8th of December, 2021
Dear friends, members and supporters,
For many of us who have been fortunate enough to build a good and meaningful life for ourselves and to contribute to our society and communities, education has been the key to unlock our potential and our ticket out of poverty towards a better future. Speaking personally, as a recipient of an Australian scholarship, I am forever grateful for the opportunities it gave me, and I have been looking for a way to pay back that debt of gratitude, to give to poor children in Vietnam the same head start and the same opportunities to transform their lives and to become valuable members of their communities.
I am therefore delighted to announce the launch of Vietnam Foundation’s “Build A Future” program, in cooperation with the following charity partners in Vietnam, who are offering a wide range of scholarship and/or mentoring programs, each designed to suit the circumstances and needs of the children:
1. Chung Tay Vì Cộng Đồng (Volunteer Together As Community):
✓ Target recipients: Poor and deserving high school students in rural Vietnam.
✓ Pay for cost of school fees, books, school supplies and medical / accident insurance
✓ Mentoring of students through a local network of trained mentors, including annual summer camps to help the students build confidence and develop life skills.
https://wishare.com/organization/hoi-tinh-nguyen-chung-tay-vi-cong-dong/description
https://youtu.be/ETFmqA0GcGo
2. Quỹ Khát Vọng (Aspiration Fund):
✓ Target recipients: Orphans and children in destitute circumstances to enable them to start school or to continue their schooling.
✓ Pay for cost of school fees, books, school supplies and living expenses as required by individual children’s circumstances.
✓ Supporting of students to develop their mindset, life skills and resilience, including annual summer camps.
http://khatvong.edu.vn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4mocnWPtuA
3. Rotary Club of Saigon:
✓ Target recipients: Primary school age children without “hộ khẩu” (proof of residence), and marginalised and forgotten children in and around Saigon.
✓ Pay for cost of school fees, books, uniforms, school supplies and provide necessary financial support to enable these left-behind children to attend school and to escape from the homeless life of subsistence.
✓ Mentoring of students as needed and life-skills training.
[Website under construction]
Established in June 2021, Rotary Club of Saigon has delivered over 200 wheelchairs, Oxygen Concentrators to makeshift hospitals in Saigon and more recently Baby Incubators to hospitals in Cần Thơ, Saigon, Quảng Trị and Huế. Its president, Ms Kiều Vương, received a scholarship in primary school that has changed her life. She is now a successful lawyer and for the past 12 years has given back to the community through her own scholarship programs, initially working with the help of her former high school teachers in Quảng Trị Province, and more recently with the District 2 Women Association in HCMC to organise free classes and support for 40 abandoned and undocumented children from Year 1 to Year 12, who were unable to attend schools due to lack of home address and identity papers.
Vietnam Foundation’s exciting and life-changing “Build A Future” program will be coordinated by our newly formed and dedicated Education Committee, which is also developing a suite of life skills and soft skills training resources as a value-adding overlay to the existing mentoring programs of our local charity partners.
The annual cost of scholarship for each child is from $250 to cover school fees, books and school supplies, up to $750 to include living expenses depending on the personal circumstances of each child.
You have the opportunity to contribute to VNF “Build A Future” program and/or to sponsor one or more children of your nomination to take part in their life journey and to develop a more personal connection with them through the Program’s communication channel.
All our local partners including their mentors and volunteers working in the program will have to comply with local laws and regulations on Child Protection, as well as with VNF’s own Child Protection Policy and Guidelines.
To help us make a strong start on this worthwhile and life-transforming program, please donate generously to this appeal by one of the following methods:
Bank transfer: VNF Vietnam Relief Fund
CBA Bank: 062 334 11559666
(Please provide your full name and email address for receipt)
PayPal: Click on the link below for no-fee PayPal Giving Fund donations:
https://www.paypal.com/au/fundraiser/charity/3607411
On VNF Website: Click on https://vietnamfoundation.org.au/donation-bequest/ for donation by PayPal, Bank transfer or by Cheque.
All donations will be acknowledged and receipts issued for taxation purpose.
We would appreciate your suggestion and input via email at mail@vietnamfoundation.org.au
Thank you for joining us in this exciting new journey to transform the lives of children in Vietnam through the power of education and the opportunities it will unlock.
On this festive season, we wish you and your family a Safe Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Yours gratefully,
Lý Gia Nhẫn
President
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