Second-hand bikes for two of the CEF - Vietnam children

Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam was given two second-hand bikes in good condition by Tom and Louise who had been volunteers in Hoi An for over a year. We happened to have children in our education program in need of bikes at the time they left, so this gift was perfect timing.

So Nam received Toms' bike and Bao Tram received Louises' bike. I had given my old bike to Nam about three years ago when I realized I wasn't using it much. With Hoi An having very wet winters and with the salt in the air from the ocean, the bike I had given him was in need of constant repairs over the last year, so now Nam is thrilled to have a good second-hand bike and can reliably cycle to his high school which is about 12 miles from his home.

Nam's father can work very little as he has severe back pain due to injuries resulting from many years of heavy labor.  His mother is a housekeeper. He has help with his extra tuition through CEF - Vietnam.

A child in high school needs many hours of extra tuition each week to make sure they get all the knowledge they need to pass exams. In their school hours they only get some the knowledge they need. Just the extra tuition can cost $100-$150 in each year of high school. As most families have very low incomes they not only borrow to pay the basic school costs each year, but also to pay the cost of this essential extra tuition.

Bao Tram lives a long way from Hoi An, but her uncle who she lives with brought her to Hoi An to pick up the bike. She has been walking the 5 miles to school each day, but in our rainy season with three to four months of torrential rains that equals being soaked by the time you get to school, even with if you use an umbrella and wear a waterproof. So they were both more than happy to come to Hoi An to get the bike!

Tram has no father and her mother is classified as a 'leper' although she had leprosy while young and has been treated. She has poor health and recently one of her feet got severely infected resulting in it having to be amputated. She is still recovering from the surgery and won't be able to do any work for some time. Tram now lives with her uncle and his family. Tram has a sponsor who pays all her education costs.

The challenges of one the girls Children's Education - Vietnam helps

When we first met Tram's mother she had socks on that still showed she had no toes, she hid her hands as she only had some of her fingers remaining. Her facial color was uneven, her skin rough and lumpy. Now in her 40's, she looks about 60 years old.

She had leprosy while a young woman. She is blessed with a beautiful daughter, Tram. With the help of her sponsors Tram has received educational support for the last two years allowing her to continue her education beyond primary school. Without that help she would be out working already to support her mother and herself. 

As Tram's mother is not able to work much or look after Tram easily, Tram moved to live with caring relatives far from her mother. She speaks to her mother on the phone but rarely sees her as it is expensive to get from where she lives to her mother.

Tram nearly left school a few months ago as she was so distressed that her mother was in hospital for months, while they tried to fight the bad infection in her mothers foot. She hadn't realized it was so infected as she had almost no sensation in her feet. In the end gangrene started to set in and she had to have the leg amputated. So she had months in hospital with little care and then months recovering at home with little care. Tram's mother made a surprising stand and said she did not want her daughter to look after her, but wanted her to become an educated person and have a better life than she has had.

Tram's relatives are aware Tram is distressed and struggling to concentrate on her work. Besides this stress Tram has thyroid problems which are controlled moderately well by medicine but she probably will need to have surgery in the next few years.  For such a young girl it's a lot of stress to bare.

Tram is being brave and trying to study hard and do well at school to please her sponsors and her mother. Her mother should have healed soon and will then have a new leg fitted. Once she is used to that we hope she will be able to get around and have some quality of life and perhaps be able to get some work once she is more able bodied, which would help reduce Tram's worries and reduce the stress for Tram's relatives.

Hoi An my home town

As most of my friends can't imagine what Hoi An is like I have added a few photos. It's a historic UNESCO protected site. It has Chinese, Japanese and French architecture. I live in the countryside, about 30 minutes from the township by bike. I do not live in a straw hut as some imagine, but in a small semi-Vietnamese style house with running water and an indoor kitchen and bathroom, unlike many Vietnamese. I sometimes don't have electricity, or running water, but generally speaking I live a life not too dissimilar to many western people living a simple life.

Three more girls will have a full education

It rapidly became a very satisfying morning upon opening the computer and finding out one more girl has a sponsor. Last night two girls received sponsors, making it three girls who will now will have an education and have a future with many more opportunities.

Hanh lives with her little brother and grandmother. Granny has poor health but she is the only family member who can look after them. Her father is mentally unwell and her mother is rarely home as she collects garbage full time. Her income is so little that she can't afford to take a break from her work. Hanh will now have a full education as Nathalie is sponsoring her.

Ha lives with her sister and granny, who has poor health. Ha's mother sells bread in Ho Chi Minh City so granny is the only person who can care for her.  Go Philanthropic (www.gophilanthropic.com) have organized a sponsor for her; the Bond family will now help Ha have an education. They will be coming to Vietnam in December and will spend some time with Ha which will be a treat for all. 

Trinh is a student Buddhist nun now as her parents could not afford to look after her so she went to the pagoda to live. The nun who looks after her can't afford to educate her as she has no income, just the occasional donations from her community, which is a poor farming commuity. Trinh is now guaranteed an education as Steve and Michele have taken on her sponsorship.

Three children in need of sponsors

Hoa is lucky to have two parents. He lives in a tiny hut with his parents,baby sister and granny. They all share a bed, have no bathroom or kitchen, or what we would call one. They cook outdoors and toilet outdoors. They can hardly afford to eat, let alone pay for Hoa to go to school. 

 

Phuoc has two parents, but both have very poor health. They grow rice and have just enough for the family and sometimes have extra to sell. They are paying for one of their children to go to school but that is all they can manage, so Phuoc needs a sponsor to receive an education.

 

  Binh was abandoned by his alcoholic father and his mother couldn’t manage to care for him and work as well, so she left him with an aunt who now sees Binh as her son. She can just afford to feed him as she earns so little.

Letters from three of the CEF - Vietnam children

Letters of appreciation

The children that CEF -Vietnam helps to receive an education can't afford to go to school or to receive further education or training. Besides supporting them to receive a full education, we care for them the best we can. Because of the caring support we see them grow and change; they gain self-respect, self-worth, develop more gratitude, as well as work towards a brighter future.

First of all I wish you good health.

As you know I live with my grandparents who are 80 years old, my father died of cancer, my mother remarried and lives with her new family up in the mountain; I have no contact with her since she got remarried.

Although I am not, compare to other families, a rich person from a rich family as I don’t have a happy family where the parents are beside the children. But I do have grandparents who cherish me since my parents left me. Besides I still have another couple of hoping arms who always observe and care for my education as well as my life; that is you dear sponsor.

Because of your care I feel you are with me and always encouraging me to do anything in this life from small things to big things. Your help is not just material support but it is also spiritual support and therefore I appreciate very much what you have been doing for me. Thank you very much.

This school year I will be in grade 5; I know I am not mature yet but at least I have made a lot of efforts in this life and in studies. Last school year I was a good student; are you happy for me? I always tell myself to study harder to obtain good results so that I know my sponsor won’t be disappointed at me. Finally, I would like to say again “thank you” and please take care of you.

As you know my father died when he was still young, my mother is a disable person, my family is one of the poor families in this area. So I thank you very much for your support that you have given me last year. Without your help I don’t think I could continue going to school.

With your help I have made a lot of improvement in my studies and last school year I was a good student with high marks 8.1. I promise I will try to keep this good result for this school year so that you won’t be disappointed in me.Thank you very much, I wish you good health and lots of happiness and luck in this life.

Today I am so happy to write you a letter. First of all, I wish you and your family good health as always. How are you? How is your work? Are you still helping other children who have the same poverty situation like me?

About my family; we would like to say “thank you” to you as you have been helping my family so much. My family has overcome a lot of difficulties because of having your support and your compassion. Your help has made me feel equal to other friends of mine in the school. I don’t know what to say except saying two words “Thank You”. My father is still working as normal; I was an excellent student for last school year and happy to inform you my school results.

I have been wishing always my family’s situation could be better each day and it is getting better and I am so happy for our life improvements. I promise to you that I will study harder as always to get the best results no matter how hard it will be; so that you won’t be disappointed at me.

Linda and her mother are helping Hang do a three year course in business administration at college

Go Philanthropic who are working with CEF-Vietnam to help find educational sponsors introduced Linda to Thuy Hang who needed help with her education.

Thuy Hang's  parents drowned a few years ago and her siblings are all poor and can't afford to pay her college costs. So now she has Linda (and her mother) helping her to do a three year college course in administration. For only US$500 per annum she will have all her college fees paid plus college insurance and security, textbooks and all stationery as well as uniforms.

Event put on by Go Philanthropic

Go Philanthropic, a philanthropic travel company who have already organized sponsorships for a couple of the CEF-Vietnam children, put on a fundraising and awareness-raising event for CEF-Vietnam and for other NGO's they support. It was also the official launch of their charity arm.

They were sweet and wanted me to be there for the event and lined it up to coincide with my visit to the States. They had a wonderful display of CEF's work, as well as the work of other NGO's. There was quite a crowd there who were all interested in the work of each NGO that Go supports. As they travel around the world with their clients they visit these projects. So it was very interesting to learn about the work they support in developing and third world countries.

Lydia, her team, and family put on this wonderful event in a lovely, bright loft space, in an old warehouse in Rochester, New York. Thank you for this truly wonderful support for each of us and our work.

www.gophilanthropic.com

A full September

It's exciting that we should have a new website for Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam in the next few weeks. A most kind volunteer has worked hard on it and it's almost complete.

We have had three busy months including having a summer beach outing for the children in Quang Nam which was so much fun for everyone. They learnt water safety rules, and learnt to submerge themselves, hold their breath underwater, and float, and they had basic swimming lessons too. 

In the last few months we completed home vists and then payments visits to all our children in all projects; in Danang, Quang Nam and Thai Binh provinces.  It has been a fun and interesting time. I feel it is important to spend some time with each child so I know first hand how they and their family are doing and if any other support is required to help the child do well at school.

I am now over the jet lag and am here in my New York 'office' putting together end of year reports with letters and photos for all our sponsors. It's a joy putting all their information together from the past year and seeing how they are growing, developing, learning and working hard. In their letters they express how much it means to them to have a sponsor to see them through their education. I couldn't be doing anything better.

Over the next two months we have some USA fundraising events put on by kind supporters. At the end of this week Go Philanthropic are putting on an event in Rochester that I will be attending. They have already organized educational sponsorships for two girls. Their caring organization designs and runs meaningful philanthropic tours. www.gophilanthropic.com / info@gophilanthropic.com  They are hopeful that some of their supporters will sponsor more of the children who are waiting for sponsors!