China Trip in July

China Bound Soon Du'an Grant Submitted Since I leave for China soon, I just finished up our grant application for 10 water purification units and indigenous health training for our health assistants in Longfu Township. The water purification units will give clean water for 10 schools if the grant is accepted. You can see a video of me learning to use the unit on youtube at this link.  Dr. Ted Pass, who is a microbiologist, helped us learn to assemble and use the unit. It was really simple. You can lean more about the units at this website ofWater for the World. Dr. Ted Pass Dr. Tang Xiwen and Mandy Ma have helped us work very hard on the cost of items to put in the medical kits of the Yao trainees. They are excited about our visit to their area on July 9th. We will meet our 6 health assistants that you are supporting this year. I am taking a purification unit to demonstrate for them and also will see it installed in the Longfu Middle School. Schools in China have to boil their water and even then Du'an County just had an outbreak of hepatitis A, which is water borne. 120 high school student had to be treated. Longfu Hospital Dr. Erla Mowbray, Head of the Nursing Department at Morehead State University has written a letter of support, and we hope that our Blessing Hands Intern next summer will be a nursing student from MSU. People to People, a NGO that has an orphanage for AIDS affected children in Ethiopia, is also a partner on our grant application. They are asking for two water purification units for their area and will help us with medical donations for the medical kits. Sonata Bohen, a nurse practitioner who has taught the indigenous health class in South America for many years, will join in our grant as a volunteer teacher in both Longfu Township, China and Amanuel, Ethiopia. Dr. Janet Gross, Dr. Janet Gross who has training in cross cultural nursing will also teach in the health assistants workshop.  She served on our board before she went to teach nursing in Ghana, Africa. Aelaf Felleke will teach in Ethiopia. We have a cast of highly qualified teachers and hope for many volunteers to help carry items into China next summer, or Ethiopia in the spring.   I am excited to meet those who have been described to me in the Yao community. I understand that their culture produces great songs and singers. Dr. Scott Davison, who is from Morehead and teaches in a minority college in Beijing, has arranged for me to meet a Yao professor while I am in Beijing July 2nd. Most of all I hope to meet the children of Longfu that Mandy Ma has been telling me about. See the Yao pictures  Mandy Ma and Yao Children  Mandy Ma will arrange our time in Du'an, her home County. Her dedication to help the Yao minority has really been helpful. The church in Nanning is gathering clothes and children's books for us to  give to the Yao children. Fuse the Muse Photography Workshop Our photography workshop in Yangshuo on July 13 and 14th is going to be focused on peace. David Hsieh is coming from Taiwan to help us with teaching our Blessing Hands high school students to express themselves with a camera. David is a computer expert and a wedding photographer that also works for a company partnered with HP. His company is donating his plane ticket. Johnna Bockover could not come to China, but she will be sharing her lesson plans with David and helping with editing and production of a photo book featuring the kids photos. Her blog is at thislink. We expect to have 80 students participate over two days and four workshops. We also expect 20 volunteers to go with the students to take pictures in Yangshuo with their cameras. David Hsieh will teach the classes.  Some volunteers will come from Guangxi Normal University and others will come from other places in China or the USA. Each student will get a 4x6 photo to take home and will upload their photos to the Internet. In January of 2011, we will feature their photos in a Yangshuo exhibit at the Rowan County Arts Center as part of Fuse the Muse Grant from the Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation. Laura White Laura White, our Blessing Hands Summer Intern will be taking photos and movies to later make a PowerPoint Presentation on September 11th in Morehead. One of our third year Blessing Hands scholarship students, Bamboo Feng, will also be taking movies and photos. She wants to make a documentary about charities in the US and China. Bamboo Feng We want to give the kids experience with a camera and see how they will see the world through a camera lens. We might use bicycles built for two for the volunteers and students to go out for an hour to capture Yangshuo and their lives. Some of them have never used a camera before. Give a College Scholarship We have an opportunity to help a family of Longfu with tuition for their son and daughter. The Lan family was recommended to us by Dr. Tang, who knows the family well and treats them free since they are so needy. Both the high school boy and college girl are very good students. I want to feature Lan Liuxia's college scholarship essay here. You can support her for a year's tuition at college with a $500 gift. My name is Lan Liuxia, born September 11, 1989.  I am one of Huazhong Agricultural University students studying in Chengdu, Sichuan University Preparatory Education school. I grew up in Longfu Village. I am from a single parent family with five people, grandmother, mother, sister, brother and me. In 1997, my father died in the mountains cutting wood unfortunately. Lost at home was the only pillar we had. Dad was the only son, so since he has gone away all the burden falls on the shoulders of my mother, a widow of a big family. A month after my Dad died, on a rain-soaked night, our family's only mud house collapsed into a ruin, but fortunately no one was injured. But this is our only home and on the verge of despair my mother embarked on a journey into the city to look for work.  Because our grandparents are elderly and ailing, my sister and I had something for a living to worry about. It seems to be the home of little adults. We planted corn seed and soybeans, as well as getting  firewood for this effort, the trouble of living. Corn was the most busy season, because there was no money to buy fertilizer, so we all hurried back home to pick pig manure and cow dung as fertilizer. The corn is also a headache during peak season. There is a slippery road.  I fell down and rolled a long way under the basket on the steep trail. I thought I would die, rolling to the end. But God loves me. There were trees that blocked me, so I had the honor that he saved my life. Regardless of my fall and pain, I got up to pick up the scattered corn. A passing villager placed  the burden on my shoulders again, and then I limped to his house. Very far from our village bazaar, we go more than two hours by road to tell my mother about everything at home, so Mom will not worry. Grandpa said we are really untimely kids. Life is too hard. We are really into this world to suffer, and so he secretly, saved money set aside for his medical treatment, and once a month he bought meat to allow our body help. We feel eating a delicacy makes us very happy, but Grandpa was crying. My grandfather died of tuberculosis . My sister has been found to suffer from heart disease. Although taking a lot of drugs, she has not seen any improvement. The expensive medical bills and our school tuition weighed on our mother making her out of breath. In order to reduce the burden of mother and let my brother and me have the opportunity to go to school, my sister was forced to drop out of school after primary school to go home to do farm work. Many people asked what I most want to be when I grow up, I said I want to earn a lot of money. They laughed at me for being vulgar, but  they have been living inside a greenhouse and have never known the  experiences that I have suffered. The reason I have such vulgar thoughts is because I want to use my earned money to help children who have had it as difficult as I have. I want to do my own efforts to help many of the mountain children see the colorful outside world. After graduation I hope I can find a good job, so my grandmother, mother, sister and brother will live a better life and  my brother can complete his studies in peace. Of course, I also look forward to someone helping me. For all those who help me, I sincerely thank you and wish you a good life and peace. I will love you forever and pass along the love.   Please help Lan Liuxia. Go to this link on our website to give her a college scholarship. Ready to leave for China Jessca Wright Our group will leave for China soon. We will be gone for 22 days this time. Jessica Wright, my niece,  will be going with. She will have her 17th birthday in China. She will be a volunteer with the Photo Workshop in Yangshuo, help with a party in Qinzhou, visit schools and hike into a Du'an area that is only reached by trails. Mandy Ma will also join us in Nanning, Qinzhou and Yangshuo. Other friends will join us from China and the US.  We will interview the graduating students who have been accepted into colleges or expect to be. We also will have scholarship dinners in four cities where we currently have students in college. I am really looking forward to seeing all my old friends and the Blessing Hands students. Betty Cutts Blessing Hands

Earthquake in Yushu, Water Purification, and 5 K Run

Earthquake in Yushu Agape Way Helps Earthquake Victims The earthquake is not in our area of China, but again school children are dying in their schools. I want to tell you of a good charity that I know that is working in China and will be trustworthy to send your funds for earthquake relief. I have followed them for three years and found their work to be good. I am pasting part of their newsletter below with the right information where you can give. It is so cold there in the far west of China near Tibet. Agape Way has been helping poor Chinese children in the southwest region since 1999 and has actively engaged in the Sichuan earthquake relief and reconstruction since 2008. Currently we have a team of 20 people building earthquake-proof light-steel frame houses in Sichuan and Gansu provinces. This team will switch to reconstruction in Yushu region after finishing the work in the areas.I contacted our partner in China yesterday morning. He is leaving for Yushu tomorrow, to visit earthquake victims and to set up a relief program there.  I plan to go to Yushu earthquake region around June 6 during my trip in China from May 31 to July 21.  Please pray for the victims and the relief efforts.     Wanbing Frank Li, Ph.D www.agapeway.org to contribute through Paypal, or write check payable to Agape Way, designated to "Yushu Earthquake Relief", and send to: Agape Way, P.O.Box 518, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.  4 New Native Health Assistants  We were so pleased when four new native health assistants were supported through our last newsletter.  Now we will have Yao helpers in 6 of the 9 villages of Longfu Township. We are writing a grant to train those 9 Yao health assistants in a 15 day workshop next July, 2011. The hospital administrator in Longfu was so excited to report that many more children are coming to be vaccinated now that the assistants are encouraging the parents to send their children for immunizations. We just lack 3 more health assistant's yearly support of $177. They will work for $15 a month which is above the $9 a month average income for the area. Mandy Ma recently visited this one room Yao lower primary school where electricity was recently installed. Water born diseases like Hepatitis B can be attacked by water purification. We are planning tofacilitate the installation of 10 water purification units in the hospital and area schools of Longfu Township. We are writing a grant. We will be glad to send it to your foundation if you are interested. These inexpensive units can serve the whole village and work from a car battery. You can see the device at this link. Water for the World. Tanks and batteries can be bought in China and the rest of the unit weighs 22 lbs and fits in a suitcase. It works by electrolysis and runs on table salt. This area is suffering from drought as you can tell from the picture of their water tank below. There are no wells in this rocky area. They catch rain water. The village is really suffering. One unit's set up can be done for around $2,000 with the basic unit costing around $1000. I would like to take the first unit this July when I visit Du'an. Would you like to make water safer for a whole village and save lives? Donate a Water Purifier.  Mr. Wei  Maosong of the Du'an County Office of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Projects has offered technical help andmatching funds to set up the first unit at the Longfu Hospital. He hopes that the units can spread to all 22 townships of Du'an and even into neighboring prefectures and provinces. This will be the first project in China for such a purification unit, although it is used in 58 other countries. It helps remote villages inpoverty areas. Mandy Ma recently walked and climbed the two hours it takes to get to Liushan Village. She has sent pictures of homes, a one room primary school, and the larger school for older primary children who must board.  The kids were all so shy. She had gifts for them, so they finally came out of hiding. We plan to take some clothes and books to them when we go in July. Mandy Ma was once a teacher, so she taught them songs. She said they had never had a singing lesson before. The native health assistant, Mr. Meng, watched the circle game she taught. He is the son of the local teacher. He has been a migrant worker for many years, but now he can stay home and work to improve the health of his people. Mr. Tang Xiwen is the head of Longfu Hospital. He hiked up to the village         with Mandy Ma. Liushan Village sends its older primary children to this central school where they board for the week. Many children do not have adequate food or medical care. We hope that will change as we begin to assist them. This school has 7 class rooms and ends at age 12.  You can see more pictures at this link. 5K Run for Families Expecting Good Weather April 24th Registration 8:30am. Run starts at 9:30am Auction at 11:00am, Awards soon after Kroger Center, Morehead, KY We are getting excited about our 5K Run on April 24th. I checked the 10 day weather forecast today, and it looks like a partly cloudy day. Last year we have to postpone the run because of lightening. It was a risk to move it to April with its showers. Things are falling into place well. The prizes will be great this year. We have lots of door prizes and even a live auction of about 37 items. People at Kroger Center, where the run will start this year have been really been supportive. The run goes down Bluestone Road, which will be lovely this time of year. CiCi's Pizza Buffet at Kroger Center is giving us a percentage of their lunch receipts so come on out for the auction and lunch even if you don't run. We will have 7 Chinese professional paintings in the auction. Artists in Yangshuo gave them to help us raise money for the Yangshuo kids. Give to the Yao  There are so many opportunities to help people in China right now. Not all of China is poor, but the rural areas really need assistance. Please give to make a difference in a child's life. You can choose from many donations on our website, or give at the Paypal link below. We would especially like to get the 3 other villages health assistants supported.   Support a Yao Health Assistant for $177 a Year   Give a water purification unit for $1000      Blessings and thanks, Betty Cutts for the Blessing Hands kids

Du'an Vaccination Project

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Our First Project in  2010    Click to Go to Articles Du'an Vaccination Project Climbing Mountains Medical Care is Valued Grant Proposal in Process Donate now You can support a native healer for  $177 a year.  Our Recent   5K Run for Families Sponsors Click here to learn more about us and our students. Du'an Vaccination Project We have just gotten pictures of our village project among the Yao minority in the Du'an Township of the Hechi Prefecture in the Guangxi Province of China. We are working with Mandy Ma, a resident of that area who has devised a way to help the children of Du'an avoid another disease outbreak like the measles epidemic that broke out there and spread to all of China three years ago. These kids have received their shots and are smiling for the camera.  There are 320 children (0 -14 years old) in the Gejia community area and 360 children (0 -14 years old) in the Datong community area. 680 kids are getting vaccinated for several childhood diseases. 13 babies are born every year per 1000 people in Longfu Township. Six people out of every thousand die each year. Most families have three children because the one child policy in China does not apply to minority groups. T here are 1,300 people in Gejia Village and  1,400 people in Datong Village. Climbing Mountains Health care workers have to travel on foot for more than two hours to meet the villagers. The area is suffering a drought. Water is precious.   They carry their supplies on their backs and work with native healers to protect the health of the villagers. It takes really dedicated health professionals to work in such areas.  Medical Care is Valued  It is so far to the nearest hospital that we are interested in preventive care to keep the Yao children healthy. They are gettingencephalitis shots in this picture.   They live in a Yaoautonomousminority area much like the American Indians.  They have their own customs, values, and language  that only a native healer would know and understand. Presently we are doing a pilot project with two village healers Du'an is one of the poorest townships of Guangxi and is listed by UNESCO as not fit for human habitation. The population is 630,000. The number of children 0 -14 in age is 119,143. There are many disabled children and those living with relatives and neighbors when their parents become migrant laborers. A child's right to an education is in their registered home area, so school age children are left behind while parents work in distant factories. The average income is 60 yuan a month, which is under $9 US. The $15 monthly salary we pay the village healers is above average.  Grant Proposal in Process We are now in the process of writing a grant that would give these native healers training in basic health care and water purification methods. We need several professional health teachers to help these native healers. We plan to use the book, Where There are no Doctors, which can be purchased in China. It is used all over the world and has been translated into many languages. We will ask for funds for a training class in water purification with simple equipment like car batteries. Amy Chen, who is the Vice Dean of Health for the Longfu Township Health Center, is now helping us with information to apply for the grant. She says that the medical workers are very excited about such a course for village healers. They want to send representatives from other townships to learn the methods and take them back to their areas. They have never had such a much needed course before. Mandy Ma, who was a translator for World Visionwhen I met her, is doing the neededtranslation between the Chinese health experts and our grant writers and planners. We will apply for the initial grant on July 1st, and if we are selected to follow through, we will submit the full proposal in September with money being given in December 2010 for a year's project. This vaccinationcertificate is given to the children.   We have a foundation in mind, but they will want to see matching funds. That is where you can help.If you have a foundation or personally want to give to help this health education project, please let usknow. You can give a small donation of $35 at thislink.  We have been invited to teach all the village healers in Du'an, but we are not sure if we can get enough funds to do that. We want to pay at least 16 more village healers $15 a month to assist  their schools and communities with vaccinations. That would cost $2,880 a year. Wouldn't it be great if  each child in the Longfu area had an egg a day to improve their nutrition. In this poverty area this would make a great difference in their ability to learn. Eggs are very expensive, however. It cost 88 cents for 6 to 7 eggs. If local eggs were used, it would give the people an income. The hospital also needs a medical van to carry 11 medical workers to the trail heads and transport patients who come down the trails to the hospital. Women often die in labor, because they don't have a way to get to the hospital quickly. The government is offering matching funds for a van that could double as an emergency ambulance. It would come to just $4,000 US for a part in the van. What a great opportunity for someone to buy an simple ambulance.  About Us Blessing Hands serves the poor in Guangxi Province by giving educational and medical aid to children. You have an opportunity to help them too. Please support them with this project.  Sincerely, Betty Cutts Blessing Hands If you are a medical professional?  You can help. Perhaps you would like to go along to teach in our course for native healers. Maybe you have medical items to donate that could travel in a suitcase to China.  They need things like blood pressure cuffs, first aid supplies, surgical scissors, thermometers or other supplies that the hospital or native healers would appreciate as gifts. This e-mail link will let you contact us.