Dear Friends,
Last November the Vietnamese government gave Thay permission to teach an audience of any size in any temple in Vietnam, but not in a theater or stadium. To accommodate the expected audiences, we have been rebuilding the Phap Van temple in Saigon, with your help. We are so grateful for your generous donations, following our first appeal in the Mindfulness Bell. We have received $18,870 in US dollars,
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Dear Friends,
Last November the Vietnamese government gave Thay permission to teach an audience of any size in any temple in Vietnam, but not in a theater or stadium. To accommodate the expected audiences, we have been rebuilding the Phap Van temple in Saigon, with your help. We are so grateful for your generous donations, following our first appeal in the Mindfulness Bell. We have received $18,870 in US dollars, and $67,660 from friends in Europe
Now we ask you to help to complete the temple construction. We need $5,000 to add 900 seats outside the lecture hall to the existing 800 indoors seats. We also urgently need twenty-four toilets costs $150 each. Building each square meter of Phap Van Temple costs $130.
Please send your donation Attn: Phap Van Construction to Sr. Chan Khong in Plum Village.
I have summarized below the status and remaining needs of the various spaces.
- A house for Thay, which will become a library in the future: Has been completed thanks to a $20,000 donation from a friend in France. Thay has named it the “Together Again” house (“Nhà doàn tu”)
- A three-story building, sixty by fifteen meters, including:
- A strong foundation: Completed (cost: $14,000).
- Ground Floor: A large lecture hall; a kitchen; a storage area; a sanitary block with 20 toilets. The lecture hall has supports and walls in place, and the concrete floor has been laid, but there are no doors or floor tiling yet.
- Second Floor: Ten dormitories, four by twelve meters, each housing up to eighteen people; one dining room; and a study room for monks. The walls are all done; but no tiles, toilets or showers yet.
- Third Floor: Meditation hall, balcony, and garden – nothing has been done yet except the floor. Cost of work completed so far on Ground Floor and Second Floor: $87,488 from your contribution and $27,500 from a no-interest loan.
- With thanks and see you in Vietnam!
SOS Help for Hungry People in Tay Nguyen
Five Provinces on the Highlands of Vietnam
Dear Friends,
We have received an SOS appeal from the Buddhist Youth Association of Vietnam Gia Dinh Phat Tu – GDPT in Tay Nguyen to help 8,700 families who will have nothing to eat by March 2005.
Currently, Plum Village is helping our GDPT friends bring fifteen kilograms of rice per month per family for 150 families. We need to help them for seven months, until the next harvest in July.
With a contribution of $35 you can help one family survive. Please make your donation to Unified Buddhist Church, Deer Park Monastery, attention: hungry people in Tay Nguyen Highlands, Sister Tuc Nghiem will send a thank you letter confirming your tax deduction for your generous donation.
With thanks.
Sr. Chan Khong
