An unusual CEF family situation about a single father caring for his three children ~ Blog by Thuy

CEF was introduced to Vy’s family through the Women Union. It’s an unusual case and different to most. It is a single father with 3 young children. It’s very difficult for a single mother to look after her children, but it’s more difficult for a single father in the same situation.

Vy’s mother died last December. Although they knew Vy’s mother had heart disease, she had no treatment because they had no money and they did not understand how serious her health problem was.

They live in a countryside village where most people work as farmers. If anyone wants to change their life by earning more money they need to go to another city or district to find another job, such as construction work, factory work, tailoring or housekeeping. Vy’s father considered finding a job in a town so that he could manage their daily costs and his children’s education expenses. However, he has no one he can ask to help look after his children. As he is the youngest child in his family and all of his siblings are poor farmers they can’t help. His deceased wife’s relatives live too far from his house to help. Therefore, he has to continue with just farming jobs near home. This allows him to stay near home to do the washing, cooking, cleaning and looking after his children. He sometimes goes fishing at night by using an electric rod. He knows that it‘s very dangerous and not allowed by Government but he needs to feed his family. Life seems so hard for their family but he still feels lucky and happy when he sees the smiles of his children.

About a visit to one of our CEF children ~ Guest blog by Ngoc

We had a nice time at Kiem’s house. They talked and shared about many aspects of their lives. Last time, they were quite depressed because of the big debt they had from building the house. However, they are now happier thanks to their change of mind. They have a new stable house, which can help them to avoid the heat when it’s really hot, and the wind and rain when it’s stormy, so they know that they are very lucky. Although they still have a huge debt, they have positive thinking that they can work harder to gradually pay it off. Her mother already paid off a quarter of the loan over a year by working all day. It is very fortunate that since they have had a new house to live in, her mother is healthier and fatter enabling her to work harder. I believe that no matter what happens, with their efforts and optimism, they will be always be joyful and ecstatic about their new home and life. 

New bikes for CEF children from Renaissance International School Saigon ~ Guest blog by Kim Chi

Our CEF children were very happy and lucky to receive new bikes from ‘Renaissance International School Saigon’. Their students worked very hard to raise money by selling food at their school at lunch time and raising sponsorships for their teacher who competed in the Iron Man competition. They donated all funds to CEF to buy new bikes for 11 children who really needed bikes to go to school.

It was a hot day, and fortunately the children from the mountainous areas came early to get their bikes. Both the children and their parents were very delighted to get new bikes.

After receiving training about how to ride a bike safely on the street, the children were trained in how to keep the bike safely with a chain and lock plus learn how to adjust the light to use at night.
The children had a chance to choose the bike which they liked and to test it out. Students of Renaissance International School Saigon helped our children to alter the height of the seat in order to suite their height and to align their wheels. They went back home with contented smiles.

The Power of Reading Books ~ Guest blog by Kim Chi

I really like reading whenever I have free time and every night before going to bed. I have found a lot of useful knowledge in books which I really need for both my life and my work. 

I just recognized the benefit from reading books when I was in grade 12. I became very stressed from having had a difficult life, plus living in the ‘Children’s Home’ in Hoi An. While living there and when I was in my last year of high school my behavior changed for the worse: I was impolite, jealous, felt disappointed and lonely as I felt no one cared for me. When I was given two helpful books from someone, I could then see, and could hardly believe how rude I had become. After reading these books, my behavior changed. I’ve believed in myself, believed in life since then. I have become confident and experienced the power of attitude. Since then, I save money and buy many books for myself, especially on each birthday.

Fortunately I work for CEF where we have a lot of books. I’ve now borrowed and read many of the books in CEF’s mobile library. This has not only helped me gain more knowledge, but it also enables me to give advice to CEF’s students about which books would be good to read when they want to borrow books.

Over the time I have been borrowing and reading the books from CEF’s library, I have thought of some of our students who should read these books as I know they would help them a lot in their life and with their education.

I have lent some specific CEF books to a CEF student who said she wasn’t confident, especially with communication and it helped her. As I know the benefits of the books we buy from my personal experience and from that of students too, I do hope that CEF will receive further funds for buying more books for mobile library for our students to read.