Chuch Mung Nam Moi!

Yes, you probably guessed it. That’s “Happy New Year” in Vietnamese. Best wishes to everyone as we kick off 2010 and a new decade.

The woodworking shop at Maison Chance

Following a massive Christmas dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all that good stuff in Phu My Hung, the posh “city within a city” on the outside of Saigon, it was back to work early Saturday morning. It didn’t seem fair to have to go work the morning after Christmas, but what can you do?

Since I took the entire month of November as holiday, I have a lot of hours to make up at school. Many teachers have returned home for Christmas and New Year’s so there are opportunities to cover classes and reverse my trend of negative hours. Just in the last week I taught four different levels of adults; good practice and segue-way to eventually moving to an all adults schedule, which I have tentatively reached an agreement to do in March. So my sweaty, caffeine swilling weekends to keep up with the kiddies’ energy level may be coming to a close. The kids are fun, but I’m finding the adults much more rewarding. Even on days I don’t feel like teaching, they always seem to put a smile on my face.

I woke up last weekend with the “Saigon hack,” the infamous smog and other unknown carcinogen-induced cough. Determined to beat it, I’ve gone jogging three times this week, went swimming and played tennis. It’s better, but I’ve still got it.

Last week I visited a school cum shelter cum vocational training center for an article in The Word. The work they are doing there, especially the founder Tim Aline Rebeaud is simply incredible so I thought I’d share. Here’s the story with pictures (from the organization’s web site):

From the heart

Maison Chance was founded in 1993 by “Tim” Aline Rebeaud to help disabled people and orphans. Since then it has helped thousands of people, providing them schooling and giving them the skills they need to achieve self-sufficiency. Words by Nathaniel Liedl.

As a 20-year-old Swiss artist travelling around Asia, two encounters indelibly changed Aline Rebeaud’s life.

The first was on a street corner in Ho Chi Minh City, where Aline found a child sobbing inconsolably and all alone. She was struck by the desperate conditions orphans are forced to live with on the streets.

The painting workshop

The second incident took place at a psychiatric asylum. There she met Thanh, a 12-year-old boy who was chained to a floor, barely alive. Thanh was in a dire state of health and employees at the hospital were convinced that he was about to die. But Aline refused to give up hope and took it upon herself to look after him. She took him to a hospital so he could receive treatment for his liver, lung and heart conditions. For three long months, Aline stayed by Thanh’s side in the hospital, taking care of him and paying for the treatment by selling her paintings. When they emerged from the hospital, Aline was christened “Tim,” meaning “heart,” by the other patients who showed her the sign in the hospital: “Tim Mach”: Cardiology Hospital.

Tim and a friend.

A home for the underprivileged

Tim continued to visit different hospitals in the region. She met many patients with severe disabilities. Many were people paralyzed as a result of accidents at work and living in desperate circumstances, abandoned by even their friends and family.

“I learned that it’s possible for a small baby to be accepted into an orphanage, but not if you’re older,” says Tim.

Tim came up with the idea of combining these two groups: the disabled people, mostly adults wishing to start a family but in need of permanent assistance; and the orphans and street children. The Maison Chance shelter was established in 1993, serving as a home, school and training center.

Going international

In 1996, Tim contacted friends in France. They decided to get involved and join her in her commitment to the underprivileged. The first Association Maison Chance was created in Lyon. The same year, a second Association was formed in Switzerland. Maison continued to grow and became a non-governmental organization in 1998. In 2006, a third Maison Chance Association was born in Belgium. The organization now has associations in the United States and Canada as well.

Students at the Maison Chance school

Outgrowing its home

By 2006, the tiny Maison Chance shelter had outgrown its confines. The cramped conditions and increasing demand made expansion necessary. The Take Wings Center opened in February 2006.

All the education and vocational training activities were transferred to the center. About 170 orphaned or underprivileged children attend school at the center. Maison employs approximately 40 people in four different vocational workshops – computers, painting, woodworking and sewing – each with a teacher. All of the products they manufacture are sold in Vietnam and abroad, mainly in Switzerland, France and Belgium.

The entire surface of the Maison Chance building now serves as a home where approximately 50 beneficiaries live while undergoing their skill training.

“When they arrive here they choose what to do,” says Anne-Laure Nguyen who works at Maison.

By providing them with skills and a salary, the organization helps them get established on their own.

Besides housing the workshops and classrooms, the Take Wings Center also has an infirmary where the disabled receive care and rehabilitation treatment as well as a library.

Classroom at Maison Chance

Expanding again

The beneficiaries live close by but the housing is not tailored to the needs of the disabled. The “village” will change that. In 2011, Maison will expand again with 40 apartments adapted for the disabled. All of the education activities will be transferred to the village, leaving more space for the workshops at the Take Wings Center. The village will also have a restaurant and a pool, which will be used for rehabilitation.

An idea that began on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City 17 years ago continues to grow. And Maison Chance continues to provide the underprivileged with the wings they need to fly on their own.