This young lady yearns to be educated and have a worthwhile future ~ Guest blog by CEF's Ms Ngoc

I am impressed with this ethnic girl as she is very determined and realistic about her life. Being born into a poor crowded family, she is aware of her family circumstances so she knows the importance of being successful in the future in order to escape from poverty.

Her mother had many children and now lives with her two alcoholic sons and her. The others are married and live far from home and none can help with finances or with the farming.

She burst into tears when telling me about her mother and her family. Her mother is not healthy or young enough to work hard on farm; however, this is the only way that she can earn some money as well as have rice for the family.

She sometimes helps with domestic chores or farming when she has free time, while her 2 brothers hardly ever do anything. They evidently are only interested in drinking and getting drunk. Therefore, this situation has made her strongly feel that she has to be well educated. She had a dream of being a doctor when she was a child. However, it seems impossible for her to study Medicine because of her financial situation and her ability is not being quite good enough. Although she is a 'good' student, she is going to be a nurse first and then study to a higher level to be a doctor if possible. The other option she is considering is to be a chemistry teacher because she loves chemistry.

This is her last year in high school so she will make efforts to attain good results. She believes in herself; that she can be a good and helpful person in society and for her family. Hopefully, CEF can find a someone to take on her scholarship of US$150, someone who is willing to encourage and support her to accomplish her dream of a better future.

c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com

A scholarship is needed for this young lady ~ Guest blog by CEF's Ms Vy

CEF's main aim is to help ethnic girls in Phuoc Son district; however, after our last survey we found it worth helping the Kinh girls as well because most of them in this district are very poor too. Ethnic students receive some support from the government, such as free accommodation and two meals a day, but that does not keep them in school, therefore this program was started to help them complete high school. The Kinh girls do not get accommodation or food support. 

This girl is not from an ethnic background, but she needs help. She will be in grade 11 in the next school year. Hardly had her father passed away when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Because of no home and no money, both this student and her youngest sister have to stay with a rude un-supportive friend of their mother's who treats them badly and forces them to do a lot of housework, which doesn't allow them to have much study time. Their mother lives in a small cottage to sell vegetables and earns US$0.25c a day. 

Although she has her time taken from her by the people she stays with she still studies whenever she can. Her average mark was 7.0/10 for this academic year, that is the fruit of her efforts. No matter how unfortunate she is, she still keeps her passion and desire for tertiary education and that motivates her to earn money, from a part time job in her summer holidays, allowing her to buy study materials and attend extra tuition classes. 

Becoming a lawyer who protects justice is not only her dream but also the last wonderful gift that she wants to give her mother in her last moments. We sincerely hope that she will be supported to have the opportunity to give this last big gift to her mother – becoming a lawyer.

US$150 scholarship is needed for this year and for next year to help her complete high school. 

Contact us at: c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com

A most creative board member

We are blessed to have a very creative board member. One of the ways Pam raises funds for CEF is by giving the profits she makes from the beautiful mosaics she designs and creates. We are very grateful for this amazing support!

Here are a few of them below.

 

About the importance of using good quality sanitary towels ~ Guest blog by CEF's Ms Kim Chi

Helping girls with their education is very important because they will have a greater future if they are educated, but it is also important to have good health.

During our life, there are many causes to make us sick. If children are sick they can’t attend school and then their results decrease and they can’t catch up their friends. This is one of reasons why CEF gives our children medical support.

Since I moved back to live in my hometown which is in a rural area, I have become aware of one of the reasons that causes poor health and makes some teenage girls miss school. Due to the expense girls from poor families use poor quality sanitary towel which cost 30% - 40% less compared to good quality ones. ‘They will get allergies, vaginal mycosis or even infertility if they use the poor quality pads for a long time’, Obstetrician Le Thi Kim Dung from the Department of Obstetrics, Thai Ha Center of Health and Labor said. (Vietnamese article link: http://khoeplus.vn/phu-nu/vat-the-la-trong-bang-ve-sinh-dan-toi-ung-thu-co-tu-cung-2467.html )

A W.H.O. report also indicates that about 62% of women’s gynecological infections occurring during menstruation are due to poor quality sanitary pads. ( https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sanitary-pads-silenthidden-killer-abuse-cause-gbv-against-hachunde )

Poor girls, have to accept poor quality sanitary pads because they can’t afford good expensive ones. My concern is how we can help CEF’s girls to get quality sanitary towels to protect them against diseases. At the present price it is only USD$19 a year to give good sanitary pads to a girl, but it costs quite a lot of money to give them to all CEF’s girls.  We hope someone would like to support us to help some of the children receive good quality sanitary towels.

About discrimination of children with HIV ~ Guest blog written by CEF's Ms Thuy

Last Friday, I went to visit three poor families with HIV girls which were introduced by VNHIP, a health care NGO. The trip made me realize the importance of providing HIV education to people.
Some people who have university education don’t know have any HIV knowledge and still have strong discrimination against HIV people, even children. It’s sad that some schools, teachers and parents of other students don’t want children with HIV studying in their schools. Many HIV children can’t go to school even though they love studying like other children. It’s a reason why some parents of HIV children decide not to tell others that their children have HIV.

All three little girls I met are very lovely and friendly. Two of them study very well at school and enjoy going to school very much while the other has quite bad school results and doesn’t want to go to school. She’s also the one I was left with a very strong impression of. She is also a nice little girls and an orphan and has lived with her grandfather in a small house in a remote mountainous area since she started grade 1. Because in the past she moved to many places with her mother, she didn’t join in on any kindergarten classes before going to primary school. That’s the reason why she can’t catch up with education like other students. Unfortunately her grandfather is too old to help her with her studies. All people know that she has HIV, so they don’t want to be close to her as well and treat her badly, even her teachers and classmates. According to her, her friends often make fun of her, fight with her and her teachers don’t care about the bad attitude of her classmates to her. Although her grandfather talked to her classmates’ families, they still don’t change their behavior. She is too young to know what HIV is but she feels how unfairly people treat her. She doesn’t want to go to school at all. Her grandfather always has to persuade her go to school every morning. Summer is a great time to her because she doesn’t need to go to school and has chance to join some out-door activities with other HIV children that VNHIP helps.

Letter of a CEF student to her sponsor about Water Safety Day

This is part of a sweet letter of one of our CEF students who wrote to her sponsor about Water Safety Day.

Everyone faces challenges in their life and we have to find a way to escape and there are some unexpected things that sometimes happen that we never expect. My family was in that situation and I would call it fate. I am telling you about when I met Linda who came to visit the pagoda where I usually went to pray. Since we met, I always consider her as my second mother, she has not only helped us educationally but also motivated us by her kind heart. 

Linda and the CEF staff have organized many good activities for us to participate in. I had my first experience about the beach and CEF’s Water Safety Day. I was very anxious the first time because there were many people there including westerners who I had never met before. However, I felt much more relaxed after the first theory lesson of water safety. The feeling of worry completely disappeared when I joined in on the games and swimming lessons guided by the teachers and foreigners. It was a best time in my summer.

Water Safety Day ~ Guest blog by CEF's Ms Kim Chi

Water Safety Day is not only a great time for CEF’s children to relax after the school year finishes, but also gives them a chance to learn to float.

Summer is coming and it is also the time when the number of children who die from drowning increases. Understanding this risk, CEF organizes Water Safety Day every year for our children from Quang Nam who all come to Hoi An to learn about water safety and float to float in order to give them a greater chance of survival in water.

It was so much fun, and an emotional experience to see our children enjoyed the day of games and lessons. The children took their lessons seriously. Thanks to the professional teachers and all volunteers, I saw many children learn to float well and they are now more confident in the water.

I also had chance to learn to float but I am still not as good at floating as the children. So I will try again next year.

Scholarships can change girls lives ~ Guest blog by CEF's Ms Ngoc

This is the second time I had a chance to do home visits in Phuoc Son district- one of the poor remote areas of Quang Nam province.

Most of the families I visited are ethnic minority; therefore, I had many challenges in communicating because of the different languages, but it was a great opportunity to see them, learn something new from them and possibly bring good support to them. It was interesting that most of them were willing to share everything with me including their personal issues. I really appreciated that, and thanks to their honesty and cooperation, I could easily get to know them as well as understand their family situations.

All the children there have fewer opportunities to go to school than the children in flat lands. They also don’t have many chances to assess updated information on education via the internet or media because it is not popular up there. However, I can see some of them are very determined and inquisitive. They know that education is the only way for them to go to have a better future. I really admire them because they know that their parents cannot afford their tertiary education but they set goals of studying at a higher level and they will try to attain their target somehow.

I really hope that CEF can find sponsors for all these children in order that they have a chance to go to university / college / vocational training or at the least finish their high schooling. It is your support that can change the girls’ lives and give them a better future.

If you would like to take on a scholarship they are US$150 a year. c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com