Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam welcomes its new board member Michele Spirn

Welcome Michele!

We are thrilled to welcome to our board Michele Spirn who I first met in Vietnam about 6 years ago.  Michel has much to offer Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam's board. She is a truly passionate and caring woman as well as having many skills and great expertise as she has had a varied career as a public relations professional, author and university professor, and more. She brings with her many years of NGO experience, as well as skills and creative useful ideas that she wishes to help implement.  Michele shares our passion for education of girls in developing countries and the importance of literacy. She is already greatly appreciated by our board! 

Photo of Michele and Stephen Michele donating many wonderful children's books to our 

'Mobile Library for Literacy'. 

On my last visit to the US Michele and Stephen donated many books to our 'Mobile Library for Literacy' program, including some Michele had written. She is the children's author of 'The Know Nothings' as well as other lovely books. All the books they gave us are beautifully illustrated and are aimed at young children; perfect for the children in Vietnam to read and enjoy! 
  
I feel honored to be able to work with her, to be able to have CEF benefit from all her NGO expertise and professional skills, but also I am very happy to have such a caring supportive friend to work with.

It is nearly one year since we started our 'Mobile Library for Literacy'

Last summer we prepared for our Mobile Library for Literacy' and received our first book donations. Before school started we went shopping and purchased more. Over the last two school terms when we visited children we took suitable books for them to choose and borrow until our next visit. By the end of the school year those who were hesitant to borrow in the beginning were keen and most were asking for more than one book.

We are thrilled this has been such a successful literacy program. We have all the children in our sponsorship programs (except the tiny ones who don't read yet) reading and enjoying books now. It has been very sweet to see their excitement and joy just from the simple acts of going through books and discovering there are several that interest them, and that they can actually borrow them!

We  are pleased how the children have cared for the books too. They have taken the instructions seriously and have cared for the books with great respect.

This all would not have been possible if it wasn't for donations from Australia, Canada and the US. We are very grateful for that meaningful support!

Our next stage in supporting the children to become even more literate over this coming school year is to purchase three hundred more books allowing all the children and also their siblings to borrow several books each time we visit. The easy delivery of many books to each community will be possible due to a motorbike with a very large storage capacity.

I am excited about this next stage and I am sure the children will be too!

A few pictures of what we see on our trips to visit the CEF children

How wonderful, another year of schooling is complete .....

Another year of schooling is complete and now we are doing the children's updates, results and translating their letters. At the same time I am thinking about how this year and all we have achieved would not have been possible without our wonderful volunteers, donors, sponsors, partners, board members and staff!

Our volunteers bring joy to the children and to me as well, they make a lot possible and always bring a sense of adventure and fun with them. 

I smile when I think of all the lovely faces of the children. I sigh with contentment when I think that we have been able to give them another year of education.

I am warmed through and through when I think of our amazing donors, the children's sponsors and the wonderful support our partners give in finding sponsors for the children. Our board members and advisers are always there, and there is great comfort in that I can turn to them and ask for advice, help or support.

Without our staff very little could be done; they are truly precious gems. 



 

 I feel blessed and 'our' CEF children are blessed to be receiving an education that will give them a different future with greater choices, thanks to our large supportive web of good, caring souls.

This Californian Vietnamese Student Association raised funds for CEF for girls education

Funds were raised in California for CEF's work to ensure poor girls receive an education, complete school and preferably have some vocational training, or a college or university education. This wonderful group from the Vietnamese Student Association worked hard to allow us to help girls receive an education at their recent Cultural Charity Show. Thank you so much for helping make a difference!

Here are but a few of the photos of those involved from MC's to organizers and participants from this special cultural event that will see more girls in schools.

 

CEF Vietnam partners with Go Philanthropic to help girls be educated - see this sweet video they created

Our Go Philanthropic partnership has been a blessing for CEF-Vietnam. They support our sponsorship program, food and medical support programs and our 'Mobile Library for Literacy'. They have found us sponsors for 19 children so far; that support has been so appreciated by us, but especially by the families and children.

They found a sponsor for Hien, whose mother has cancer, and for Binh, who was abandoned by both parents. Trinh lives in a shack with her mother and somehow she manages to get top marks and win awards and Tuyen, whose parents are both blind, are just a few of the children they have found sponsors for.

This touching video was created by the Go Philanthropic team for both of us to use; please enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7UaSZ_o-8

Countryside photos while out doing home visits on Sunday

An education isn't enough to help change how one feels about life

Helping a child to stay in school and be educated isn’t enough to help them find a little contentment when they have had a sad situation for a long time.

One girl CEF has helped for five years has lost both parents, hardly sees her siblings, and when she does it's not quality time as they are busy trying to make ends meet, and on top of that she has only one friend.

She is overcome with sadness still. We can't change how she feels, but can only continue to help her finish her education, care for her, and let her know her sponsor also cares for her.

Trang one of the first CEF sponsored children (Guest blog by Stephen Jackel)

On my visit to Vietnam this April I stopped in Ho Chi Minh City to see Trang, who together with her sister Lan were the first two children sponsored by CEF back in 2003. (Wow - 10 years ago!) Trang is now working as an assistant teacher and continuing with post-college courses as she considers whether to continue a career in teaching, which she loves doing, or pursue work in business.

Linda asked me to speak to Trang about how CEF has affected her life, and the benefits of education for Vietnamese girls, and I was able to record some of her responses on my phone. She was very nervous about being filmed, especially speaking in English, but her sincerity and desire to provide information helped her get through the ordeal. I found her comments very moving and hope that others will too when we post the video to the blog.

Stephen Jackel