Child sponsorship update from Da Nang, Vietnam

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village, Vietnam from Summer 2008

Dear Friends,

First of all, we would like to send you the most friendly greeting from SOS Children’s Village Da Nang. The time has indeed flied quickly and the academic year 2007-2008 is over. Another excited summer is coming with sudden showers in the city and sweet laughter of the children in every corner of the village. I would like to take this opportunity to keep you informed of the most recent changes and development of the village.

A cosy home for many children
As you know, the first groups of children has now been faraway for further education in universities, colleges and vocational schools. In order to fill the empty places in the family houses, we always try to receive more new children. Five little boys and girls were admitted to the village in the first months of the year. At the first days coming to the village, they looked sickly and fearfully. Thanks to the tender care and love of the mothers, the affection from the children in the families, these newcomers had quickly integrated into the village community. Their health is getting better and better, and their laughter can be heard after the days of sorrow. At present, the village has been a cosy home for 140 children living in sixteen family houses, 17 adolescents in the Youth house and other 85 elder girls and boys outside for studying at professional schools, and going to work but still in the semi-independent programme.

Academic performance
The academic year 2007-2008 has just been ended. Our 141 school children have completed the school year with the good achievements. All of them have passed their tests and were transferred to the next level. 60% of them attained good and excellent results in studying and awarded by the school authority. Besides, some children received SOS scholarship, Odon Vallet scholarship or many various kinds of scholarship from supporters. However, there are still children who have problems in studying or even bad conduct. The reason is that they have inertia and bad attitude in studying, so the mothers and the village staff must try to help them much in this summer.

Many boys and girls of the village has grown up, completed their general school, lived far away the village for their professional education. At present, we have got.34 youngsters studying at various Universities, Technical Colleges and Professional schools. All of them are living outside the SOS village, but still counting with the support and supervision of the village. Living far from home, they have faced to a lot of difficulties. However, our children can overcome every obstacles and study well with their great efforts. Every summer, they often come back the SOS family to take summer holidays and help the smaller children a lot in many activities. This year, our 7 children more will take part in the graduation examination of high senior school, and then the university entrance examination.

Child integration into the society

Helping the children to receive good education and to be able to live independently in the future is our final goal. Vocational training always play the very important role in our educational task. Firstly, the educators are in charge of talking to teenagers to find out their wishes and thoughts on which they want to become. We have gradually given them some skills to be able to look for the most essential information regarding professions which might fit their interests and match the demand of the society. At last, we have instructed them to choose the right school. Therefore, most of our children has already got stable occupations after completing their semi-independent programme.

More and more grown-ups of our village have started their own family and had their own children. Most of them have good jobs and stable life. No matter how busy they are with their studying, their work, their own life, they still spend time to come back to the village that they always consider as their own families. At that time, they can see their mothers and siblings. They can share with the mothers in their present life‘s happiness and sorrowfulness, which are the valuable lessons for the younger brothers and sisters. Up to now, there has been 14 eldest boys and girls got married and had stable life, among many grow-ups of the full-independent programme.

Festivals and Activities in Vietnam

At the end of December of 2007, a historical event has marked the development of SOS Children Vietnam, it’s the 20th anniversary celebration. On this occasion, we successfully held the Second Football Championship for SOS Children Vietnam. Twelve teams from 12 SOS villages around the country gathered in the capital to join the exciting football tournament. All the matches were displayed in the spirit of sportsmanship and friendship. We were so happy when our village football team won the second prize.

The Lunar New Year festival, locally called 'Tet'. is always an occasion for family reunion. So most of the children studying and working outside the village often return and gather round their mothers in their own family houses. For our children, they are always eager to look forward to Tet. This year, Tet fell on 7 February. Here, the mothers and children had a busy but happy week to decorate houses, prepare special food for this traditional festival. All the children were happy to stand contemplating themselves in new clothes in front of the mirror. They seemed to be eager for welcoming a new coming peaceful year. Also on Tet holiday, a small fair was organised right in the village yard with many traditional games. Looking at the joy on faces of the children welcoming Tet holiday in warmth of motherhood and brotherhood, we feel the happiness of the children and understand thoroughly the significance and value of the kindness of everybody for children.

We have tried to organise all-sided activities to aim at giving the children the full mental and physical development. These activities have brought about positive influence on training patience and diligence, helping children’s potentials to develop their career orientation. The children make it a point to attend such classes as drawing, tailoring, making artificial flowers and welding, carpentry and electrical techniques. They also participate in the activities of aptitude clubs and classes such as singing and dancing, martial art, sport. They do the gardening with their mothers and aunts, and are involved in many other events held by the village. In addition, they have made visits to historical places and landscapes on International Children Day. The ethical education has been seriously taken. It has been linked indoor and outdoor activities as well as other social activities such as courses on laws, communication skills, etc.

Community support based care programme

As you might know, the programme of supporting community children has already started since 2006. During the two years of 2006 and 2007, 100 children have been provided with financial support which enables them to continue schooling. It has prevented children from dropping out of school because of poverty and death of their parents. Most of the children enjoyed the programme have worked very hard at school and made much progress. After the programme has been materialised, its impact and effectiveness to local community has been highly appreciated by SOS Kinderdorf International. Therefore, it has already been implemented at the beginning of 2008. There has been a number of 250 community children receiving support in the foster care programme up to now.

Case study: The never-to-be-forgotten day
Thu could not imagine that how long the SOS Children’s Village held me. Everything was very strange to her, especially schooling. Her top mark was 5 in Mathematics (on the 10-mark scale). Her results in Vietnamese and reading were more humiliating. What she wrote, read and spoke sent the whole class rocking with laughter. They called her: “human being outside world, an alien”. Letters with and without accents, so confusing, seemed to be always dancing before her : “Jumbo elephant / Con voi khổng lồ”, but it came out wrong from her “Holeless elephant / Con voi không lỗ ”, “I want to sleep / Tôi muốn ngủ”, she went wrong “I want to be stupid /Tôi muốn ngu” … Oh, night after night she had to struggle with each and every letter and accent, the next morning she shivered at the thought of going to school.

Yes, um, mother was strange to her, too on the first days at the SOS Children’s Village.

Well, what would become of her without mother ?
She went to the village office to take me home. She looked so young and somehow like my old teacher. She had eyes reminiscent of her sister’s, round and big. The moment she saw her, she felt simply attached to her by invisibly warm, kith and kin relation.

Thu stopped crying after some days. When she got up, she came to know that she no longer lived in the old house. The house she found herself in was new and beautiful, everything around her looked more even beautiful; the small and gently sloping village path looked invitingly lovely; she was free in the choice of what to eat and wear. SOS siblings looked very friendly. Especially, her mother was patient to her, and how the mother loved her!

A 4th grade student, but she could not read and write as fluently as her classmates. The Vietnamese language was her ‘foreign language’ because she was from an ethnic minority. Her mother had to learn Vietnamese and practise together with her. At that time, her mother had to spend a lot of time talking with her. She asked SOS siblings to talk with her, even to have “conversations” with her. She wrote many name tags such as “pot /lọ hoa”, “table /cái bàn”, “chair /cái ghế” and fixed them on things in the house to help Thu remember words and how to spell them. Her mother held many dialogues, forcing her to speak out and write down. Climbing up to the top of the mountain in her country home town might not have been more challenging.

However, “many a mickle makes a muckle” - as a result of her progress, she was commended by her teacher before the class after only one semester as the tortoise in the story “the Race and Tortoise” told by her mother at bedtime during her first days at the SOS Children’s Village.

The more the letters she got, the more she loved her mother. When getting home from school, the first person she wanted to meet was the mother; soon after getting up in the morning, she had to find where her mother was and what her mother was doing, then Thu did everything. Mum! How she loves her mother. She wished she was only 1 year old to sleep with her mother every night.

Tomorrow is her mother’s birthday. That Sunday night she knew she made a mistake when she went sleep late. She looked over the window and the moonlight seemed to be weak tonight, and her poem was funny but her affection for her mum was the brightest.

The next morning, Monday morning as usual was the beginning of the new week. The difference, if any, was that it was her mother’s birthday. That reading lesson was very interesting, everybody gave comments. She listened to what her classmates read and looked at the blackboard in front. After the lesson, she was bold enough to ask her teacher to read her poem. She trembled all over with both excitement and fear, but she was encouraged by teacher and classmates. Perhaps, her face went pale and she was virtually overwhelmed by tension and emotion. Everyone looked at her, perhaps, her classmates understood that it was the rhythms of the heart and happiness. The full mark 10 awarded by my teacher was rare and precious for her. She would bring it home to present her mum and she knew what her mum thought when reading this poem.

All the information referred above is a summary of main activities and news of the SOS Children’s Villages Da Nang during the first half of 2008. Owing to your encouragement and your support, we can gain such success. On behalf of all children, mothers, aunties and all co-workers of SOS Children, I would like to send you our sincere thanks for your precious contribution for the last years. Thinking of you with the deep gratefulness, we hope to have you in our worldwide SOS family in many coming years. Wishing you and your family a nice summer with much joy and health.

Best regards,

Huỳnh Bá Trúc
Director
SOS Children’s Village Da Nang