(Photos by Linh and Linda)
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Just photos from our Water Safety Day
It was fun taking photos of the children today as there were many great moments, with some captured here!
Linda
CEF's Water Safety Day was great fun!
What a fun day we all had at the beach with some of our Quang Nam children in CEF's education program!
(Quang Nam children, staff, some parents and volunteers &
our water safety teachers from SWIM VIETNAM)
(Water Safety theory for one of the groups: we had three groups.)
Our 'Water Safety Day' is an important annual event for the children. The majority of Vietnamese can't swim and unfortunately it results in 10 children drowning every day! *(*Viet Nam Ministry of Health statistics) UNICEF calls it a silent epidemic!
We played games on the beach, the main one everyone loved was tug of war.
The sack race was popular too.
When we started doing our Water Safety Day 4 years ago, only a couple of the CEF children knew how to swim. Some of our staff can swim and some can't. By the end of today I could see many of the children had become quite good at swimming and , two more staff had learned to float and could swim a little.
(Lunch was delicious thanks to all those who prepared it with care.)
And we finished the day by taking them to the local cinema to see a movie. It was a good day for all!
All these wonderful photos are by our local photographer Linh Tran.
Linh's email: happyfamily04701
A secondhand bike from CEF's 'Bikes for School' was given this afternoon
This afternoon we gave a good second hand bike to one of our students who has shot up. The bike we gave three years ago is far too small for her now. She was very pleased that it was in such good condition.
'Bikes for School' is one of CEF's support programs providing repaired or good second hand bikes so that the CEF children are able to get to school.
Donations can be made for bikes using PayPal or by depositing into CEF's bank account stating that the donation is for 'Bikes for School'.
Details are on both the website: www.ChildrensEducationFoundation.org.au
and the front page of the blogspot: http:ChildrensEducationFoundation-Vietnam.blogspot.com
'Bikes for School' is one of CEF's support programs providing repaired or good second hand bikes so that the CEF children are able to get to school.
Donations can be made for bikes using PayPal or by depositing into CEF's bank account stating that the donation is for 'Bikes for School'.
Details are on both the website: www.ChildrensEducationFoundation.org.au
and the front page of the blogspot: http:ChildrensEducationFoundation-Vietnam.blogspot.com
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Fundraising can be sweet
One of our wonderful board members has effortlessly been raising funds for CEF by selling chocolates. Many people have a sweet tooth and nearly everyone loves chocolate!
She says about the selling of chocolates: "Chocolate selling is really quite easy !! They literally sell themselves !!! I order 17 boxes (that is the minimum you can order) $1 chocolates, $2 chocolates and $2.50 block ones…ask friends to take a box …they set up the box in the office or take it to a meeting and people come along and buy them ! I make sure there is no competition in the area I leave them and they are in a position they can be seen… like on a counter or somewhere boring.. l like the photo copy area or somewhere people have to wait.
This has been wonderful support for CEF and for one particular girl! Funds raised from the chocolate-lovers have made it possible for one teenager to be educated for two years! We are thrilled this is possible as she is from a very poor family and she is a very hard-working student who deserves support to go to high school! Thank you Pam and the chocolate selling team and the chocolate lovers!
If you are interested in some sweet fundraising please do let me know :-) c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com
You can read above how effortlessly these funds have been raised that will help change this teenagers life!
She says about the selling of chocolates: "Chocolate selling is really quite easy !! They literally sell themselves !!! I order 17 boxes (that is the minimum you can order) $1 chocolates, $2 chocolates and $2.50 block ones…ask friends to take a box …they set up the box in the office or take it to a meeting and people come along and buy them ! I make sure there is no competition in the area I leave them and they are in a position they can be seen… like on a counter or somewhere boring.. l like the photo copy area or somewhere people have to wait.
My partner gets the girl on the front desk where he works to put them out during the day and they are locked up at night …she sells quite a few as does the girls in the front office at my work they just put them out with the money envelope and just keep an eye on them ! Everyone can afford them and they make people happy !!! I leave them with people I can trust …once I make the $540 to pay for the chocolates ( I pay them straight away I get 28 days from the date of delivery) and the rest is profit J about $480 per order and I have just placed my third order.....I actually do very little except deliver the chocolates and collect the money"
If you are interested in some sweet fundraising please do let me know :-) c.e.f.vietnam@gmail.com
You can read above how effortlessly these funds have been raised that will help change this teenagers life!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Guest blog by Brian - Burdened before her time
The ability to enjoy a happy, carefree childhood is
something that the majority of us in the 'lucky countries' experience as a
matter of course. Yet so often a
disproportionate number of young children in the developing world are deprived
of that opportunity.
A year 7 student I met is an example. The loss of her mother
several years ago left her poorly educated, low-skilled father struggling to
support her and her now 5 year old brother, who suffers with behavioral problems and some hearing loss.
She is desperately trying
to balance her desire to get a good education with her increasingly difficult
role as the 'woman of the house', while her dad displays signs of
buckling under the strain. The prospect
of both children being institutionalized is a possibility on and off according to how he is coping.
The CEF team are doing all they can to support her and keep her dreams alive. We hope that while caring for the family she can
still achieve her own personal goals and hopefully find a little time to enjoy
her youth.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Home visits to our CEF children and their families
I love home visit days; I greatly look forward to seeing the children and their families, as we have many absolutely delightful children and some sweet sweet parents and grandparents.
These days also are important to see them to hear about changes in their lives; to hear the good and to hear the sad or unfortunate news too. We also need to see if they need less or more educational support.
I think about them for a few days before the visits and make notes, write down questions I have for the child and family, and list anything we need to follow up on. I also think about the child and if they need some more stationery or clothing and then look around to see what I have in the office that we can give them as we receive clothes, toys and school supplies from friends and organizations we partner with.
But there is always a feeling of the unknown; what will we discover, what will have changed, what good news or bad news will they have. Sometimes it is not a feeling of joy I have, but one of heaviness and sadness when I think of some of the children and their dying grandparents or parents.
Sometimes I feel helpless. Our work is 'educational'; we are doing what we can to ensure the children who are in our sponsorship program complete their education with the educational support to make that possible. Sometimes it means we need to provide a bike to get to school, or food and supplements so they are less emaciated and malnourished, or send them to the doctor to find out what is the cause of them feeling ill and missing so much schooling. Sometimes we can't help in the way they would love as sometimes what they want in not educational and does not come under the category of supporting education; it is not in our 'line of work'. Quite a few should have had surgery years ago and now it is too late, some need land and a house, some need a stable and strong house before the next rainy-storm season, and some need a good job to be able to support their families. But we can't give them life-saving surgery when they are on their deathbed, we can't buy them land and a house, or build them a house, or get them work in their district when there is no suitable work.
Fortunately in some cases, the local government has been able to provide land sometimes, or funds towards building, which has been a huge joy for the families and a relief for CEF. Sometimes the wait is long for the families as there are many poor people but the local government does help with land and housing when families are eligible and if they can help. They help the single parents before they help the families with two parents which is wonderful, but also some couples need help urgently as they can't earn much due to illness, disability, caring for a disabled family member, or due lack of work opportunities or a combination of these challenges.
We can't do everything and when we see them suffering we wish we could do everything to relieve their suffering and some days at the end of the home visits we feel sad. They know we care, they know we do what we can and although we know we have helped them a lot, have helped change their lives, and have helped their daughters to have better futures than their mothers; we still feel sad at the end of some home visit days.
These days also are important to see them to hear about changes in their lives; to hear the good and to hear the sad or unfortunate news too. We also need to see if they need less or more educational support.
I think about them for a few days before the visits and make notes, write down questions I have for the child and family, and list anything we need to follow up on. I also think about the child and if they need some more stationery or clothing and then look around to see what I have in the office that we can give them as we receive clothes, toys and school supplies from friends and organizations we partner with.
High quality raincoats and t-shirts donated by a partner organization
But there is always a feeling of the unknown; what will we discover, what will have changed, what good news or bad news will they have. Sometimes it is not a feeling of joy I have, but one of heaviness and sadness when I think of some of the children and their dying grandparents or parents.
Sometimes I feel helpless. Our work is 'educational'; we are doing what we can to ensure the children who are in our sponsorship program complete their education with the educational support to make that possible. Sometimes it means we need to provide a bike to get to school, or food and supplements so they are less emaciated and malnourished, or send them to the doctor to find out what is the cause of them feeling ill and missing so much schooling. Sometimes we can't help in the way they would love as sometimes what they want in not educational and does not come under the category of supporting education; it is not in our 'line of work'. Quite a few should have had surgery years ago and now it is too late, some need land and a house, some need a stable and strong house before the next rainy-storm season, and some need a good job to be able to support their families. But we can't give them life-saving surgery when they are on their deathbed, we can't buy them land and a house, or build them a house, or get them work in their district when there is no suitable work.
Fortunately in some cases, the local government has been able to provide land sometimes, or funds towards building, which has been a huge joy for the families and a relief for CEF. Sometimes the wait is long for the families as there are many poor people but the local government does help with land and housing when families are eligible and if they can help. They help the single parents before they help the families with two parents which is wonderful, but also some couples need help urgently as they can't earn much due to illness, disability, caring for a disabled family member, or due lack of work opportunities or a combination of these challenges.
One of the families old homes and their new home being built and mainly funded by the local government
One of the old home and new home being built, mainly funded by the local government
It's International Children's Day today
Some of our lucky CEF children. They are amongst the world's lucky children; they are in school due to kind and generous sponsors
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