Partners with Children's Education Foundation - Guest blog by Elaine of 'Journeys of the Heart'

Bruce and I have been volunteering in Vietnam and particularly Hoi An for about 7 years now. We call our charity Journeys of the Heart. (http://ebtovietnam.blogspot.com). We work with a few organizations that are basically grassroots, local and small NGO’s.

Children’s Education Foundation is one such organization. We are impressed with Linda’s leadership here in-country and because of our home being in Canada we are also connected to Stephen Jackal in the New York office.

When here in Vietnam we have the pleasure of working with Linda on some organizational matters and with her delightful staff in training sessions. Below is a picture of a recent meeting during which we were discussing the painful but real subject of child abuse and trafficking (always threats to girls in poverty).

  

  It is always a treat to do home visits with Linda. We see the evidence of the benefits of educational support for young students who may not otherwise go to school.

  

 We are particularly thrilled to see the excitement about the mobile library books that are now available for loan to all girls sponsored by CEF.

The girls really are careful about the choices that they make on book selection and we can see the awe over such a luxury.

The library is dear to our hearts. On the death of a dear friend, her book club wished to honor her and asked about what we thought would be an appropriate way to remember Carole…an avid reader, a former school teacher and a proud grandmother. The library was the perfect acknowledgement.

Our family, friends, neighbors, former colleagues, business associates and Bruce’s army veteran friends all have responded to the stories of our work in Vietnam with funds and often want their donations to go to CEF.

We have been able to deliver memorial funds for friends and family who want to remember a loved one has died and as a remembrance for casualties of the Vietnam war. Retired schoolteachers are very keen to support the education of children or provide books for the library. We find kind hearts at every turn of our journey and are grateful that we can be their emissaries.

Partnering with CEF has been a way for us to connect those kind hearts directly with a foundation whose integrity and purpose aligns with their desire to share their own good fortune.