THE BETHANY GROUP, INC.
JARAI PROJECT
This project was designed to help the neediest people in Vietnam. In this impoverished country, some minority groups, such as the Jarai people are even poorer. The Jarai is an aboriginal minority group who live in villages or hamlets in the woods or in the mountains in the highlands of Central Vietnam, separated from the Vietnamese. There are about 300,000 Jarai in Vietnam. They have their own language and many do not speak Vietnamese. Among them, the most unfortunate are people who have recovered from leprosy. They have been cured, but are still outcasts, even in their own society.
Dennis Trinh has been raising funds to build houses for these recovered lepers and their families. The Bethany Group supports some Vietnamese Dominican nuns whose ministry includes this area. To date, Dennis has been able to send enough funds to build four houses, four tube well systems, a water supply system for a kindergarten school, and contributed in the building of a multipurpose meeting house. He has also been able to secure long-term sponsorships for two young Jarai girls with special needs.
HOUSING PROJECT
The
typical dwellings of the Jarai recovered lepers are primitive huts
or sheds.
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Starting in October 2006, Dennis sent funds to Vietnam to build
the following four houses:
THE FIRST HOUSE BUILT FOR THE VEN FAMILY
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A nun with Mr. Ven in front of the almost-finished house built with The Bethany Group funding |
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THE SECOND HOUSE: NEW HOME FOR THE SIU PLIK FAMILY
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THE THIRD HOUSE: NEW HOME FOR THE RMAH BENG FAMILY
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THE FOURTH HOUSE: THE BETHANY GROUP BUILT A NEW HOME FOR THE
ADINH FAMILY
Mr. and Mrs. Adinh are children of recovered leper parents. They have two children. They are very poor. Along with some other people in their village, they go to the nearby dump site of the city of Pleiku to salvage any materials that they can resell for food.
 The poor villagers at the dump site |
 The Adinh family catch of the day |
 They did not have even a hut. Instead they were allowed to live on the side of a house. Their shed consisted of a corrugated metal roof that was leaned on that house, and a piece of fabric using as a side wall. |
 At night, the two children, a daughter and a baby son, slept on the green hammock, while the parents slept on the bare ground. |
 Two Dominican sisters in front of the Adinh's new house. As this house is located in an area that is very humid, it was decided to use corrugated metal sheets to build the walls so it would be easier to remove any future mold and mildew. |
 This house is probably the only house in the village that has brick floor. The Bethany Group also bought a bed for the Adinh family. Two days after they received the bed, Mrs. Adinh gave birth to a third child, a baby girl! |
TUBE WELL PROJECT
The Jarai people know their terrain very well, and know where some of the shallow underground streams can be found. There, they can poke plastic tubes into the ground to extract water. However, these water sources are used by both humans and cattle (and even wild animals), and are very filthy.
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Stating from March, 2008 The Bethany Group funded the construction of two tube well systems, a large one for women and children (which includes a laundry area) and a smaller one for men, near the village of O Yo. Each one has a water filtering system and a concrete base to make it more sanitary. Before then, there was only one well system with a muddy floor, and the water was shared by both men and women for drinking, washing and bathing. The village has about 180 families. It is situated on the top of a hill, about eight miles from the city of Pleiku. The wells are intended for use by the whole village, but were built in the name of the recovered lepers. This way we hope that the villagers will appreciate these people more. With enthusiasm, the villagers volunteered to participated in the construction, such as carrying bricks and other construction materials down the valley to the construction site. Children also enjoyed helping. This was not a case of child labor; it was more like playing for them.
 The original tube wells had a muddy floor and |
 the water was shared by humans and animals alike |
 The main jobs were done by paid workers |
 while simpler jobs such as carrying bricks were done by volunteer villagers |
 A man carried a bag of cement |
 A woman carried bricks in her back basket |
 Each kid carried |
 as much as they could |
 Some women arranged bricks that they had just brought down |
 Some other women carried mixed concrete to build a small bridge to the women's wells |
 Some children tried to learn how to mix concrete |
 The well was taking shape |
 The back wall of the women's well |
 The women's well has nine water spouts and two clothes washing areas |
 Finishing a clothes washing area |
 The well was taking shape |
 The two well systems, with the men's well in the forefront showing the water filtering system |
 The men's well with six water spouts and with a plaque indicating that it is a gift of The Bethany Group |
 A small bridge leading to the women's well |
 The women's well has nine water spouts |
 Sr. Sang and Sr. Lien in Jarai traditional dresses and standing in front of their accomplishments |
 A souvenir plaque for The Bethany Group next to Sr. Lien |
 The woman with the pink shirt was just finishing her laundry while the woman in blue shirt was washing her clothes |
 The kids were enjoying the fresh, clean (and cold!) water |
INAUGURATION OF THE TWO BETHANY GROUP TUBE WELLS
Thank to the hard work of the whole village, under the supervision of two Dominican nuns, the villagers now can enjoy the safe, clean and fresh water for years to come. The inauguration of the two wells was marked with festivities, which included a pork and rice porridge dinner for the villagers.
 The Mother Superior was mixing the pot |
 Everybody were enjoying the porridge |
 Sr. Lien joined the head of the village to taste the porridge |
 A happy getting together |
 Enjoying the porridge |
 A kids's circle |
 How to eat porridge with no spoons? |
 No Spoon? No problem! |
SPONSORSHIP OF JARAI CHILDREN
Sometimes there are compelling reasons for us to modify our project goals to accommodate for unexpected needs. We found two young girls who needed urgent help, and we were able to find benefactors who have pledged to support these two girls for at least five years, and more probably for ten years. The funds are used to raise these girls and teach them Vietnamese so they can go to school (there are currently not enough qualified teachers who speak the Jarai language).
The first girl is Puih Blaih, a child having congenital defects, with both hands and one foot missing. The nuns who followed the Adinh's (owners of the fourth house) to the dump site found Puih Blaih playing on the garbage. They brought her back to the village, and later to their makeshift girl home in Pleiku.
 Poor adults at dump site |
 Poor kids at dump sites |
 Handicapped Puih Blaih at dump site |
 A girl with spoiled fruits retrieved from dump site |
 Puih Blaih managed to eat at a communal dinner |
 Puih Blaih at the wells inauguration dinner |
The second girl is Puih Lyun, the step daughter of Mr. Adinh (owner of the fourth Bethany Group house). Because they are so poor (and probably because Lyun is not his blood daughter), Mr. Adinh was looking to give Lyun for adoption. The girl did not want to be separated with her mother and siblings, so the nuns took her in their makeshift girl home as we were trying to find a sponsor for her. In June 2008 two benefactors (two of Dennis' aunts) agreed to sponsor the two girls. Now with the sponsoring funds secured, Blaih and Lyun's future looks much brighter.
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In 2012, Blaih is in fourth grade and Luyn is in sixth grade. They have progressed extremely well. Both of them have the same dream of one day becoming a teacher to help the children of their village.
Blaih (left) and Luyn heading to class Blaih and Luyn in traditional Jarai dresses
In 2012, the orphanage has become much larger, with some boys among mostly girls; Sr Sang in Jarai dress is present on the left side of the picture, Blaih in front row, and Luyn in back row
Blaih was writing a letter to her sponsors
Blaih’s letter to her sponsors Luyn’s letter to her sponsors
Blaih has to develop special skills to function in class, from writing to use a ruler to mark the border of her drawing
Blaih’s project was drawing a poster about “Traffic Safety for Children”
In 2013, Luyn showed her talent in the Home Economics class: an egg dish, and a floral arrangement.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
THIRD BETHANY GROUP TUBE WELL The construction of this third well system
was very tedious because of (1) the rocky
foundation of the terrain (at the side of the
mountain) and (2) the workers did not have
powered tools. The uphill road to the
village is very steep. Children of the village enjoy the clean,
fresh, and chilly water of the new well, under
the care of Sr. Sang. MULTIPURPOSE
HOUSE WATER
SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR A KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL IN
HANG RING VILLAGE CONSTRUCTION
OF THE FOURTH TUBE WELL Tajana Schneiderman, with
the support of Albert Trinh, raised enough
funds to build a tube well for the Hang Ring
village in Chu Se district, Gia Lai (Jarai)
province. The well was built and
completed in February, 2013. The original tube well with
one plastic tube over a muddy floor and a
wooden platform The ground was prepared to
receive construction materials and form a
path to the village Sand and bricks for the
construction were delivered The foundation, the
framework, and the filtration tanks were
then quickly built As the well was being built,
the villagers already rushed in to use the
clean water The new fountain has three
spouts to conveniently provide perpetual
water for multiple usages and for
multiple users at the same time The fountain
provides a very safe environment
for all users When the well
construction was completed, Sr. Nghien
(top right) enjoyed the fountain
with some village children Water was collected into
a can; and filled bottles (left bottom
corner) were ready to head home This is how water is carried
home from the fountain to villagers’ homes
uphill This is the fourth tube well
for the Jarai |
The foundation of the new
community
house
Framing
the new community house
ACKNOWEDGEMENT
This is to thank Sister Clara Lien Nguyen of the Dominican Sisters of St. Rose of Lima, who has coordinated the construction of the houses and wells, and who has devoted her heart and soul to the Jarai children.
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In January 2010, Sister Nghien Nguyen replaced Sister Clara Lien to help The Bethany Group to support the Jarai people.
Sister Nghien Nguyen