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Children face hunger as Vietnam braces for second storm
SOS Children in Vietnam
Vietnam, a former French colony, achieved independence in 1954 and was split into North (communist) and South (US-backed) Vietnam. From 1964 to 1976 Vietnam experienced the longest and bloodiest war since World War II which left one million dead and two million injured, as well as six million refugees and over a million orphans. The outcome was that in 1976 Vietnam was reunified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Vietnam, a country of nearly 87 million people, has made significant economic progress since 2001 with the government implementing the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive export-driven industries. Still, deep poverty affects c. 15% of the country (those earning an average daily income of less than £1, compared with £46.60 in the UK), and the social transformation that has come from economic liberalisation has put tremendous pressure on families and children. Homelessness, drug use, sexual and economic exploitation, trafficking and violence are on the increase. Unicef estimates that more than 2.6 million Vietnamese children need special protection, including children living with disabilities, orphaned children and children living in poverty.
SOS Children's Villages provide children with a home, a family and a new mother in a purpose-built local Village, where they can stay until they are ready for independent life. The charity’s work in Vietnam began in 1967 when the first village was established near Ho-Chi-Minh City (formerly Saigon). Fifty pre-fabricated houses, made in Austria, provided a home for more than 500 orphans and war damaged children.
A second village was opened at Da Lat in 1974, but both were taken over by the new government in 1976. Then in 1990, after many years of negotiation with the government, they were returned to SOS Children's Villages.
The charity SOS Children currently cares for 1,952 children in Vietnam at its 12 Children's Villages throughout the country, and a further 272 youths at its 10 youth houses, where young adults go to prepare for independence.
In 2005 the charity started its SOS Family Strengthening Programmes (FSP) in the country, which help children at risk of abandonment to stay in the caring environment of their own biological family. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to help them to effectively protect and care for their children, in co-operation with local authorities and other service providers. The charity currently assists more than 690 people through these programmes in Vietnam.
In addition to the above, SOS Children run nursery, primary and secondary schools (open to children from the villages as well as the surrounding neighbourhoods), vocational training centres, social centres and medical centres. Through all of these facilities, along with its Children’s Villages and FSPs, the charity is currently reaching more than 15,000 Vietnamese.
SOS Children's Village Ben Tre is about 50 miles south of Ho Chi Minh City. The Village has 12 family houses (each house can take 10 children), a nursery school and a school for 1000 primary and secondary level pupils.
SOS Children's Village Ca Mau (Minh Hai) is on the Mekong delta in the province of Minh Hai in south Vietnam. The Village is in the centre of the town and has 14 family houses and a youth house, as well as a nursery, primary and secondary school for more than 1000 students.
SOS Children's Village Da Nang is the capital of Quang Nam province in central Vietnam. The 16 family houses are built in the traditional local style. In addition there is a nursery school and a primary and secondary school for more than 1000 students.
SOS Children's Village Da Lat is a residential area near to Ho Chi Minh City. The village has 14 family houses, a youth house, nursery, primary and secondary school and an SOS Medical Centre.
SOS Children's Village Dong Hoi is the capital of the central province, Quang Binh, near the border with Laos. The village, which opened in 2005, has 12 family houses and a nursery school for 180 children.
SOS Children's Village Hai Phong, on the Gulf of Tonkin, is about 80 miles east of Hanoi. It has 14 family houses and a youth house, a nursery school and a primary/secondary school for 1000 pupils.
SOS Children's Village Mai Dich (Hanoi), on the outskirts of the capital Hanoi has 16 family houses and a youth house, as well as a nursery school and a primary/secondary school for 700 students.
SOS Childrens Village Go Vap (Ho Chi Minh City), in a suburb of Ho Chin Minh City (formerly Saigon) has 20 family houses. The village also has a day care centre, a nursery school and a school for 1100 primary and secondary pupils.
SOS Children's Village Nha Trang is on the south coast and has 14 family houses, a nursery school and a 1000-capacity school for primary and secondary pupils.
SOS Children's Village Thanh Hoa is the provincial capital of Vietnam's second largest province and borders onto Laos. The village, which opened in 2005, has 14 family homes and a nursery for 180 children.
SOS Children's Village Viet Tri is in the capital of Vinh Phu province, about 45 miles north-west of Hanoi. The 15 family houses and youth house are home to over 160 children and young people, and there is a nursery school and school for 1000 primary and secondary pupils.
SOS Children's Village Vinh is in the north of Vietnam. The village, which is in the centre of the city close to a hospital and various schools, has 15 family houses, a nursery school , youth house and a primary/secondary school for 1200 pupils.
A 13th village of 14 houses is currently being built in Dien Bien Phu, west of Hanoi near the border with Laos.
A new leaf in my life An SOS youth from Viet Tri shares his memories:
I had my small happiness and family love stolen when my mother died from cancer. My grandmother took me in, but she was already leading a difficult life and eventually made the hard decision to send me to the SOS Children's Village in Viet Tri where she knew I would have a better life. My life in the SOS Children's Village was far different from my imagination. I have a mother, brothers and sisters. Calling someone else "mother" was difficult at first but my life was saved by a miracle: I have found a new mother. She loves me and the other siblings in our house very much. My life turned over a new leaf. I have been provided with a good education and good care, especially living in the great love of the village community.
In return, I have made all-out efforts in studying. Very late at night I studied, alone with my books. It seems my efforts have been rewarded considerably and I have recorded good achievements. I have obtained the title "Excellent Student" for many consecutive years at the municipal and provincial level (recently, I have won second prize in the History test of excellent students at provincial level). I passed the examination to enter the most prestigious senior secondary school in the province on second rank. I am now a twelfth grader and in the final year of high school. There is only a short time left for me to sit for the university entrance examination. I wish to make my dream of studying at university come true and in return, pay my debt of gratitude for the precious care to my mother and the village community. I hope to become a lawyer, a responsible citizen. However, wherever I live in the future, the time I have spent in SOS Children's Village Viet Tri is never-to-be-forgotten.
Local Contacts
SOS Children Vietnam
Alley 1, Pham Van Dong Street
Mai Dich, Cau Giay
Hanoi
Vietnam
Tel +84/4/3/7644019
Fax +84/4/3/7644 020
e-mail: office@sosvietnam.org
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