Vietnam Orphanage

March 6th: 35 Km north of Nha Trang on the south central coast of Vietnam: The Chua Phu Quang Orphanage we all rebuilt looks unbelievably fantastic! Very high quality - all hardwood and marble. The head nun, Hoa Nguyen did an incredible job. It really is the center of the village now.
Yesterday the high lama and all the monks did prayers and blessings for 12 hours straight with only half and hour for lunch. They blessed every inch of the place many times - all 3 floors, up and down with the whole procession and all the villagers following every step of the way. Local musicians and all the chanting monks were miked and amplified so the sound was echoing through the village and the hills.
Gongs, bells, huge echoing drums. I got as much video and photos as I could but it won't do the event justice.
Today we drove up and the orphanage was packed with dignitaries, 3 high lamas, the head of the Catholic church of all the provinces, the head of the communist party of this province, the mayor and I counted over 100 monks and nuns. They were all seated in order of importance in a "U" shape in the 1st floor temple with the high lama in the center. The dignitaries overlooked the courtyard which was packed with families from the village and other areas. There was a snake dance and a dragon dance which made all the kids very excited. Village girls sang and did flower dances.
Then there were speeches from the lamas, from the bishop, from the communist leader but the highlight was the speech from Hoa Nguyen, the head nun who founded, built and runs the orphanage. She's very short but what a bulldog and only 28 years old! I've never seen such continuous energy. She has overseen everything and brought the orphanage from them all living in tents and exposed to bugs and mosquitos and all kinds of sickness and with little hope for the basics including food all the way to the elegant state they live in now. She spoke of when she first became a nun - that she felt that it was her calling to help elevate the least of us all - the orphans and the handicapped - and that would bring out the best in her and everybody. She thanked us: Sumner and Drew and Julian and Sydney and that we would be in her daily prayers and in the daily prayers of all the kids. She said a lot more that I couldn't get translated but by the end she had everyone crying with tears of joy.
I'm very, very proud of you all and so grateful for your support to help make all this happen. I know you would be pleased with the results. It's almost as though these orphans have been elevated to a higher status in the eyes of all the people here as a result of all this. They are certainly much more comfortable and very, very happy. But from my experience it seems that we are the beneficiaries of all this. Helping to elevate the lowest of us is our true purpose and when we fulfill that simple goal we ourselves become elevated. Certainly much happier in our own lives.

2010 Yushu, Tibet EarthQuake

Help Us Help the Earthquake Victims of Yushu, Tibet!

The death toll continues to rise into the thousands in this very poor region of Tibet.

One of our community members who is from the area is currently studying medicine in the United States and is willing to go there to help to bring aid to the local people. We want to help her get there with resources to bring proper supplies to help those in need.

Please help us help the people of Yushu and make a DONATION.

Here is a very moving video of the situation in Yushu.
WARNING: This video contains graphic images of the dead.

Why I Started KarmaBlast.org

When I met the monks of the Dugang Monastery during a personal visit to Tibet I was very moved by their incredible dedication to spiritual growth; moreso by their compassionate nature despite the extremely harsh weather, their lack of warm clothing and inadequate living conditions.


I returned home with a strong desire to help improve their living conditions. Our goal was to rebuild this small monastery that had been desecrated by the Chinese military some 20 years earlier. After obtaining 501c3 non-profit status and being without any experience in fundraising, a single individual donor miraculously stepped forward to fund the entire $200,000 project.


Fulfilling this project has been the most meaningful endeavor of my life, and it has inspired me to do more. With the momentum of the success of our initial project we started the concept of creating "Karmablasts" - small acts of charity that have concrete deliverables and budgets under $250,000. Using the internet to build and strengthen our community we allow the user base to submit ideas for more projects and follow the progress of each initiative. It was important to design the organization in this way to let people know that we really can make a difference and see real results from our contributions in a very short time. Also100% of all donated money went directly to our initial project. We plan to keep our overhead costs very low.


Our goal in 2010 is to raise $1,000,000 to fund several projects: to rebuild an orphanage Nha Trang, Vietnam and in Dehradun, India and a medical clinic in Tibet for $100,000 each, as well as building two new Tibetan monasteries in Bhutan, and rebuilding an historically important temple in Tibet.


The monks of Dugang are very grateful for the generosity that has helped to support and sustain their efforts. After all, their only aim in life is to obtain enlightenment in order to more effectively bring peace and hapiness to all beings. I feel supremely confident in supporting that selfless and vast endeavor. Vic