ARCAID AGM 2011

This year's Arcaid AGM was held in the Parish Centre on Monday November 28th. The meeting was opened by a prayer said by Father Nivan Richardson.

There was an excellent turnout for the Arcaid AGM. Andrew Torjussen the chairman welcomed everyone. A special congratulations was offered to Nancy Sackwood for her parachute jump which raised over £2000 for Arcaid. Andrew illustrated how quickly a response can be made for funds once proper safeguards are checked. Melanie Feibusch, the treasurer reported that £36,900 was donated to 26 different projects this year. Arcaid donations have improved slightly from last year as always ever more is needed.

. A full list of projects can be seen by clicking on this link.

A vote was held to elect Sarah Hargrave to replace committee member, Rob Gilmour (RIP) who sadly passed away this year.

At its recent AGM, Maura Rawlinson, a former Farnham resident and teacher, spoke of her experiences as a special needs teacher in Vietnam with the VSO, where she worked at the Huong La home for disabled children and adults in Bac Ninh, Hanoi. During the presentation Maura told of how disabled children in Vietnam are often hidden away by their families for superstitious reasons and how many of these children never receive an education.

The Huong La home is run by a small number of nuns, some of whom work in the fields to grow produce which they sell to support the home. The nuns are very caring and look after the children with love — some have been abandoned by their parents or are so disabled that the parents cannot look after them. The presentation, which was accompanied by beautiful slides, gave those present a small insight into the day to day difficulties at the home, and the selfless work done by the nuns and volunteers for both children and adults with a wide range of needs. Maura explained the problem the home has in maintaining a clean water supply throughout the year and how Arcaid has supported a project to provide large tanks to help improve the long-term water supply. This clean water supply will improve the quality of life for all the vulnerable children and adults at the home. At the end of her talk Maura was presented with a cheque from Arcaid to further support the home at Huong La.

Arcaid would like to encourage anyone who is interested in finding out more about Arcaid projects or who would like to become a contributor to contact Arcaid by email.