Educational sponsors needed for these 6 girls and 1 boy to ensure they get an education this year - please consider helping one

From my perspective I see poverty increasing in Vietnam, partly due to the inflation of living costs and salaries not increasing sufficiently.

The poor families we know, work more hours and days, to the degree they can't work any more, and even are working when ill. They just can't earn enough.

The requests CEF is receiving for educational support for children is increasing, with us receiving many in the last few months.

The children's situations vary hugely; here are some examples:
One mother left her children and dad dead recently leaving them orphans and under the care of relatives who can't afford their education.

Two children have lost one parent due to AIDS and the other is dying; they now live with grandparents who really can't afford their education.

One dad died recently and mum who is a garbage collector can't afford her three children's education.

One dad died recently leaving mum with three children and his parents to care for; she can't easily work as dad's parents are elderly and in poor health.

One child committed suicide due to knowing her parents could not afford her education, but as she was exceptionally bright they had borrowed heavily to keep her in school, but got to a stage they could not borrow any more funds. It was too much for her. There are other children in this family whose education can't be afforded.

Another dad died leaving mum with three children to educate; she can't afford all their educational costs.

One family borrowed to start a small business, but it failed and now have lost their home, as they can't earn enough to pay off the debt. They can't afford their children's education.

There are many more stories and many more children we would love sponsored but I would love to start with these 7.

Below are some children we would love sponsored in the next few weeks so we can guarantee they have an education this year.

As soon as possible we need an especially caring sponsor for two girls whose sister committed suicide

The sponsor or sponsors needed for these two girls need to be willing to put an effort into supporting these two girls long term.

Their sister committed suicide recently. One is so traumatized she can hardly speak. The other seems to be coping well and is a bouncy little girl; but who knows really. The parents aren't coping.

The sponsor or sponsors need to be willing to commit long term to their education and the relationship.

The eldest is in grade 11 this year; her sponsorship is $300 for the year, it will be $300 next year also.

The younger girl is in grade 5 this year and her sponsorship for the year is $200. Next year it will be $250 for the that year and the following one.

The sponsor (s) need to be willing to write a letter about every 3-4 months; they will be translated. Letters can be about anything you want as long as it is appropriate (your family, your pets, your work, your environment, the autumn, the spring, etc.) but it needs to express care and support each time. Questions about the suicide must not be asked. If they want to tell you about it that is fine, but please don't ask.

It is important that it will not be expected that the girls to write back. We hope they will but will not push it at all. The point is they need as much loving care as can be shown to them as possible, now and long term.

We will provide yearly school results, and an update on each girl, and photos as with all sponsorships.

I know the right sponsor are out there! If you feel you can do this then please write to us and we can provide more details:

If in the States or Canada please write to cef.vn.usa@gmailcom
If in Australia or New Zealand or Europe please use this email address: c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com

Thank you so much,
Linda

Linda Burn
Founding Director and In Country Manager

Hoi An home visits to children in our education sponsorship program - by Hieu

It was a hot and muggy Saturday when we did home visits to 25 children in Hoi An. As all of the children do not live close to each other it took a while to get to each child’s home. We had to start early so that all children could be visited and lend books from our mobile library.

As scheduled, we were at Hien’s house at 11am to visit and have an update about Hien’s progress at school as well as her granny and her mother’s health situation.  The visit went very well and Hien proudly showed us her school results and her merit certificates.

We felt so happy that Hien’s mother’s condition was a bit better compared to her condition on our last visit.  Thanks to the medical support from CEF, the pain from her chronic stomach-ache and ovarian cancer was much relieved. 

What made us surprised and touched was the kindness and sincerity of Hien’s family.  As our visit to them was near lunchtime, they were afraid that we would be hungry, so they had silently prepared lunch for 3 of us.

Even though we were offered lunch with Hien’s family we had to say ‘”sorry” and follow our plan to see some more children. The heartfelt goodness of Hien’s family made our long day’s work feel lighter as our hearts were warmed.

Girls in need of sponsors on 'International Day of the Girl Child', 11 October

Would you like to sponsor a girl for the remainder of her education, one year at a time?

Today is 'International Day of the Girl Child' and we happen to have completed many interviews of children in need of educational support recently. Each girl needs help for her to receive an education.

We have girls with ill parents, girls with parents who just can't earn enough to educate their girls, girls with parents but they are no longer taking care of them, girls with one parent, girls from large poor families; basically we have many girls who need a sponsor. We have girls far away in isolated areas and some closer to our office, some easy to see and some not; but they all need help. 15 of our girls in need of sponsors can be seen below.

Sponsorships vary from $200-$300 a year
Please let us know if you would love to sponsor a girl to be educated:
cef.vn.usa@gmail.com (for Americans and Canadians) or
c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com (for Australians or New Zealanders)

The art work of another of our budding artists who wishes to be an architect

Nothing can actually happen without you

Yes, the staff and I work all year round, but the fact is without your support in various ways nothing at all can happen!

Our 'Education Sponsorship Program' doesn't work without sponsors! I can't pay a child's school fees and pay for their uniform, stationery and textbooks without a sponsor. Each child has a sponsor and some sponsors help more than one child.

We can't have our 'Mobile Library for Literacy' without a salary for the librarian and donations for books.
We are blessed to have received a donation for the librarian and two generous donations for books in the last year. And also have received a wonderful donation for a motorbike so we can carry many books to do book deliveries and do deliveries more often. The motorbike has a large storage space, a separate container and  helmets, as well as insurance, registration and all things needed, to carry our large supply of books. The legalities are all taking place and we will be able to use it soon.

Our 'Medical Fund' is essential to keep the children healthy, but also to keep the parents and carers healthy so they can care for their children; without medical donations we can't do that. Medical care might be in the form of medications, herbal treatment, payments for transport to visit doctors or hospitals for assessments or diagnostic tests, nutritional supplementation or eye tests and glasses.

One mother who is unwell and had ovarian cancer recently, has had surgery and chemotherapy, and couldn't afford a check up, so we have paid for her to find out what is wrong and help her with further treatment.

Another mother who is weak from bleeding has an undiagnosed uterine tumor and couldn't afford tests or an exploratory operation so we are able to help her get an accurate diagnosis due to medical funds we have.

One granny responsible for the care of many children including her disabled daughter, three school age grandchildren and two more little ones, is now on long term medications due to a medical donation that enables her to stay healthy and care for the children.

We always seem to have children with headaches which nearly always are due to eye strain. So we also use medical funds to get children's eyes tested and for the purchase of eyeglasses.

Three girls needed vitamin and mineral supplementation and that was possible due to our medical donations. Another girl had undiagnosed asthma and now is on treatment. One girl has heart disease and it's an unusual case and has involved many trips to hospitals for tests and consultants, but with the medical support we have and with support from Hoi An Foundation and their cardiac team we have been able to help her.

Our 'medical' fund needs donors so we can help the children and family. One bequeath from dear Gabby has helped hugely and Go Philanthropic are helping with our medical funds too. These donations make a big difference. Without good health the children are challenged to attend school full time, concentrate and be awake enough to learn. The carers can't look after their children when unwell and as many of our children only have one parent it is crucial they are as healthy as possible.

Fundraising events are crucial to share our work and raise funds and we are blessed to have Stephen and Greg both help raise funds recently while I was in the States. Thi also organized an event at her university in California which was a blessing too to help the university students. Go Philanthropic are very supportive too with finding sponsors and helping with our medical fund. 'Journey's of the Heart' helps many charities in Vietnam and we are grateful for their support for some years now with medical and education costs. We are blessed to have some wonderful donors too. Due to the wonderful support of our friends, partners, donors and sponsors we are able to help the children and families here in Vietnam; this changes many lives but also brings joy to many.

Small fundraising events or even web fundraising is always appreciated. Greg did a last minute event, showing that last minute events can work! We had a wonderful evening with Greg and I preparing and cooking Vietnamese food; we then all ate together with friends and I did a short presentation and answered questions. In that short evening $2000 was raised and long term interest in our work was generated. 

Small home events can be most productive and even when last minute; all are totally supportive and make a difference. We have presentations we can send you as well as brochures and business cards, and CEF board members can attend events if I am in Vietnam at the time of your event or we can program events in for when I am there.

I hope this helps to see how valuable each of you are, and that we can't do the work here in Vietnam without you. You often say how wonderful we are, but we are helpless without your enthusiastic support and care, practical help and financial support. 

For those of you interested in participating in helping us make a difference, more information and PayPal is on both the blog and website:                                                                                                         

US blog: http://www.cef-vietnam-usa.blogspot.com
US website: www.cef-vietnam-usa.org
All support of our education work in Vietnam is appreciated and makes a difference:
We have 501(c)(3) status (Internal Revenue Code).  Please consult your accountant regarding the tax- deductible eligibility of your gift.

The Australian blog and website for information and donations (people who are from Australia, New Zealand or Europe):  

www.ChildrensEducationFoundation.org.au                              

http://ChildrensEducationFoundation-Vietnam.blogspot.com 

One of the CEF girls in our sponsorship program is a prolific artist

Trinh's mother sells betel nuts, the leaves and tobacco. Clearly her income is very limited and she certainly doesn't earn enough to support herself and her daughter. Trinh is sponsored to ensure she has an education.

Trinh's passion is art; she is a prolific artist. The following is some of her artwork. 

Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam fundraising event on the 27th July

Last weekend we had an event to raise funds for our educational work with girls in Vietnam.

We had a small event in Brooklyn at Stephen's spacious and bright home. Stephen is our US Manager.

I did a demonstration on how to make a Vietnamese 'Summer Roll', we had a 'Tea', a raffle and I did a presentation with the help of Stephen. We ended with a Q&A session where great interest was shown, and some wonderful supportive suggestions were made.

The event is over, but funds are still coming in and at present donations stand at about $2800. We are thrilled as it's the time of year when most people are super busy or are away. I unfortunately can't get away from Vietnam for very long except in the summer holidays, so at present we don't have any other time of year we can do events in the US with me present. So we were thrilled with the turnout and the donations given.

It all was possible due a lot of help and support. Thank you Stephen for opening your home up for us; and Anne for helping me with all that shopping and with the preparing of food!  Lynette thank you for your wonderful marketing ability and your great care in supporting our work. Sushi-D donated a meal token which was appreciated, and Bruce and Elaine (who are wonderful supporters of CEF) donated two copies of their most interesting book: 'Back to Vietnam'.

Thank you for the kind and generous support of all those who could come. But what was also wonderful is that many who were invited but could not come, also made donations. Thank you one and all!

The CEF girls in Vietnam will benefit from all this support!

The start of the presentation

 Showing where we work in Quang Nam province

 Part of the presentation

Some of the 'Tea' 

 Some of our guests and donors making their own 'Vietnamese Summer Rolls'

 Stephen drawing the lucky numbers

 Our winner of the Sushi-D meal token

 Our winner of one of Bruce Logan and Elaine Head's wonderful book - 'Back To Vietnam'

 Winner of some delicious Vietnamese coffee

 One of the winners of a linen bag / underwear bag

 Lynette with her 2 prizes and me with our CEF brochure!