Sponsorship is always a blessing for each child and sometimes they get treats too!

Every child who is sponsored is blessed. They are able to stay in school and work towards a better future with more choices. Their carer has less stress knowing their child or grandchild is in school and they don't need to worry about their education costs.

Some sponsors go one step further and write to their sponsor child. We translate the letters and pass over the original and the translation. It is always interesting for the child to receive a letter from their sponsor.

Then there are a few who send surprise boxes. These boxes of goodies always delight the child. What a treat to receive useful, but high quality items from overseas!

It always touches me that some people have such huge hearts and don't consider the effort and cost they have to go to to do this. Because they think of the child here first, they create great joy for the child.

About the recent visit of our US manager in Vietnam

Each year Stephen Jackel, who is CEF’s manager in the USA, visits Vietnam and attends some events; home visits or payment days, or both. Stephen does the receipting and accounts, as well as a lot of the communication with our US donors and sponsors.

Stephen enjoys these visits and has become more involved each year. He is getting to know the staff and the workings of CEF in Vietnam.  He enjoys the home visits but finds some disturbing as the level of poverty and hardship of some of families is hard to bear.  

 

(This family has a challenging situation as dad fell off the roof and now has partial paralysis and therefore they have lost both incomes as mum has to look after dad)

His visits are important. On payment days they enable Stephen to meet our Vietnamese government partners, but he also gets to see the complete payment process. As well as that he gets to meet some of the children sponsored by people he knows in the US and this enables him to talk about them personally. The visits enable him to talk about the work CEF does in Vietnam and describe the conditions of the families we work with, the despair of some and the joy some express in receiving help, also our criteria and selection process for new families and children, and much more.

We appreciate his commitment to CEF and his efforts in making the long trip from the States to Vietnam each year.  His probing questions and his feedback are important for all of us at CEF too.

About home visits ~ Guest blog by Stephen Jackel, CEF's US manager

I've been fortunate to be able to return to Vietnam again this year. Yesterday we conducted four home visits to children in the countryside about an hour outside of Hoi An and I was struck by the difference between two of the young girls, whom I'll call Hanh and Linh. Hanh, who is sponsored by a donor in New York, is 10 years old but is small and looks even younger.  She overcame her shyness and chatted with us about school (with the assistance of CEF staff member Quan’s translation) and showed us her notebooks, which contained meticulous notes as well as math charts and diagrams done with coloured pencils.  Although Hanh has grown up in a home without a father, her mother and granny work as subsistence farmers, still the small, sparsely furnished home was a happy one. The mother and granny are warm and affectionate and Hanh is all smiles, obviously smart and doing very well in her classes.  As we left I felt uplifted and optimistic for her future.

Linh's family recently applied for assistance from CEF to keep her in school and this was Linda's second visit to assess her and the family for a sponsorship.  Both parents work as farmers, although the mother injured her knee last year and is laid up after recent surgery.  They had to borrow money for the operation and so their financial situation has become dire, making it very difficult for them to keep their three children in school.  Linh, who is a tall 14-year-old, is a good, though not great student.  For whatever reason, the household is not a happy one and we sensed that her life is difficult.  Linh is shy and quiet, but more responsive than on Linda's first home visit to meet her.  Her application for a sponsorship was approved and we're hoping that the chance to finish her education will give her more opportunities to create a better, and happier, future for herself.

Photo of her and family

'Tet' is the time of year for each individual personally and at home to refresh, renew, repair, forgive; to start anew

'Tet' (Vietnamese New Year) is the time of year in Vietnam when each person does what they can personally and at home to refresh, renew, repair, forgive and to stat anew. Even the poorest will buy a gold or yellow colored plant (also red and purple colored plants are considered auspicious) to bring prosperity to them and their family. These are placed outside the house and some hang their plants. 

They also will buy something new to wear at Tet; maybe if they are poor it will only be a new hair tie or clip, or a new shirt. And their home and garden may only get a thorough spring clean and some broken hinges repaired. Those with more money will repaint the whole house, both inside and outside, buy new furniture, pay off any debts and buy some gold jewelry and clothing. 

At CEF the staff take a long Tet holiday to prepare their homes, do the required cleaning, repairing and shopping and spend time with their families and friends. They love this long holiday as it is a chance to see some of the family they can only see once a year and to see some dear friends who may have married and moved away to another city, but come back to visit family and good friends. 

For the poor it is a stressful time of year as they can only afford Tet if they borrow further funds. Before the staff take their long Tet holiday CEF buys rice and various staples and treats for our families to try and relieve a little of the burden and to help them celebrate. This brings us joy to prepare these parcels for them and to give them knowing we have been able to help bring some joy to them.

Rice and food Parcels for CEF families at 'Tet'

Each Vietnamese New Year  (Tet) we give sacks of rice, food parcels and 'Good Luck' New Year money to the CEF children and their families. 

This holiday is the most important in Vietnam and it is also the most expensive. It is considered crucial to start the new year clean and fresh in every way.  Families try to pay off debts, as well as buy new flowers plants, new clothes for everyone in the family, and renovate and decorate the home and entertain the stream of friends and family who visit over this holiday. As most of the families CEF helps are struggling to even survive each day they can't afford what is expected of them, so we help by giving them a sack of rice and a food parcel made up of essentials and some treats for their holiday. We give some money to the children so they can buy themselves a little treat.  These simple gifts make them very happy and relieves some of their financial stress.

Quan loading up the boot with sacks of rice and food parcels to deliver to some of the CEF families

           One of our girls with her sack of  rice and her food parcel. she lives with her grandmother as her parents have divorced and have new families and can't look after her as well.

Another one of our girls with her food parcel and rice and her aunt. Her parents have died and she lives with elderly grandparents. 

Apologies about posting less blogs

Dear CEF supporters, donors and sponsors,

For some mysterious reason I can't post blogs while in Vietnam. This means I can only do them when out of Vietnam, so I am not able to post as many as in the past.

I am able to do facebook and this is where there are regular posts. If you wish to follow our activities please see CEF's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/childrenseducationfoundation

Thank you,

Linda

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

An easy online way to support CEF is to use 'Amazon Smile' for shopping

IF you do any shopping with Amazon, please use this link and order through Amazon Smile as CEF receives 0.5%  of every sale. Just use the link below and it will take you to the 'Children's Education Foundation' Amazon Smile page.

Thank you as this helps make a difference! It all adds up! If you share this information it will add up even more.

http://smile.amazon.com/ch/27-0552998

Some more CEF girls have been sponsored this holiday season

We at CEF are thrilled that five girls have sponsors this holiday season. This makes us very happy ~ not just personally, but happy for the families and children sponsored. This will ensure these girls are in school, are safe, and can complete their education. 

Her father has poor health and can do domestic chores only. Mum works in a factory and also makes shoes when home. Their home leaks and they struggle to make ends meet let alone afford an education for their two children. We are most grateful that their daughter now has a sponsor which will relieve some of the financial stress for her mother. 

 Her father has seasonal building work. Mum has very poor health and sells lottery tickets when she feels strong enough. Educational support for this daughter will help relieve some of their financial stress. 

Her mother rarely comes home as she is a full time housekeeper far from their home trying to earn enough to feed and educate her children. As her children get older her income can no longer cover all the costs. Dad does the domestic chores and looks after the children.  They are relieved to have educational help for their daughter.

Her father died and mum works the rice farm. Her mother grows enough rice to feed the family and sometimes enough to sell to buy other food they need, The eldest children do what they can to contribute, but she needs educational support for her youngest daughter for her to be able to complete her education. We are thrilled this is now possible due to her new sponsor. 

This very intelligent young lady is orphaned. She lives with her grandparents and unfortunately granddad is terminally ill. Their costs have escalated recently and her education is no longer affordable for them. We are pleased she now has a sponsor to support her to complete her education.

Difficulties don't depress this CEF student as she has a positive attitude - Guest blog by Kim Chi

Difficulties don't depress this CEF student......

She was born into, and grew up in a very poor family. Her mother abandoned her when she was very young. Her father continued to care for her, but he died when she was in grade 7. She then became an 'orphan'. At that time, her cousin who is quite old and hadn't married, moved to live with her and to care for her. 

 With her aunt

She thought she would have no choice but to stop her education when she completed high school. However, against all odds, she was very clear and determined that she wanted to continue onto university although she know that it would be very hard to make this dream possible.

She became a university student with great eagerness, plus a lot of worrying. To afford her living expenses while at university she works really hard. After classes she works in a small local restaurant from 5 to 10 pm in order to receive dinner plus a small salary. She was very delighted when she received her first salary although it was not a large one. 

With CEF's help with her education costs, her income from her hard work, and with a little support from her aunt, she is now living her dream of being a university student and is now in the first term of her second year of university.  

During compulsory military service

Although she has been faced with a hard life, and now faces a challenging student life, there is always a beautiful smile on her sweet and innocent face. She derives pleasure from her part time job and the family she works with are like a second family to her while she studies and works far away from home. We wish that she can continue to experience such joy and such a positive attitude while living a challenging life.

With her work 'family'

Blog by: Kim Chi