Nearly new and in very good condition

When it's time to move on from Hoi An, we do appreciate anything that is high quality and in very good condition still, such as footwear and clothing for our students whose age range is from 5-22.

Benjamin handed on his shoes recently. He had been growing too quickly to be able to wear them for long and they really were hardly worn. Two lads in our education sponsorship program were able to receive a pair of shoes each. It's such a simple gift, yet it made them both so happy.

Another challenging experience ~ Guest blog by Graeme CEF's Australian manager

We do all we can at CEF to keep girls living with their parents or relatives and in their communities, but sometimes this is a poor outcome for the girl. 7 year old M is a case in point. Last week her aunt was caught by police using her to beg and M is in fear of violence from this aunt, her alcoholic uncle and her granny, who is her carer. We visited her yesterday and granny agreed to let her go to live in the SOS village in Da Nang. We were very relieved knowing that this will bring to an end M’s fear of family violence and give her good care and education.

(Photo of M, granny and CEF's Ms Vy by Graeme)

New increase in CEF scholarships and sponsorships

Children's Education Foundation has just put up sponsorships and scholarships for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 years.

The increase in sponsorships covers inflation from the last year and covers the estimated inflation for the next two years. If inflation is lower than the estimation we will be able to keep the sponsorships the same for another year after that.

Our scholarships have gone up as we wish to include funds to give further support to the high school students from this predominantly ethnic community we work with near the Vietnam-Laos border, but also to be in a position to give some annual support to the parents. Some of the children have been passing over part of their scholarship to their family due to family health issues and ongoing grinding poverty.

We hope this change in payment will mean that the children will now use all funds given to them for their education. They are from such poor families that we understand why they have been doing this although we asked them not to do that, and explained that the funds were for their education only. They are such honest children that they told us they had given some funds and explained why. All reasons were totally valid and acceptable as many have very sad, challenging family situations.

From 7th July 2017:
Scholarships are now:US$200

Sponsorships are now:
US$260 for primary school students
US$320 for secondary school students
US$385 for high school students

Thank you for your support and interest in CEF,
Linda

A new challenging situation for us at CEF ~ Guest blog by Graeme, CEF's Australia Manager

V is seven and lives with her grandad in a beautiful countryside setting two hours from CEF’s office. She has HIV and grandad is the only family member who is willing to look after her. Fearing the possibility of infection, granny refuses to and V’s parents are dead. Grandad tries his best to care for V but he is in poor health, recently had an operation on his spine and has a gambling habit. Previously, he had refused to give her up into care but on our last visit, realising that he could no longer look after her well he agreed for her to be looked after in a special home for children with HIV. Vy will receive proper medication and no longer be stigmatised by her disease.

(Photo by Graeme of V and granddad)

About Creative Photographic sessions ~ Guest blog by CEF's Ms Ngoc

I had a really fun time out with some of the CEF children on two Creative Photographic sessions. In these sessions an experienced photographer helped them to learn about composition and light and how to choose the best vantage points to take their photos from. I was working with Mrs Linh who showed them the basics using her own photos, commented on the ones they took and encouraged them to be adventurous and creative. All the students loved the sessions, sharing their ideas with her and learning from her experience.

It’s the summer holidays and photographic sessions are such a fantastic thing for our children to do. Those who put their hands up for the sessions love taking photos, learnt a lot and had fun doing so. I did too.

 

 

We’ve put on an exhibition of their best photos at Dingo Deli, 277 Cua Dai, Hoi An, running from July 1 to 15. Please come along and have a look and vote for the three photos you like the best.