Loving House Project No. 7 was given to Ms. Phan Phuong Van, who is 55 years old and divorced. After being abandoned by her husband she built herself a hut over a river, on a friend’s property. She works and lives alone on a $0.75 USD income. Loving House Project visited Ms. Van in November 2008 and promised to give her a Loving House if the Vietnamese government would provide the land. With the support of the Vietnamese Red Cross, Ms. Van received a small lot on the first week of April 2008 and, as promised, her Loving House started construction on 4/25/09 and she received her Loving House on June 17th, 2009. LHP Directors were in Vietnam in May, supervising construction.

Ms. Van’s Loving House started being built on April 26th and was finished on June 17th, 2009.

April 26, 2009- The ground breaking ceremony took place at the cleared lot that the Vietnamese government donated to Ms. Van. During this ceremony, as a Vietnamese tradition, Ms. Van asked for her ancestor’s blessings for her new home.

April 30, 2009- Mrs. Van’s house is moving along nicely. The footers have been completed and the workers will soon begin back filling the excavation. The next thing will be to pour the concrete for the wall foundation. It is amazing to see all this work being done by hand.

May 16, 2009 - All is going well in Vietnam. We were able to visit the construction site of #7 and the walls are almost complete. Mrs. Van is very happy and within two weeks she should be in her new home, depending on the weather.

May 19, 2009 - The walls are up and the roof is almost finished. It’s a good thing because they can work inside if it keeps raining too much.

May 28, 2009 - The workers are finishing the stucco. The rain caused some delay but we think Ms. Van will be living in her Loving House in a week or so. The Red Cross staff is supervising the end of the construction since we had to come back home before they were able to finish construction.

June 17, 2009 - After a long delay caused by the rainny season, Ms. Van received the deed for her Loving House in a ceremony with the Red Cross Volunteers, family and friends. She received gifts and celebrated her new home with her son, daugher in law and grandson. LHP wishes Ms. Van good luck and good health!

Photos