CEF's support program ~ 'Literacy Encouragement Program'

Our last book shopping trip

Our 'Literacy Encouragement Program', includes our 'Mobile Library for Literacy' and 'Book Boxes to Share'. The goal is to share books with children in any way that is possible to support the children to develop a love of reading and to satisfy their yearning to educate themselves more.

Donations for books are crucial for this program. We shop for books whenever we have donations for them. It is one of the activities the staff really enjoy and come back from the shopping expeditions bursting to show me the latest book purchases.

Our 'Book Boxes' are the newest part of the program and are working well. This year we started with 'Book Boxes' in two pagodas. Pagodas are a central meeting place for many in most communities (unless they are a different religion). We use large plastic tubs to transport the books and to store them in.

We plan to add 'Book Boxes' to one staff members home in Hoi An and also to one child's home in Duy Xuyen. In Thang Binh we will add 'Book Boxes' at a pagoda. We estimate we need $200 for books and boxes in Duy Xuyen and $300 for Thang Binh and $400 for books and boxes in Hoi An.

Donations towards this program would be greatly appreciated as many children benefit from our 'Book Boxes', not just the CEF children as the books are available for the whole community in each area we leave them.

A paper book for many of us is still a real treat; the smell, the feel, turning the page to find out what will happen next or what gem we will learn and falling asleep with a good book is a great way to fall asleep too. All little treasures.

To be able to share books with our CEF students and the community children makes all of us at CEF happy. Sharing books, sharing knowledge and stories is a wonderful gift to give.

                                         "A child who reads will be a child who thinks"

One of our students looking at books with her cousin

CEF students looking at books

Books from a recent book shopping trip

One of our students with books she borrowed

An annual CEF support program ~ 'Water Safety Day'

CEF's fifth 'Water Safety Day' will take place on Sunday 14th June. This event is the highlight of the year for many of the CEF children as they have a great day at the beach. They spend the morning at the beach and the afternoon doing an activity or having an outing away from the beach and the heat. 

We see this day as a really important day as the CEF children are taught water safety theory and taught how to float and swim. One child's life has already been saved due to our 'Water Safety Day'.

As Vietnam has 2,360 rivers and canals with a total length of about 41,900 kilometers (26,035 miles), and 3,400 kilometers of coast there is a need for everyone to be able to swim. Up until recently most Vietnamese did not know how to swim, but children are learning now as more schools have swimming pools, and several organizations are teaching swimming.

It is still a serious situation with between 3,500 and 4,000 children drowning each year. This is 10 times higher than the rate in developed countries. 

Please support our 'Water Safety Day' next weekend!

Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam

Has 501(c)(3) status

For US donors:

 Please make checks out to:

'Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam'
And send to: Law office of Stephen Jackel, 

277 Broadway, Suite 1010, New York, NY 10007.

Or use PayPal: 

Paypal is on the blog and website:

www.cef-vietnam-usa.org /  http://cef-vietnam-usa,blogspot.com (for Americans)

www.ChildrensEducationFoundation.org.au /  http://ChildrensEducationFoundation-Vietnam.blogspot.com 

(for other nationalities)

Any inquiries please email Linda: cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

or at info@cef-vietnam-usa.org

About CEF's education support program 'Bikes for School'

CEF gave bikes to children at a 'children's home'

When you live in an isolated area schools are fewer in number and can be quite some distance from your home. Most communities have a primary school as this is the cheapest stage in education and many children in Vietnam do attend primary school. There are less secondary schools and even less high schools.

Some children need a bike to get to their extra tuition at their teachers home. The educational standard of a child without a bike can suffer due to being tired; too tied to concentrate, too tired to do homework, all because of the added time it takes to get to school and home without one, and because of the impossibility of getting to extra tuition sessions.

One of our CEF students heading off on a bike we gave her

CEF provides bikes for children who can't get to school without one or to extra tuition sessions. Most bikes we provide are second hand and cost between $35 and $50 with a basket, bell, chain and lock. We provide new bikes for children who have to travel long distances daily and these cost between $70-$100 with bell, basket, chain, lock and light. Some have to travel on bad lanes and mud paths and they need new and more sturdy, higher quality bikes costing $130-$150 including accessories.

                                  Bikes given to CEF students by Renaissance International School Saigon

If you would like to support CEF children to have a bike to get to school, and to get to extra tuition, please get in touch: cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

About CEF's Education Sponsorship Program

CEF believes a girl with an education will not just have greater knowledge, but more maturity and a future with many more choices. In developing countries an education makes a big difference to her choices. 

The children we choose to help are from marginalized or impoverished families. Although Vietnam is a developing country the reality is that poverty is not decreasing.  Education costs aren't high here, and some poor students receive reductions, but education is still unaffordable for most children from poor families.

Our sponsorship costs vary according to the stage in education the child is at. Primary school sponsorships are US$225 a year, secondary $280, and high school $335. We have one sponsor per child.

Sponsors annually receive photos of the child, an update on them, any letters from the child and their school results.

Please consider sponsoring: We always have children in need of sponsorship and keeping a child from a poor community in school reduces their risks of being trafficked!
cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

About our 'Minority Tribe Education Support Program'

This CEF education program is to support clever girls from impoverished families living near the Vietnam-Laos border. Here they are more vulnerable to trafficking than in most areas CEF works.

So far we have provided desks for the minority tribe girls in a boarding school for high school students near the border.

Now we are looking for people to take on 40 scholarships at US$150 a scholarship. Each scholarship will keep a girl in school for a year in this area, and keep her much safer from traffickers as they mainly target girls out of school.

We will provide each person who takes on a scholarship with photos and an annual update on the project. Please get in touch if you would like to take on some scholarships:  cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

Some recent CEF staff photos

Here are some recent staff photos. We are in our CEF t-shirts which we all love. They were designed and made for us by New Paradigm Promotions.

CEF's annual 'Water Safety Day' has already saved one life

This young lad slipped into the water while playing with friends by the rivers edge. As he was drowning he remembered what he had learned at CEF's annual 'Water Safety Day' and was able to float and live.  He was scared of the water and didn't even go in the water on CEF's 'Water Safety Day' for two consecutive years.  But he had listened and watched carefully both years. The photo is from the following year when he took the bold step of getting into the water.

This annual event is clearly very important: 

"......Vietnam records 3,500-4,000 drowning deaths among children each year, ten times higher than the rates in developed countries. The country has 2,360 rivers and canals with a total length of 41,900 kilometers (26,035 miles), and a long coastline of more than 3,400 km........"

Each year we need to employ swimming teachers, and find many volunteers to make this day a safe and fun day for all. Staff have organized this event for June 14th. 

At present we have teachers to teach water safety theory, 8 swimming teachers and 9 western volunteers who will help in the water. Besides learning water safety theory, learning to float and swim, and playing many games in the water to help them become more comfortable in the water, we will provide morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, and after a hot day at the beach we will take them to an air conditioned cinema for some light relief.  

All funds are gratefully received to make this day a success:
Paypal in on the front page of the blog and on our website: www.cef-vietnam-usa.org
Please make checks out to: 'Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam'
Please send to: Law Office of Stephen Jackel, 277 Broadway, Suite 1010, New York, NY 10007

Thank you!

Linda Burn
Founding Director and In-Country Manager - Vietnam
Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam

Note from a sponsor

".....I am thrilled that we finally met in person, and I also enjoyed meeting your Mother. You are a beautiful young woman and have inherited your mother’s delightful smile.   Here are three pictures to remind you of our visit.

My trip to Viet Nam was fun and educational for me to learn about your family, culture and way of living........

I am so pleased that you are graduating and want to continue your studies. In my opinion, it is important for women to be able to support themselves and having an education is the key.   As I promised your Mother, I will continue my sponsorship to help you in your university studies.  All I ask is that you work hard, as you have done in high school, and prepare for your future.   It’s also important for you to practice your English—so practice, practice!

Thank you for taking me on a tour of your home so now I can picture where you are everyday. Please tell your mother that I hope she is feeling better.   I hope we can meet again......"

CEF has a 'Scholarship Program' to help keep minority tribe girls near the border safe

CEF is making a small contribution to keep Vietnamese minority tribe girls safe.

Trafficking is increasing in Vietnam and it is ugly and sad, whether it is trafficking of children or adults for the sex industry, for factories, or girls sold as wives or enslaved as domestic servants in China, or for their body parts such as kidneys.  It is deplorable and anything that can be done to stop it is important and essential.

CEF’s work area is education. We are helping impoverished girls to stay in school and complete school as our primary goal. After graduation we hope to put them through vocational training or through college or university. Working in the area of trafficking isn’t our work, but we want to do a little to help create awareness and keep some girls in the mountainous border areas in Vietnam stay safe and in school. 

We have started a program that is to ensure we can help larger numbers of girls to stay safe.  Our educational sponsorship program where we have one sponsor for one child involves a lot of  work and hours to support the child and family as much as is possible and to communicate with sponsors. Therefore there is a limit to how many girls we can have in the sponsorship program at one time.  

The girls we are concentrating on for our new ‘Scholarship Program’ are in mountainous areas near the Vietnam-Laos border. 

We hope that many of you will find our ‘Scholarship Program’ an affordable way to help girls to stay in school and stay safe.

We want to ask that you, your family and friends, or your business consider a commitment to a yearly scholarship. Over the next month we would like to arrange 20 scholarships. These are high school students and their scholarships are US$150 each. After those 20 have scholarships we will take on another 20, and then more. 

If you would like to take on a scholarship or two or more please let us know: cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

We will send a yearly report on the project and photos as well. There is no reporting on individual girls.

Thank you. Linda Burn, Founding Director and In-Country Manager - Vietnam