We hope this edition of the Platypus
Newsletter finds you well.

This year, our annual fundraising
celebration will be held at the
magnificent riverside home of
our dear friends and committed
supporters, Jeff and Amy Burch. 

With delicious offerings from Bunn Mee
in Leederville, superb wines from
Howard Park Wines, and many exciting
auction items on offer, the 20th of April
is shaping up to be an unmissable
evening!

Due to overwhelming support, tickets
have sold out before we could send out
this newsletter. If you are unable to
attend this year’s celebration, we will
miss you, but you can still support
Vietnamese students by making a
donation on the Platypus website. 

Please read below how the
challenging lives of some of the
children are positively impacted by
your generosity.

Dr. Carina Hoang was 16 when she,
along with her two younger siblings,
fled Vietnam on a wooden boat that
was carrying 370 other people.
 

Against all odds, she survived
the harrowing journey and the
extreme challenges of living in a
primitive refugee camp, eventually
resettling in the United States. Since
her move to Australia in 2007,
Carina has worked hard to raise
awareness of refugee issues,
including by acting as the Special
Representative of Australia for
UNHCR and as a Refugee Week
Ambassador. A prolific author,
publisher, speaker and advocate,
she can now also add “actor” to her
resume, having taken a star turn as
“Iris” in ABC’s hit TV series The
Heights. 

We are thrilled to have the brilliant
and warm Dr. Carina Hoang as our
special guest this year!

Despite the extraordinary and
challenging year that was 2020, we
were fortunate to be able to continue
financing our core activity of keeping
210 students at school. The reports
from our scholarship recipients in the
Quang Nam province paint a picture
of the extreme hardship faced by
many in Vietnam; hardship which has
only been intensified by the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic. The reports also
clearly illustrate the huge impact that
Platypus (read: you!) has on the lives
of Vietnamese youth and their families.
 

Oanh’s mother, her sole parent, was
born deaf and suffers from an intellectual
impairment. Oanh and her mother live
with Oanh’s 86-year-old grandmother
and her two uncles, both of whom also
suffer from intellectual disabilities. The 
family relies on social welfare in the
amount of 1.7 million VND (less than
AU$100) per month. Their neighbours
do what they can to support the family,
providing them with rice, vegetables
and other help where possible.

Oanh has been a Platypus
scholarship recipient since 2019.
A year 11 student at Nong Son High
School, she dreams of becoming a
preschool teacher.
 

Thuong has lived with her adoptive
parents, who are both over 60 years
old, since she was born. Her mother
works at a local noodle shop, while
her father is unable to work due to a
heart condition. 

Thuong has been receiving
financial assistance from
Platypus scholarship since 2015.
She is currently a year 11 student
at Nong Son High School, where
she has been receiving excellent
grades.
 

Thu's parents are divorced, and she
lives with her maternal grandparents.
Because Thu's grandfather is
disabled, her Grandma provides for
the family by raising chickens and
growing vegetables.

Thu is currently a year 9 student at
Huynh Thuc Khang Secondary
School and has been a Platypus
Scholarship recipient for the past 3
years. She is a good student and
hopes to become a preschool teacher.
 

Tai’s lives with his parents, who sell soy
milk for a living, and an older brother.
Tai’s mother is undergoing treatment for breast and cervical cancer. Recently, his father was in an accident and broke his
leg. 

Tai started receiving financial assistance from Platypus last year. He is a year 7 student at Nguyen Du Secondary School, where he has received excellent grades
for 6 consecutive years.

Tai dreams of becoming a doctor so that he can one day cure his parents.
 

Due to the disruption caused by
COVID-19 and the limitations it has put on our fundraising, we have suspended our community activities such as vocational training, community gifting and additional micro-banking until we can once again stage our fundraising rides across Vietnam. We hope to resume these important programs soon and will keep you posted.
 

 

MARK McCARTHY - POWERHOUSE 

Mark has been our engine room since Day 1 and was an integral part of every worthwhile thing we have done. He is semi-retired now and wants to devote himself to his ever-growing brood of grandchildren, so we have a giant pair of shoes in urgent need of an occupant. We desperately need a motivated, kind hearted soul with a good sense of humour (and some IT skills!) to run our website and generally help steer the ship.

It is a Committee position and has a commensurate salary package total of up to $0 including allowances and bonus. If you have any interest in this position, Bob would love to hear from you: rob.greer@bigpond.com.

Thanks for being part of our brickwork, Mark, and all the best to you and Julie.

GEOFF LUCK – AUDITOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

We have lost another stalwart in Geoff, our auditor since inception. He is retiring, so there is another large pair of shoes that desperately needs filling. Our audits are straightforward, but Geoff would probably
be happy to discuss that with prospective auditors. If you are interested or know someone who may be, Bob would be
happy to hear from you: 0421 633 145.

We are deeply appreciative of the
massive support we enjoyed from Geoff
and his most capable team at A&T Accountants (formerly Athans and
Taylor) of Joondalup.

DIANA TRAN - TOUCH OF CLASS

The Board of  Platypus wishes to
express its sincere gratitude to Diana
Tran, who has devoted a huge amount
of time and energy to Platypus over
the past 4+ years. Diana, thank you
for your enthusiasm, superb
organisational skills, and for adding a
touch of glamour to our fundraising
events. Your willingness to spread the
good word about Platypus has resulted
in many fantastic individuals coming on board to support our mission, in both the Vietnamese-Australian community and
the broader Australian community. 

Thank you, Diana!

 

We are delighted to be collaborating with Urban Descent (part of the Adventure Out organisation) on an abseiling event in the centre of Perth. Urban Descent is run by Terry Hewett, an ex-SASR man, who has not only maintained a perfect safety record over the last 20 years, but has helped local charities raise a great deal of money.

We have 3 Platypus members signed up to abseil so far, although one is not yet confirmed. Bob Rees from Albany lost the use of his legs in a motorcycle tragedy in Malawi that left him a widower. He wants to abseil but is riding on his modified motorcycle to Philip Island to see the MotoGP in October, so he may have a date clash. We hope to hell this inspiring character can make it – he’s not pretty but he sure has megalitres of sheer guts. He’s working hard on those legs, so watch this space.

Abseiling is good, safe and clean fun. If you are at all interested, Bob Greer would love to hear from you at rob.greer@bigpond.com.