Nam Dzung # 2

Dear Friends and Families:

Perception and reality: The case to provide clean freshwater to area encroached by the rising sea.
A few months ago, in the heart of summer, many coastal areas in Southern Vietnam ran out of freshwater. Watching the relief efforts from the other side of the earth, we thought of redirecting our clean water projects to these areas where freshwater was becoming more precious than even foods. Though comforted by news and pictures from volunteer friends who led convoys of of trucks carrying drinking water from the systems we installed hundreds of kilometers to help these coastal areas desperately relying on outside help, we thought that establishing new installations of clean water systems in these communities would be the right response. It would surely cure the thirst when these local people exhausted their reserves of rain water. The idea was reinforced when the leaders of those relief efforts told us that they had compiled lists of communities for water system installations.
Well, as we found out, these perceptions even as very well founded, did not match up with reality. Talking directly to the local volunteers living in these areas, we got the hard doses of reality. The problem is sporadic. It occurs only when high tide matches with lack of local rain and low flow volume down the Mekong river. Except for those coincidences, these communities get by well with their habits of collecting and storing rain water as their ancestors had done over the centuries. Responding to our requests to establish contacts with local organizations that would operate and maintain the (to be installed) clean water systems, the lists of requests for help withered down to nothing when the issues of responsibilities to operate and maintain the systems rose to the surface. By nature, our clean water systems needs to be run and maintained year round, not just off and on a couple times a year when certain conditions coincide.
With this knowledge and belief that our clean water systems installed far away still can make great contribution in time of need, we have made the decision to not make any deviation from our approach to select and install clean water systems over the last few years, wherever our systems will help the most (preferably poor) people, will be run by eager volunteers who will extend a hand to help others in time of needs.

Best Regards

ND Mission 2024