New staff member ~ Ngoc Huynh

Ngoc Huynh is from Ho Chi Minh City, but loves Hoi An and wanted to move here to live and work. She has wanted to do charity work for some time and when at university studying English she came to Hoi An to do her work experience here. 

We are thrilled to have her working with us at CEF. 

Thoughtful sponsors

We are blessed to have many thoughtful sponsors who show care for the students they sponsor in different ways.

Some write to their sponsor child in response to the students letters to them. The sponsor of this student who is a very good photographer, took this lovely photo of her, had it printed and framed it for her as a gift. Such a thoughtful gift that thrilled her.

The students all appreciate the extra care and thoughtfulness that their sponsors show. 

My apologies for the delay in communicating and getting information out to you

Hello dear supporters, donors, sponsors, partner organizations, friends and readers,

Due to unexpected travel due to my mother being unwell over the last year and now due to her death, I am behind with some work which includes getting updates to you, newsletters out and staying in touch with you as much as I would like.

I will do all this as soon as I can and ask for further patience.

Thank you so much,
Linda

(Founding Director and In-Country Manager - Vietnam)

CEF has several ways for you to be able to follow us ~ a website, blog, Instagram and Facebook

People like different ways to follow NGO's with some just looking at the website, while others are on every form of social media.

We are trying to make it possible for everyone to follow us, our children and our activities. The following are CEF links:

Website: www.cef-vietnam-usa.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/childrenseducationfoundation
and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cef_vietnam

And if you have any unanswered questions please get in touch: cef.vn.usa@gmail.com

CEF sponsor Manus met up with some of the girls he sponsors

I am pleased that it worked for Manus, one of our wonderful CEF sponsors to meet up with six of the girls he sponsors. 

They had a wonderful time together. For our sponsored children to meet up with their sponsors is very special. It means they can put a face to the person who cares about them, who pays for their education and the person that they write to twice a year. 

Manus took photos of some of the students he sponsors as a present for them

Free dental care for CEF students

Thanks to both East meets West Dental and Go Philanthropic some of the CEF students had dental care with no costs involved. East Meets West provides free dental care for CEF students each summer. Their teeth are examined and treated and they learn about dental hygiene and receive free toothpaste and a toothbrush. 

Go Philanthropic provides CEF with our Healthy Kids Fund which provides us with funds to take care of our students health and that enables us to provide transport for the students to get to the dentists and home to receive dental care. 

When Vietnamese are poor they do not go to the dentist for check ups and only go after they have suffered dental pain for some time, or if the child has missed more than a day or two of schooling.

We hope that over the years there will be less and less of our CEF students in need of dental care and that they will take more care of their teeth.   

A few photos by Australian photographer John Cushion from when he did home visits with CEF

Annual June trip to Phuoc Son district ~ Guest blog By Graeme Burn, CEF's Manager in Australia

Every June we spend a couple of days in one of the westernmost districts of Quang Nam where the girls in CEF’s scholarship program live. For several years we have had a close relationship with a high school in that district about 20 kilometres from the border with Laos. About a quarter of the students in the school are from an ethic minority called the Gie Trieng and it is mostly these girls, in years 11 and 12, that CEF has been supporting for the past three years. They receive government help but this is never enough for all their education costs so many go without some essentials and some work to earn the extra they need.  The scholarship CEF gives to these girls aims to fill that gap and to provide some financial relief so that they can give more time to their studies and less to working after school. We recognise, too, the duty they feel to their families, so we give permission for some of the scholarship to be used in family emergencies. 

As a result of our last visit in early June we have made changes to this scholarship program. These changes were prompted by our improving understanding of what Gie Trieng people value most and more clarity around the assumptions we make about what would benefit the young women in the scholarship program. 

An example of this relates to extra tuition classes. These are commonplace in Vietnamese schools and in these classes students are able to learn more of the curriculum they will be tested on. Non- attendance at extra classes can disadvantage a student who may end up with lower marks. The Gie Trieng girls were not attending these extra classes because they felt uncomfortable going to them alongside Vietnamese girls. When we learnt this we decided to experiment by offering extra classes for Gie Trieng girls only in year 11 and consultation with the school headmaster and teachers, confirmed that this could be a good way to help them improve their results and do better in grade 12.  So for the 2018/19 school year all grade 11 Gie Trieng young women will be attend extra classes in maths, literature and English. 

Letter to her sponsor ~ Translated by CEF's Ms Thuy Tran

...Last time Linda visited she brought me and my sister your letters and your photos. It was the first time I received a letter from you and I was very happy. I now know something about my sponsor and how much you care about us as well. Your sister and you look very beautiful. And I think your city, Dubai, looks like a wonderful city to live in.

Today, I would like to write about the person who I love the most in this world, my mother. Thanks to her, I am alive and have this life and have become the person I am now. Since I was born, my mother has been the person looking after and taking care of me. She gives me her great love, forgives my mistakes and teaches me the difference between right and wrong. She works very hard to support me and my sister. Because of her, I study harder to have a better future and to make life easier for her

And I am very lucky to receive help from CEF, Linda and you. I will do my best in my studies to make you all happy. I wish you, Linda and CEF always have good health, happiness and success....