10th Anniversary Celebrations
1 November 2002

It was with great pride that the Saigon Children's charity celebrated its 10th anniversary on November 1. More than 350 people attended a cocktail party, generously sponsored by the New World Hotel, during which Warwick Morris, British Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , declared open an extensive exhibition of paintings and photographs by students from Thang Long School in Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition was co-sponsored by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank who also sponsor the school's art and photography classes, the output of which was widely admired in the exhibition. The other sponsor for the evening was Cathay Pacific Airways who also generously donated a return ticket to Hong Kong as a raffle prize.

As a mark of respect for the victims of the recent devastating fire in Ho Chi Minh City we postponed the dancing and costume parade which many of the children had long been rehearsing for and hope to be able to put on the display at a later date. They did however attend the party and were the subject of numerous photographs by passing hotel guests, looking as colourful and attractive as they did. They also made short work of the huge birthday cake which the hotel had kindly made for the occasion.

Mr Morris congratulated and thanked the charity for the help it has extended to some of Vietnam's poorest children by means of educational scholarships - a total of nearly 3,000 scholarships since 1992 - giving the children not only an education, but also security, love and self-respect.

Mr Paul Cleves, Director of SCC, added his thanks to the dedicated local staff and the volunteers from overseas for "making the SCC what it is, doing what it does and feeling the way it does." Thanks were also extended to the Chairman and Trustees of the SCC and the local partners from the People's Committees, PACCOM, the Education Departments, schools, children's shelters and the many sponsors who make the work of the SCC possible.

Paul Cleves, Director of SCC, welcomes guests	Warwick Morris, British Ambassador, opens the exhibition
Right to left: Paul Cleves, Warwick Morris, Adrian Stevens, British Consul General, John Webb, GM, Renaissance Riverside Hotel and Beat Waffler, Swiss Consul General	Children celebrating 10 years of the SCC's Work and Achievement
Enjoying the evening	Guest admiring the students' works of art
Presenting the Cathay Pacific ticket to the lucky winner