School has started! We need to let the girls in need of scholarships in the mountains know if they can continue their education. It's only US$150 for a scholarship for a year for one of the girls in this project.
This project's goal it to help get scholarships for girls in this mountainous area with the aim of keeping them safe, as well as educated giving them a future with choices. We don't work with trafficked girls, we work to avoid girls being trafficked.
This young lady wants to complete her last year of school.
She is of the Gie Trieng people. She has two brothers and one sister and sadly for the family their father died about 15 years ago. Her mother is a farmer who is often ill and when she has to stay in hospital, her daughter goes with her and looks after her. Like many ethnic minority people who are uneducated, her mother just goes to hospital when she feels really sick, and then goes back home when she feels well enough to leave, but without asking her doctor what her health problem is. When she goes to hospital she can use her medical insurance for 'poor people', however she has to pay for her own food and transport to and from hospital. The elder daughter can sometimes cover these fees.
The elder brother is married and lives with his own family in his own house and can’t support his mother, younger sister and little brother. The elder sister has married and has a daughter and lives with them. The younger brother dropped out of school in grade 5 as he was a terrible student and didn't like school.
She has free accommodation at the school dormitory as well as free lunch and dinner. Her mother sometimes gives her 25 cents for breakfast if she has money. Because this money is not enough to buy breakfast, she skips breakfast, and uses this money to buy education supplies she needs at the time. She is a very skinny girl because of skipping breakfast and working hard.
In the summer holiday and weekends she helps her family to do housework, collect wood and do the farming. Because people in her home area don’t have money to hire others to work on their farms they often work in exchange for someone else’s work. She asks her friends to come and work at her family’s farm and then she goes to her friend’s farms and works for them. Because most of the farms are in the forest and very far from their homes, they have to walk for a few hours to get there so they bring their cooking equipment, food and clothes to the farms so they can stay and work until all the work is completed.
Last school year, she had 'fair' results. English is her favorite subject while math is her most challenging one. Her dream is to be a primary school teacher.
Her passion is football and sports which she is very good at
She is from the Gie Trieng minority tribe and lives in the mountains about 20 kilometers from the closest town. She is one of 7 children and unfortunately her father died 15 years ago while her mother was pregnant with the youngest child . Since then her mother has had to work very hard to look after the 7 kids and consequently looks very thin and old, but she is strong still. She seems to be very proud of her children.
Her mother has a large debt. In 2010, her mother borrowed $1,200 from a Government Bank to buy 3 buffalo and unluckily all three buffalo were stolen a few years after that. Then two years ago she borrowed $750 for planting Acacia Mangium and supporting her children’s education.
Because they are so poor their neighbors are kind and give them things that don't need any more, such as secondhand clothes, an old TV, an old bicycle and a cabinet. Some of these things are broken but they still try to use them, like the bike and a table.
Poor children understand how difficult it is for their mothers so they help with housework and farming. During the summer holiday and weekends she often helps with these chores, but also does a part time job in the town to earn money. To get home she walks and if possible hitches a ride with someone.
During the school year, she mainly boards but comes home to help her mother on the weekends and holidays. As with other poor students in her area she receives free accommodation at as well as free lunches and dinners. She skips breakfast as she can't afford it.
She is very good at playing football and other sports too. Last school year, she was a 'fair' student. We hope we can keep her in school for her last year.
Scholarships are only US$150 for a girl to have the chance to complete her high school education!
You can contact us at cef.vn.usa@gmail.com or use Paypal on www.cef-vietnam-usa.org (for US or Canadians) or Paypal on this blog on the front page.
These scholarships make a big difference to the opportunities of employment they will have when they complete school. The girls live in an area near the border and like most countries the borders are porous and an excellent place for trafficking to take place. Keeping them safe is important. Our work is to keep them safe and to help them become educated women with choices.
Thank you for your interest and support,
Linda
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