A past CEF sponsorship student gets married ~ Guest blog by CEF's staff Ngoc Do

Ngoc Do who was responsible for Van over two of the six years she was in CEF's sponsorship program shares this good news.

Van, one of CEF’s past students sent me a sweet message to inform us about her wedding day. 

‘On June 26, I am getting married. I won’t do a big celebration so I am sorry that I cannot invite you, Ms. Linda and CEF staff to attend my wedding party. I am writing to you to let you know about this great news.

On this occasion, I would sincerely send my big thanks to Ms. Linda, my sponsor, Mrs. Morwenna and CEF staff for helping and caring for me over my most difficult years. I hope Ms Linda will stay healthy and happy to help many more disadvantaged children.’

She was one of my favorite children because she tried very hard to stay positive and overcome many obstacles in her life. Congratulations Van! I wish her all the best.

Thank you letter ~ Guest blog by CEF's staff member Kim Chi

Van Anh has been in our education sponsorship program for nine years (photo below of her when we started sponsoring her).

CEF staff member Kim Chi shares a thank you letter about the her final step at university for Van Anh:
One of our university students has done her final dissertation to graduate from university. In the final thank you letter which she wrote to her sponsor, she would like to share her feelings from that day which was a very important and special day for her.

“Last Monday, I finished the final exams of term two and ended my four-year university course with a final dissertation. I had to present the final dissertation in front of many lecturers of my faculty. One day before, I had to prepare my presentation on PowerPoint, prepare my uniform, and drink and fruit for the lecturers. I wore Ao Dai which is our traditional custom when presenting a dissertation.

Although I did prepare it very well, I was nervous and couldn’t talk fluently. When I finished my presentation, the lecturers questioned and I answered most of their questions very well and naturally, and that made me became more confident. I was thrilled because the lecturers assessed my presentation at a high level. They also made some comments and suggestions which helped me to recognize my mistakes and improve the next time. It was a good result for my effort and I was very pleased about my presentation. I was even more delighted when I got a score of 9.4/10 for my dissertation.

It was the best memory of my student time. Doing the final dissertation was not only a novel experience but also a remarkable moment during my time at university. I gained a lot of experiences and made some good relationships which are related to my work of the future.”

Today one of our past CEF students is getting married

Van's story was tragic, with dad poisoning her mother, then himself. Leaving her and her brother orphaned, her grandparents then brought up the children, but as they were elderly they had no income. It certainly wasn't a happy household as it was very stained as her grandparents were too poor and too old to take on this responsility.  

We took Van into the sponsorship program and helped her have a high school education and then helped her study to become an art teacher. After four years of working she met the man she wants to marry and today they were married.

She wrote to us about this special day (translated by CEF's Ngoc Do):‘On June 26, I am getting married. I won’t do a big celebration so I am sorry that I cannot invite you, Ms. Linda and CEF staff to attend my wedding party. I am writing to you to let you know about this great news.

On this occasion, I sincerely send my big thanks to Ms. Linda, my sponsor, Mrs. Morwenna and CEF staff for helping and caring for me over the most difficult time in my life. I hope Ms Linda will stay healthy and happy to help many more disadvantaged children.’

Morwenna her sponsor helped change her life and enabled her become an educated and employable young woman. She met Morwenna her sponsor, and Morwenna's two children, two years after graduation. They were thrilled to be able to meet each other at last. 

We wish Van a happy life as she certainly deserves it after all the challenges she has had to face.

Home visits in Dai Loc ~ Blog guest ~ Graeme Burn ~ CEF's Australia Manager

It was getting hot even at 5-15am when I left the CEF office in Hoi An to join two of our staff, Thuy and Ngoc to travel to Dai Loc district to visit students and their families. We reached the first house while the sun was quite low and the view from the family’s garden across the rice fields to the hills in the distance was still fresh and clear.

We visited eight families that day. It was lovely to see some children I hadn’t met for a year or two and to learn how they were getting on and what their plans for the future were. We spent time with one family whose two high school girls are quite new in CEF’s program.

Thuy and Ngoc interviewed the two young women and talked to their mother about how things were going for them all during COVID 19. We sat in their father’s tailor’s shop and he worked at his bench ironing and cutting cloth the whole time we were there. We learned that business was slow because not many customers had the money to have clothes made but they were managing with father’s income and a monthly gift from donors who had given to CEF’s COVID19 support fund.

While Thuy helped Tuyet Mai with her university application, mum told us how her husband had stopped working in a garment factory to set up his tailoring business in the front of their home. He had been travelling 1 1/2 hours to the factory on his three-wheeled motorbike, renting a room near work, staying the week there and returning for a day or two at the weekend. Disabled from birth he found the travel and factory work exhausting. it was special to see him together with his wife and daughters. His broad smile told me that he was very happy no longer having to ride so far for work and being able to spend so much more time with his family.

Home visits to our families in and around Hoi An

Due to Covid19 all of CEF's home visits had to be delayed until a time when it was safe and permitted.

This page is just photos from home visits locally, of families and scenery and a kitchen. We caught up with our children and families and discussed the education of the child who is in the sponsorship program.

We found everyone well and a few only in a challenging financial position because they are unemployed or have no customers to take up the services they offer, and that has come about due to Covid19. 

Post Covid19

We have been most fortunate here in Vietnam as the government has dealt very responsbily with the recent outbreak of the virus Covid19. There weren't many cases and there were no deaths. They worked very hard to ensure this at a great cost to the countryas they made their people the priority.

We have been blessed to have received some donations which have helped us to help our students and their families during this challenging time of very little or no work. For many now things are getting better, as some factories have reopened due to receiving orders. Some hotes, restaurants and cafes catering to the domestic tourists are open and have mainly weekend business when the tourists arrrive for the weekend.

For many their lives have changed little as they support themselves by farming and by selling their vegetables at the market.  Some of the farming families now are having to support a son or a daughter who is now unemployed though. In most of the areas CEF works there is no tourism, but family members might work in tourism away from their homes.

As our base is in Hoi An, a tourist town, we can see that Covid19 has greatly affected the local community. Many businesses have permanently shut down and a few can afford to stay shut and wait until international tourism resumes. But the town is a little like a ghost town on weekdays when there are no domestic tourists.   

We have all been warned there may be a second wave and we hope this doesn't happen.  Vietnam is working to ensure it doesn't. They were going to open the borders to more people next week, but have announced they have changed their minds due to new cases in China, one of our neighbors.

We thank everyone who has donated to help families during this challenging time and those who have received help are very grateful.

Photos are of a few of our CEF students with Covid19 support funds they have received. 

No blogs for a long time

Hello everyone,

I am sorry there have been no blogs for a long time, but I could not access my blogsite as it was blocked.

I will resume doing blogs now it is accessible and hope you enjoy our posts.

Please take good care of yourselves and your families,
Linda

Photo of myself with CEF staff in February, after our last face to face meeting for three months due to Covid19.