Longwan Caring Home is located in Dahua County, which was listed as one of the poorest counties in Guangxi Province. Longwan Caring Home is a big family consisting of orphans, single parents, and abandoned children. The normal expense of the Home is sustained by plantation, breeding, and small business.

On a February afternoon, two students told me that a beggar was sleeping in the old school. The school had been abandoned for some time, and the villagers used it to keep their horses. The beggar became the topic of every talk. These talks were filled with compassion.     

The following afternoon, the children said that the beggar was passed out on the road, and they wanted to give him food. We went to the cross road and saw the beggar lying on the ground, covered only by a worn-out red quilt. His hair was dirty, and his face was buried in the quilt. He was about 40 or 50 years old, and the dark skin in his forehead seemed striking. He seemed in obnubilation. The children called him grandpa. There were children around him talking. The villagers did not allow him to stay in the old school, and he was driven outside. The children sent him food, clothes, a scarf, and a quilt. He slept under an electric pole once he was driven out, forced to face the cold. 

People with leprosy are sent to isolated villages where they are abandoned and forgotten by society. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry has a special place in its heart for these people and organizes groups of volunteers to travel to villages plagued with leprosy in order to provide medical, living, and psychological assistance. 

March is a warm season where flowers blossom abundantly in China. For leprosy villages, especially the project sites of The Shalom in Yunnan province, spring seems even warmer and pleasant. The rehabilitation clients here not only share the love from Shalom volunteers, but also the love from the USA, Japan, and India. They brought money, goods and love for the clients. In the month full of love, the Shalom built solar-powered bathrooms, sponsored children who dropped out of school, and purchased a three-wheel motorbike for the clients in Yiliang.

The Shalom will complete the installation for the power supply and pipes for the solar-powered bathrooms as soon as possible, so that people can soon enough enjoy a commodity as simple as a hot shower.  

Original Article Written by Ping Liang, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

Xingzhi Migrant Art School is a non-profit organization that offers art lessons for the children of migrant workers who otherwise would not have this opportunity. This update was written by Director Gu, the founder of and a teacher at the Art School.

In the teacher Luo’s English class, you can see active atmosphere. The students are happy to have English classes. English is important for them, for they were anxious but unable to speak when foreigners or foreign organizations came and visited the art class. With language barrier, they could not introduce their works and the school. Visitors just saw their paintings and the students could not understand what they were talking about.

I am glad to see their attentiveness during the English classes. Every one of them wants to learn English and do something for the school. I witnessed their efforts. They value every period of English class, though their English is poor. With the instruction and guidance of teachers, I believe they will improve. 

Original article written by Xiaochen Gu, translated by Maggie Li, Edited by Yanyan Zhang

Little Red Scarf provides financial support and encouragement to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care and help the children sustain a healthy lifestyle.

12 patients sponsored by LRS Care were discharged from hospital in December, 2012. After 3 months, we called parents of 8 patients and 4 mothers. 

371 Chunfeng  Discharge time: 12/18/2012. Telephone interview: 03/22/2013. Recheck have not been done. Recent developments: she is much better after the operation. She hasn’t caught a cold in 4 months. Her parents are too busy to take her for the recheck. There is no kindergarten near the family, so she has to stay at home until school age. 

373 Chunfeng  Discharge time: 12/06/2012. Telephone interview: 03/19/2013. Recheck time: 04/02/2013. Recent developments: she is healthier than before with seldom cold. She eats more and the scar is healing well.

374 Wenjiao  Discharge time: 12/31/2012. Telephone interview: 03/22/2013. Recheck time: 04/01/2013. Recent developments: we saw Wenjiao and her mother at the door of color ultrasound room on April 1, 2013. She was sleeping in her mother’s arms and waiting for her turn. Her mother said she was healthier with less cold. We checked her scar and it healed well. After check, her mother said happily, “your illness is gone and let’s go home”.        

LY-255 Souxiang  Discharge time: 12/31/2012. Telephone interview: 03/22/2013. Recheck time: not yet. Recent developments: Souxiang is 10 moths old and still gets cold, but he almost recovered. He became healthier and grew taller. The scar is healing well. His parents are going to take him for a recheck in April.     

Orphan Impact is an organization that teaches important next generational computer skills, while building confidence, creativity, and critical-thinking, for children growing up in Vietnamese orphanages. For more, visit their website: www.OrphanImpact.org.
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With funding support from the Transparent Fish Fund, Orphan Impact opened our new headquarters this past week in Ho Chi Minh City. The space was developed to help us further our 2-year strategic development plan including: volunteer recruitment, teacher training, corporate fundraising, and a centrally-located, fun, bright, open space for lots of team collaboration.

Orphan Impact is an organization that teaches important next generational computer skills, while building confidence, creativity, and critical-thinking, for children growing up in Vietnamese orphanages. For more, visit their website: www.OrphanImpact.org.
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Happy Birthday to Thao, one of our students from Linh Xuan, as she turns 14 this weekend. Thao is soft-spoken, bright, and eager to learn. She melted our hearts 2 years ago when she was interviewed on camera by the San Jose Mercury News and answered, "I want to help other children like me" when asked about her hopes for the future. Happy Birthday, Thao!

(This post was written on 3/3)

Orphan Impact is an organization that teaches important next generational computer skills, while building confidence, creativity, and critical-thinking, for children growing up in Vietnamese orphanages. For more, visit their website: www.OrphanImpact.org.
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Oftentimes we share exciting news or upcoming events. But the day-to-day activities, that have become the norm, are pretty exciting as well. Each week, 17 classes are planned and executed by the team of Orphan Impact teachers. The photos shown here are from this week's Thursday night class in Can Tho.

Orphan Impact is an organization that teaches important next generational computer skills, while building confidence, creativity, and critical-thinking, for children growing up in Vietnamese orphanages. For more, visit their website: www.OrphanImpact.org.
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Long joined the Orphan Impact team as a Lead Teacher in October 2010. Over these past 2.5 years he has developed many new skills helping to dramatically impact his classroom management and the success he is seeing with his students. He does a great job of engaging his students as they use computers and internet to learn more about the world around them. This year, Long has also taken on the role of Operations Manager. From equipment to budget to schedules to teacher development, Long keeps us organized and helps us to be continually improving....thus increasing our impact! Thank you, Long.

In honor of Mother's Day this year, the Transparent Fish Fund is raising funds to provide surgery for three mothers in China who suffer from heart disease. YOU can be part of this effort! For every new "like" on the TFish Fund facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/tfishfund), $1 will be donated towards the fundraiser.

Please share the post with your friends and spread the word! With 2000 new fans, we will be able to give one mother the opportunity to receive a new heart.

Dear Friends,
 
In the short time that we have been working in Baglung, Nepal, our programs have made a significant impact. As the first site to begin program implemenation after transitioning out of Tibet, we are finally able to see the long-term effects of the Network of Safety on the communities in which we work. We have successfully reduced both maternal and neonatal mortality by close to half in our Baglung program area. 
 
We have been able to change birth outcomes for women in Baglung through the dedication and hard work of our team and network of volunteers, but none of it would have been possible without the incredible support of people like you. 
 
It is for this reason that I ask for your support once more at the annual Grateful Heart Gala in Los Angeles on May 3rd. We need your support in order to reach more women in the most remote regions of Nepal and in the Copper Canyon of Mexico. We want to see the same results for the mothers and newborns in all of our program areas, and to be able to bring the Network of Safety to new places where communities are in need.
 
Now that our model has been proven once again in a new location, we are more dedicated than ever to our mission to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in remote regions of the world. By showing up at our event, you will be showing your support for our programs, the women and newborns we serve, and mothers across the globe - plus you can have some fun while you're at it! We have a fantastic evening planned, from the food and our musical guests to the auction items we have lined up.
 
I can't think of a better way to celebrate Mother's Day this year. I hope to see you there.
 
All my best,
Arlene
Please follow the link to make a donation and get matched dollar for dollar: http://www.tfishfund.org/one-heart.html