmark and go on a annual 1 week monitoring trip. From August 28th to November 21st however I will be in Vietnam to consolidate the Danida financed activities. My son Daniel is accompanying me the first 6 weeks. The picture show me and him last year when we were visiting their birth family. 

I have been in HCMC one week now, and I will blog regularly to involve you in what I am working with. 

It will be a personal blog, taking up issues that concerns me, what I am working with, the good things the more difficult things, totally of topic issues. But all issues that touches me. I hope you enjoy and please feel welcome to give feedback.

At the moment the blog is setup in a way that comments has to be accepted by me in order to avoid spam. But I will of course allow all comments, also critical ones.