Poverty Vs Poverty

We started with helping three children whose parents had abandoned them due to poverty. Two relatives were struggling to care for them. We helped by taking on the costs of their education.

Then we helped a minority tribe community. They had poor health and very few children went to school. Their poor health was due to their poverty and inability to afford medical examinations, treatment or medicine. We helped by building a medical centre and providing free medical care and medicine. We also helped by providing school supplies for the school. (I am going there soon and if anyone wants to make a donation for school supplies that would be appreciated.)

Then we were asked to help the poorest in a northern farming community where they had incomes from $7-$30 a month....and so CEF grew and grew...

All those we helped were poor or very poor with no income or a small income. But now I am rather challenged in keeping a sense of what poverty is and who is very poor, or very, very poor and who we should help of all those very poor we are asked to help.

Now I am looking more at the subtleties. What do they own, what is the furniture made from, what do they wear, has anyone in the family got any gold jewelry on, do they own a house or have a temporary shelter, what is the house made from and was it donated, or did they save for it and build it.

A family we visited last week had a hut made from bamboo and matting and it was about 6 ft by 10 ft, had one bed only, no table or chairs, no kitchen, no bathroom, no lean-to, no bike, no motorbike and no birth certificates for their childen which meant their children were no allowed to enter school. Five family members lived there. The mother looks after the little ones and the father goes around doing odd jobs for people and earning very little money. I knew for sure they were poor. They were amongst the poorest familes we have helped.

Another family we visited had a small house with a toilet area and a kitchen area. The house had been built for them by the Red Cross. They had a bed, some boxes for storage some plastic bowls for washing, plastic table and chairs and some clothes. The mother was a garbage collector, the husband had left and the young daughter had to look after her little brother as the mother couldn't get home very often. A kind old lady slept with them at night time. I knew for sure they were poor.

We met a mother who was deaf and dumb, but very bright. We had been asked to help her daughter go to school. The mother supported her daughter and mother with difficulty as she rarely could find any employment and there was no father. They were definitely poor and we are helping the girl with school costs.

In another family the siblings were struggling to get one of their sisters through school. Both parents had died and all the siblings had stopped school except this one as they all wanted her to complete school. But still they couldn't manage to support themselves and keep her in school with the rising costs of her education. She lives in a space 8ftx8ft with two other girls. I know for sure she needs help with her education.

We have a mother who is dying of brain cancer. Her husband is ill and can earn very little and what he earns mainly goes on paid killers for the mother. The Red Cross gave them a house, but they own very little. Their daughter is bright and without help has to leave school. They are definitely poor and we help with the daughters schooling expenses.

Sometimes it's hard to decide if someone needs help and how much help. Everyone we are introduced to meets our criteria. But who do we help and not help and how much help do we give.

Are they poor when the father can earn $7 a day, which is a good salary here? Based on that no they aren't. He can't work consistently as his wife died and he has to look after the two young children and often the baby gets ill. When that happens it's four or five days before he can get back to work. He has no relatives to help. As the baby is still young it is on a formula, which is expensive here. When he works the child goes into child care and costs him about half of that days salary. When the baby is ill he has doctors bills and medicine bills. He has managed to work about 2 week out of the last 6 weeks. We decided they do need some help and so we are paying for the little girls education costs.

Are they poor when they have the capacity to borrow a huge sum for paying for granny's major heart surgery? It usually means they have collateral such as a house. Now they haven't got enough money to send their daughter to school because of the high interest rate the ruthless money lenders charge. We need to interview them further and see their home before deciding if they need help.

There are the obvious cases that are easier to say no to. We were asked to help pay for school for one girl. Her father earns $5 a day has a wife and they have two children. They may be poor and struggling but that was one case that was clear. Even the person who introduced them agreed that this case wasn't urgent as they had seen some of the others we help.

I have friends working in areas of Vietnam that are even more poor than here and so it's hard sometimes to get everything in perspective. They tell me stories and it feels like the people I help are not very poor. When I visit some of those we have helped for some time they seem rich compared to some of those we have taken on more recently. They are poor, but just don't seem poor in comparison to the worst cases we help. It's hard not to make comparisons but I find it's crucial to try to take each case individually and see what is the reality. It's essential that I don't respond emotionally to dire situations as it just clouds my judgement and I always need to remember to trust my gut reactions. Then get the facts. Then see what our role needs to be with this family, if any.

In the process of knowing how to judge who is very poor, who really needs help and how it is best to help, it means I am on a sharp ongoing learning curve that is filled with challenges. It is also enlivening due to the ongoing changes and growth required on my part.

Can we really put ourselves in someone else's shoes?

I try to imagine what it's like it be in someone else's shoes, but can't really.

I am not deaf and dumb like a little girl I met yesterday. I can't know what her world is like as I have always had hearing and probably spoken too much. She was a bright little button. Fortunately I have been able to find help for her. I hope her future will be a better one than many of the others we do not get to meet.

I am not a wealthy westerner, but am not poor. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, a big dog who eats ten times what most Vietnamese eat and a cat that eats about the same as most Vietnamese. I have more than a bed, a plastic table, chairs and set of drawers. I have too many possessions - well more than the 100 that is recommended for living a simple,non-material life.

I don't know what it's like to experience hunger regularly due to lack of food. I know what it's like when I have chosen to fast and have the choice to stop anytime I want. I don't live in fear of my matting home being blown away is a strong storm and having to deal with a flooded home each time of the 100 times (approximately) it rains heavily in our rainy season. I have never experienced having two sets clothes and having to wear one while the other dries and knowing that in rainy season they won't be dry when I need to put them on the next day. They don't have a tumble drier like me. I make efforts to imagine what it is like to be them so I can respond and help more appropriately and compassionately even though I will never truly know what their lives are really like.

We have had our first girl stop school and I felt devastated. She wants to hang out with her friends and maybe find a job and earn money. She started school this term but left after three weeks as all her good friends weren't in school anymore. I was trying to keep her in school long enough for her to have a little more maturity and less chance of the all too common teenage pregnancy and abortion here. Her sister is a university student and has tried to get her sister to continue her education but says we now have to give up and not feel bad about it. She asked us to help her brothers' youngest daughter instead as he is dying of cancer. When we agreed Chi said it was such a gigantic relief for him.

But I still wonder what I could have done to help her complete another year or the two to complete school. A couple of years ago we had a girl the same age make the same decision. She left school just for a few days and then went back as she was too bored. She is now about to start university! But the girl who has left school has now been out of school two weeks and they do not take children back who have missed that much school. I am sad that we didn't succeed at keeping her in school this year, but pleased we managed to keep her in school for three years. It's also good that we can help her brother who desperately needs help. It will be less stress for him in his last months to know that his youngest daughter will receive an education. We are to meet him and Vy his daughter next week.

I don't understand Phuong's thinking enough to know how to help in that situation. I understand a little as I was no lover of high school at that age. I had one atrocious teacher whose heart was not in teaching and I ended up not caring greatly about his subject and went 10 pin bowling and swimming instead of attending his classes for a few months and did the study and homework on my own instead. I understand how much fun it is hanging out with friends occasionally in school hours, but don't understand wanting to hang out a lot when my mother can't earn enough to feed me or clothe me as she can only earn money selling lottery tickets. Why would I choose a future like hers with little opportunity?

I feel I can only use my imagination and memory to have a little understanding. But how can I inspire and encourage them to complete school and have further education if they can't see that it makes a huge difference to their lives themselves? For a teenager a love of studying is unusual, a willingness to cycle 45 minutes to an hour to get to school is unusual, a love of getting up early and going through torrential rain to get to school and home again every day for about 3 months would be radical. So what gets them to school, stay in school and want a future with possibilities?

I may be wrong, but I think the desire to better their lives and that of their families has to come from within them and be based on the conclusions of what they see around them. At that age do they see that those without an education have few choices and a hard life. Of course there are the exceptional people who are uneducated and have worked very hard and done well for themselves but the majority are still severely impoverished. With a little encouragement and financial support I hope this will be enough to help many children at this challenging stage in their lives complete school, then receive further education and create a life for themselves and their families of possibility.

By the way little Vy will need a sponsor if anyone is interested and next week we will have photos and more information we can send.

Children from Hoa Van Leper Community

It's taken time for the Hoa Van community not to look at me as if I am an alien from a far away planet. Well I guess it's not surprising as I have blue eyes and arrive looking highly windswept after the motorbike trip to them. Now after a year of helping the children from the poorest families in the community to receive an education they are considering that I am a friend and not a foe. Their only contact with westerners up to this point was that they had turned up in their community, given some clothes, food or some money and gone. They had no association of any permanence with help from westerners. Several of them have commented that even though I said I would help them long-term they didn't believe it.

Yesterday it was another hot trip, but not a searingly hot one as it was the last time we met the children. On the last trip we lathered ourselves with sunscreen before the trip each way, but still got burnt. This time Duyen and I travelled the hour to meet them and their mothers or fathers to give them some money for uniforms, satchels, school supplies and 'fees' for this term. They had to produce a stamped receipt if they wanted to be reimbursed for any school expenses they had already paid out. This was a helpful strategy to get them to remember to get receipts.

We met in the home of the headman of the community. He is sweet. Well I think he is as he has this large lovely smile and smiles often. He is a good man and is always honest even at the risk of meeting with dissaproval.

Next time we are meeting in a government hall as the local government likes to be able to see what the westerners really are up to. I don't blame them as some years ago there were some riots incited by westerners. We will meet with government officals present to make the school related payments. As we have nothing to hide it all helps make things go more smoothly. Once they see we are not trouble-makers it makes it easier with any requests we make and with official paperwork.

The days of just helping out without any official permission are over and now we need permission from several authorities (national,provincial and local) to help those in need of some educational assistance. My job involves more and more time attached to a computer as we help more children. Everything is becoming more official here and this is good as paedophilia is not uncommon. Officialdom protects the children more which is crucial and so that helps me accept the computer-bound days as there couldn't be a better reason.

Back to the children from the community..... They have been the most resistent to making a connection of all the children we have helped over the years. But I feel due to them now believing there will be ongoing support I feel them opening up and relaxing more. They now know that we try to be reasonable with the help we give each of them too. Due to communism and the belief that everyone should be treated equally the parents complained initially that we didn't give everyone exactly the same amount of support. They now understand that everyone doesn't need exactly the same amount and know that we try to consider each family and support them appropriately. One mother wanted us to know she had a part-time job for the next three months and wanted to know if we needed to reduce the assistance we gave her and her children. She needs the extra money as she is a single parent and one of her children has epilepsy and is on permanent medication which she has to pay for.

I didn't expect this shift to take place, but to see them not look so worried and to see their beautiful smiling faces is a blessing worth waiting for. It's an amazingly warming experience to see the children and parents smiling more, being more relaxed with me and able to talk more honestly and openly.

This year we are committed to seeing fourteen lovely children from this community through school. If you would like to help be a part of this project and bring about the possibility of a better future for this community please do get in touch.

With many thanks to those who care about these children receiving an education and have been wonderful supporters over the last year.

Lives Touching Lives

I really am blessed to be able to connect lives to lives, hearts to hearts. Well that is how I see it as I feel that as we meet people we touch each others lives and hopefully hearts too. As I introduce children and families to sponsors they touch each others lives and hearts.

I was once told about this from an American Medicine Woman. She said that the Native Americans call it 'weaving the web', which meant that as we connect to each other we are weaving a delicate web. I feel this is true and in acknowledging that I feel so blessed to be a part of that process and yet at the same time feel a huge responsibility to take my part seriously, which I make efforts to do but sometimes feel I fall short in achieving that.

It is more than a full time job to connect people in the west with the little ones here and to do it well and responsibly is a huge thing. I am committed 100% to doing this and yet there just aren't enough hours in the day or money in the bank. It means I can only do the best I can and aim to do this better and learn to find ways to obtain more funds so that others can help me to do this work. Very recently several people have offered to help find sponsors and that is a true blessing as it is not always easy to connect lives with lives. If we want a sponsor for a young and pretty girl it's easy, if she is older or ugly it is harder. We help boys in dire situations occassionally to go to school and it is hard to get sponsors for them.

Then there are other challenges as I live in a country where we don't have electricity all the time and where many emails go astray more often than is convenient. I never know if people have received my latest updates or end of year reports on the child they are sponsoring.

Unfortunately education is not free here although Ho Chi Minh talked about the importance of free education for all in this nation, but it hasn't worked out that way. It's consequently a big challenge for families with very little income to give their children an education.

Each child that Children's Education Foundation has taken on needs a sponsor for them to receive an education. We agree on helping a child due to them meeting our criteria. Unfortunately there are many in dire situations that meet our criteria and we can't say yes to all. Right now we have some children in need of sponsors. Some of them have been without a sponsor for a year or two as they are either visually unattractive or their education is expensive. We have also just met 10 new children in the last few weeks in need of a sponsor. Some I personally am paying for as they need help right now and they don't have a sponsor yet and some we have said yes to if the parents find a way to borrow the money to keep them in school now and as soon as we have a sponsor we will take over.

Things work in a mysterious way. I have been thinking how hard it is to say no when a family is severely impoverished and sincerely want their child to have an education. I have trusted that if I pay now there will be someone who will take over shortly. In the last two days I have received 3 emails asking if I could send them a child to sponsor. I am also about to send out all the remaining children that we have today in need of a sponsor to the lovely ladies who offered to help find sponsors. That then leaves us free to meet the others we have heard about and be in a position to consider helping them.

It is actually each of you who sponsors a child that puts them through school,not CEF. I don't know if sponsors realize how they are the ones changing lives, the ones who make it possible for a child to have many more choices in their lives, many opportunities for a good income and a decent standard of living. We just coordinate to make it all happen, to make the connections, to be weavers of the web.

The challenges that impoverished families have to give their children an education is big. For many its just not feasible to do this when they have no income, or a miniscule one. They are struggling to figure out how to feed their children let alone educate them.

Many who care about their children's future give them up to an orphanage or pagoda where they know they will be fed and educated. This is hard ofr a family to do butit is an expression of care here when poverty means they can not feed thier children. We believe in doing what we can to keep children with their families so that this seperation and suffering doesn't have to take place. Sometimes it means we need to provide other support, such as food and accomodation for it to work for the family to stay together and for the children to be educated.

Others are suffering less but can not afford to educate their children and we step in and pay for that. Then there are those with limited funds and the boys are put into school first leaving the girls at home to help with domestic chores and farming or fishing. When we know of impoverished families who have girls out of school, or about to be removed from school, we step in and provide the means for them to go to school,or to continue their education.

Receiving outside help is the only way many children can be educated. There is often no family that is any better off than they are who they can ask for help from. If they have no collateral they can't borrow from the bank or any institutions. It is a hard situation for many families when they have a makeshift home and only the occassional job. Many of the parents and children can laugh and joke and yet they have a very challenging life. Children are amazing at coping. Unfortunately some we see have become hardened due to the severe hardships they have encountered, but it is rare. What has touched us is when uneducated parents who haven't work or enough to eat beg us to help their children, not to receive food, but receive an education because they don't want their child to be a garbage collector or clean up the fish guts at the market or do the back-breaking job of being a rice farmer.

Most of us born into the western world have had challenges to face whether it was our parents divorcing or being dyslexic in a world depending on the word, or having a disabled sibling, or being born black in a white world and having to live with having to prove oneself all the time. To be honest from my experience of the challenges I have had they seem tiny incomparison to what I see and hear. The strength, courage and determination that they have is an inspiration and certainly helps me to keep my challenges in persective.

I have been amazed to see how thrilled they are to be able to go to school or continue school. Some of them express this in letters they write to their sponsors and the words they say certainly have an impact. Some address their sponsors formally and some more intimately. Some can not express their gratitude enough and some are worried the sponsor will be disappointed if their grades aren't good enough and are embarassed that they didn't get excellent results. An advanced student will still say 'I will try harder so you are not disappointed with me, so that I don't abuse your trust'. I am amazed how much they try to please their sponsors. They see them as part of the extended family and feel a responsibility to them.

It's time to finish this post that has been done over one month. Today I will be completing some more biographies of the children and sending them off to those awaiting a child to sponsor.

With love and many thanks to all of you who support us, who sponsor a child or who help find sponsors as you are all making a difference in the world.

Fundraising in New York

August 2010 New York, USA

Until CEF has a fundraising team it's mainly up to me to do what I can to bring in funds and find sponsors. So feeling rested and enthused and knowing the necessity for money to help children in Vietnam to receive an education I ambitiously decided to organize some fundraising events over a fortnight.

New York summers are hot and humid and anyone who can escape to somewhere near the sea or somewhere cooler does. Some of those asked if they would like to attend were away and couldn't. But determination meant I would still forge ahead and just organize two small events.

Stephen, the USA manager-coordinator helped by inviting many friends as well as offering his beautiful spacious apartment which easily fitted everyone in. A meal was prepared and cooked with love for 14 people. Lynette a fellow Australian was able to help for some of the day which made it fun and an enjoyable experience. It was a small,but successful fundraiser for Chldren's Education Foundation.

Those who came were lovely and showed a serious interest and asked intelligent thoughtful questions, ate with gusto and enjoyed the evening. On this evening many who attended were lucky not to be in the war, but almost were due to their age, but some of their friends and family were involved. They had an interest in the results of the war and how it affected Vietnam, how its people and government now responded to Americans and the affects of Agent Orange.

Lynette gave a DVD to CEF to use to raise funds. This DVD is fascinating and would particularly be of interest to cyclists '16,000 Feet on A Friday' which is about biking the World's highest paved road 'Ticlio Pass' in Peru. It's scary just watching it as the shear drops are not small ones. Lynette's website is www.galfromdownunder.com

We had the new CEF calendar for 2011 available with the lovely shots Shanti took of the Phuc Le Education Project children, their homes and farmhouses. We still have some available.

Anne Parker gave a small but beautiful contemporary art quilt to CEF. This is still available if anyone is interested. A picture of it is included.

To purchase a 2011 Calendar, Anne's quilt or the '16,000 Feet on a Friday', please contact Stephen.

The next event was a wine, cheese and salad evening. Again a similar number of people attended who were mainly Stephen Jackel's friends but also some of those who have become my friends over the years in New York and all showed a very sincere interest. Many on this evening were in education and wanted to know about many aspects of Vietnamese education.

Some of those who came showed an interest to continue to help CEF in some way which was very touching and hugely appreciated. We now have three people committed to work on fundraising together in New York and to help find sponsors for the many children we are asked to help to receive an education. If anyone else is intersted in participating please do get in touch with Stephen or myself.

Stephen was most kind and generous in supporting our work and contributing the use of his apartment and sharing his friends to support children receive an education in Vietnam which was hugely appreciated as without his kindness and support these events would not have taken place even with my determination and enthusiasm to help the children!

Linda or Stephen can be contacted at cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

Profits to Turn into Desks from the Sale of the 2011 CEF Calender

2011 is not far off and Shanti my first-born has created a beautiful calendar to raise the funds needed for desks for the children in our northern project - in the Phuc Le Education Project. She has now visited Phuc Le twice and the photos she has taken are of the children,the families,their homes and a vegetable plot. As she works in the film industry and has an artistic eye she has taken many lovely photos. Five of the calendar photos I have included in this post.

They give an idea of what some of the northern farming homes are like. Farming communities are quite traditional and still uphold many Confucius and Taoist traditions. What you can't really see in the photos are the unspoken stories.

It's a hard life for the farmers as the weather has become more unpredictable resulting in families never knowing if the next crop will be successful or will be washed away in a flood or destroyed by winds or hail.

This means many parents leave their children in the care of their parents and go to a large city to earn money as they no longer can earn enough to feed, dress and educate their children.

In a one-roomed farmhouse which we would consider large enough for one or two people, it wouldn't be unusual to find five or six people living in it. It's not uncommon for any unmarried sisters to live with one of their brothers or sisters and help out with the farming, cooking and domestic chores. The eldest son usually has his parents living with him too. The children are used to an extended family living under the one roof and sharing the family bed with them all.

One man we help has four children and lives in a small one-room farmhouse extension with the main one-roomed farmhouse having his unmarried brother, two aunts, one uncle and his father living in it. Several farmhouses in the community have elderly relatives looking after their grandchildren. One family we help has a one-roomed farmhouse with grandparents, one uncle and two little girls living there.

In the cities it's quite different as many want to just live with their partner and their own children. They are conscious of the nuclear family structure and are making the effort to become more western, not realizing how much it will change their lives. Now many infants go into care at two or three months so the mother can return to work where before her mother or his mother or aunt would have helped care for the infants and children allowing the mother and father to work.

Profits from these beautiful calendars are to make study easier for the children in this project. Profit will go towards making desks to help them more easily do their home work and not get chills. At present many do homework on a cold floor through the winter. Even though many people imagine Vietnam to be hot all the time - it's not. The winters in Phuc Le are coooold as they get quite a few snowy winds blowing in from cold northern areas of China through the winter! While where I live in the centre of Vietnam has mild winters and I only need a warm layer early and late in the day.

I hope that you are rather old-fashioned like me and use a real calendar, one that you can see and touch and has pictures and you turn the pages over, and not a mechanical calendar on your I-phone or on an another amazing invention. If so I think you'll appreciate this calendar of the traditional northern village of Phuc Le, its homes, farmhouses and people. At the same time you will also be helping the children have less chills and better school results!

If you would like a calendar or can sell a few for us please see the information below:
If you live in Australia or New Zealand please contact:
Graeme Burn, Australian coordinator at c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com

Or if you are in Asia contact:
Linda Burn, Founding Director and In-Country Manager at c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com or cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

And if you are in the States or Canada please contact the USA Coordinator, Stephen Jackel or Linda Burn at cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

Calendars are available now and we hope some of you are like me and enjoy a real calendar!

With huge thanks and love to Shanti for all her creative work to produce such a beautiful calendar,

Linda

Comparisons

Over the last two weeks there was a lot to get done before going away from Hoi An to avoid some of the extreme summer heat and humidity which causes me to feel very weak and faint. There were many home visits to do of children CEF sponsors, a meeting with the children from the Danang project and new children to meet who are scattered around Quang Nam who we were requested to see due to their dire situations. The requests were still coming in while I was sitting in Ho Chi Minh airport waiting for my flight out.

As well as those work commitments I needed to make sure I had everything organized for my daughter and her partner to look after the house and the animals. There were some last minute repairs to make and bills to pay and money to leave for forthcoming bills; all those normal things one has to do before going away.

Requests were made to visit 4 little girls whose parents had died and now lived in pagodas. One family we were asked to visit urgently lived in a small country town and they had no income. The neighbors made food donations to the family as they could afford it. The mother had died of brain cancer three months after giving birth to a baby boy. The fathers day were absorbed with just caring for the little baby and his six year old daughter. He had no chance to go out to earn money. In another family the mother also was dying from brain cancer and her daughter was in attendance. The husband-father was out working,looking for whatever work he could on one of her good days.

Over the days of home visits we talked about and reassessed families we had been helping. Some were better off this year but most weren't. With inflation increasing life for the poor has become even harder. Incomes in families varied from nothing to the occasional good income after a few weeks of laboring and most average incomes had dropped.

When I returned home to pay bills and organize funds for the payments that needed to be made while I was away, I felt nauseated as if I would be ill any minute. I felt restless and uncomfortable. Then I realized it was the extreme contrast after nearly two weeks of immersion in dire situations and poverty. The contrast of their bills and my bills was huge. I was left wondering what I could do about it that made sense. There was little I could think of and immersed myself in sorting and eliminating my worldly goods, giving them away to Vietnamese friends and to pagodas where they would give them to people who went there for help. I realized how easily I accumulated and that I needed to give much more attention to what I did buy. I realized that I wasted food. If I wanted to go out to eat I did even when there was food in the fridge that needed eating. I had a fridge - a luxury item in Vietnam. I hadn't seen one in any homes we visited.

I paid bills and organized funds for bills and had a meeting about micro finance. That was one way we could help some of the families we are already helping. But one of the things I realized was how incredibly blessed I was. How I had such abundance in my life. I also had choices - many choices. So often I get caught up in my personl challenges instead of seeing how blessed I am.

Sometimes I am exhausted from the challenges of working and living in Vietnam. I don't seem to have a tough enough skin and temperament. But I still want to do what I can to continue to help others with challenging lives and find ways to help each in a relevent way.

Someone famous, maybe Jesus or Buddha, said we should not compare ourselves to others as it can make us feel miserable, and it can make us feel special and superior. I feel the occasional objective comparison can be healthy and help us be aware of how blessed we each are. I truly feel blessed with good friends and wonderful family,delicious food to eat, devoted pets and a lovely home to live in with more than enough food and clothes. In the west I am judged as poor but I am neither rich nor poor in the material sense, but feel very rich.

Each little thing I do for others makes a difference; not just to them but to me as well as we are all one, not separate.

Phuc Le Visit April 2010

Phuc Le
Phuc Le is a small village in Thai Binh Province. Here nearly everyone farms or fishes, but in fish ponds. Most Vietnamese were either fishermen or farmers and still many are, but less as it is hard to make a living this way. It's an excellent means for providing your family with rice, vegetables and fish most years. Lean years are becoming more common with inflation, disease, flooding, typhoons and draught. Thai Binh province like many has seen more families struggling to survive.

We visit to make sure the educational sponsorship project is coming along well and to meet all the families and children face to face. One of my daughters went there for the second time to do a bi-annual assessment of the children we sponsor there. She went with a Vietnamese friend who has helped with assessments several times.

They visited families and checked on school reports, the child's health and the well being of the family and safety of their homes.

All was as well as can be expected, but once more we discovered that it is getting harder to survive. Considering how challenging it must be to find yourself becoming poorer they are a lovely and generally happy community that is grateful for all they have.

We have been notified of many more girls from Phuc Le and its surrounding hamlets in need of support to receive an education. If you are interested in supporting a child to receive an education please get in touch.

A calender will be available for 2010-2011. If you are interested please let us know. The photos will be Shanti's from this visit. To see her work some of her photos are included in this post.

With love and appreciation for the support we have from our sponsors. Linda

A meeting on a misty Sunday morning with children and parents from Hoa Van community

Sunday morning Lien and I went on a motorbike through heavy mist, so thick that twice we had to seriously slow down as we couldn't see more than about 10 metres in front. By the way Lien is a good Buddhist friend, who also helps with our charity projects and in my home and garden. We were on our way to meet another friend, Duyen,our Children's Education Foundation assistant who does the translating and transcribing, plus plus. We were to meet up with the group of 13 children with either a parent or a relative to pay for term 2 of the 2009-2010 school year and to see how everything was going this school term and find out if their accommodation in Da Nang was still suitable and working well for them.

This project was started at the beginning of the academic year and on each visit to them, both parents and children have looked tense and worried, as if wondering if we would agree to sponsor and then later wondering if we would continue. This meeting was different they were smiling and happier than I had ever seen them before. We had a good laugh on and off too as we had brought guests this time who added humor to the situation; Stephen, the USA coordinator, Brenda an English supporter and Bruce and Elaine two Canadian sponsors. Stephen and Bruce and Elaine had questions for the children and the answers were interesting. One question was to find out if any of them knew what they wanted to do after they completed school. The career choices varied quite dramatically with several wanting to be doctors or teachers. Other desired careers were fashion designer, business woman and journalist. Elaine asked if they would be happy to sing a song and they sang one about caring for each other and not discriminating. Bruce and Elaine then broke into song and the look on the faces of the children was precious.

So another term has started and we have the 13 back in school for this term. We still need sponsors for some of the children but either way we are determined to help these bright children fulfill their dream to complete school and have worthwhile careers. It was a satisfying and enjoyable morning knowing that the 13 sweet and bright children have the support they need to accomplish their dreams but the best thing that morning was actually seeing them smiling and laughing.

New Year 2010

Tet is new year in Vietnam. This week is the lead up to Tet, as the festival falls on the first new

moon of the lunar calender. It's a time of renewal and completion but also a time for reflections on the past year and what we created and received. It's also about the year to come and what we dream of and want to create.

This past year has been full of blessings with many kind people in Vietnam, the USA and Australia supporting Children's Education Foundation - Vietnam. This has enabled us to pay for the education and educational support for Vietnamese girls from very poor families. Education for females is important and something in the west we take for granted. Without an education the choices a female has are very limited in Vietnam keeping most of them in an endless poverty cycle.

I want all who have helped in some way to know that each little bit of help makes a difference. Without others my hands are tied and this is important to acknowledge as it is an example of our connectivity and how precious we all are to each other. I truly appreciate all of you for each thing you do and have done.

This year I have learnt so much more about human nature, Vietnamese people and their determination to better themselves and their families and more about how their their strong survival instincts work. I have learnt more about myself, my weaknesses and strengths, and my strong desire to see these girls we help complete their schooling and have a future with more choices and a better life. This has meaning to me as I feel I am so blessed with the choices I have each day and year. I just completed my schooling but never attended university. In Vietnam due to its cultural, religious and political restraints, the girls there may never have the freedom I have had and continue to have, but with a full education they have many more choices than they have if they drop out of school after their primary education which is common for country girls from poor families. With a university education a girl's work opportunities and income are greater. Their thinking and maturity also develop further making them even more useful members of their communities. If a girl has the intelligent and is hard working we continue to support her to have a college or university education. We have one girl who has completed this stage in her life and it is so encouraging to see how she has blossomed that I wish this for all the girls we help.


Below I want to mention just a few of the highlights for CEF over the year from Tet 2009 to Tet 2010.
In the USA:
Registration of CEF in the USA has taken place with the work kindly donated by Stephen
Gregory has kindly given ideas and advice
Richard and Robert have kindly offered to provide support and advice
Liz kindly donated a good second-hand computer for CEF's office
We have new sponsors and supporters
Help was raised for some emergency relief

In Vietnam:
Lyn and Cheryl helped CEF at Dai Loc Orphanage (their story is in another blog)
They provided toys & educational supplies & threw a party for the children
Cheryl helped me with CEF office work, including teaching me how to blog
She presented CEF with a printer-scanner and a camera to take project photos
Nadine and Robyn both shared their NGO experience
Shanti helped check on two of our projects in more distant areas of Vietnam
Shanti also created products in Vietnam which she sold in Australia to raise funds for CEF
Brian helped set up a better accounting system
Duyen, CEF's new part-time assistant, has been of invaluable help since she came on board

In Australia:
Duyen's wages for the last six months were provided by Derek
Derek also kindly provided auditing
Peter and Debra, two lovely new friends kindly donated a small compact lightweight laptop for travel
We have received donations and have new sponsors
Graeme has kindly continued to help manage CEF
Anna has endlessly raised funds for CEF
LTC has been very supportive
Sandy shared ideas from her vast experience of 20 plus years of NGO work
Help was raised for some emergency relief

Tet 2010
I see how blessed we have been with loving care from many good souls and feel in awe at the wonder of how everything works out when we dream, focus, work on it all and trust. This year I would love to see us have further support for the girls we are supporting to receive an education.

Goals for this year:
Continued helping for the girls to receive an education
Create more systems and structures
Receive donations
Find new sponsors
A fund for emergency help for the children and families we help
Funds to continue to give Duyen a small salary to continue working for CEF in Vietnam
Funds to contribute towards an income for me to continue working full time on CEF

We will happily welcome volunteers in both the USA And Australia who can assist with:
Fund raising
Creating a fund raising team
Managing a fund raising team
Creating a new website
Creating a new business card and promotional leaflet
Book keeping
Assisting with CEF office work in the USA and Australia

My love and thanks to all who have shared in and continue to share in CEF's dreams, hopes and aspirations to provide the support needed for Vietnamese girls to receive an education, so they may have a better future with more choices as we do.

Linda