Humanitarian Services for Children of Vietnam's Notes
Ms. Vu Tra Giang - 33 years old
Giang is an accountant for a private company. She is smart and able. Also, she is probably one of the most unlucky people in Vietnam.
On March 23, 2009 on the way to work in Giai Phong Street, near Linh Dam residential area, Giang was caught in a horrible accident: a container truck hit her, ran over her body and crushed her two legs. The doctor could save her life, but not her two legs. They must be removed. It was a difficult truth to accept but her family was always with her to help her overcome the pain.
This woman has an unhappy personal life. She and her husband were separated. They have a daughter, who is now living with her grandparents, the husband's parents. Giang has to stay with her father and a younger sister. After the accident, their lives became more difficult. Her legs have been under operation five times to make it not be necrosis. The cost for these operations is about 150,000,000 VND (USD 8,500) much more than the family can possibly afford. However, the driver of the truck paid some for her treatment. Giang always hopes that one day she would have two artificial legs or a wheelchair to reduce the burden for her family in taking care of her.
When Giang heard that she was one of the people to receive a wheelchair, she was extremely happy. Coming to the ceremony very early, she felt very nervous: it was just like a dream! Giang told us with joys, “I really want to give many thanks to the charitable organizations for their help”. With this wheelchair, from now on, Ms Giang can move around on her own. Life has just become a bit easier.
For only $500 you can sponsor HSCV's distribution of a container of 550 wheelchairs. This is less than $1 per wheelchair. HSCV receives our wheelchairs from Free Wheelchair Mission. They cover all expenses until the container reaches Vietnam. At that point HSCV works with a local partner to distribute the chairs. $500 will allow us to oversee the distribution of one container.
Follow this link to donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi
Blogged by Ngo Thuy Hanh
February 14th, 2010 marks the start of the year of the Tiger on the Lunar Calendar. Known as Tet in Vietnam, it means the first morning of the first day of the new year. This is the most important time of the year for families in Vietnam. It a time for celebration, making amends, paying off debts and starting fresh. Families in the cities make a pilgrimage to visit their families in their home land and to pay respects to their ancestors.
You can help make this time of year special for our families. It is our goal to raise enough money to give at least one gift to each of the 170 families in our Rice Distribution Program.
If you are currently sponsoring a family you can donate a gift package directly to your family
We are offering 4 gift packages at $25, $35, $45 and $55 usd. A portion of these donations will go towards our General Tet Gift Fund.
If you are not sponsoring a specific family you can donate to our General Tet Gift Fund.
For more information on how to donate please visit us at http://www.hscv.org/tet%20
Chuc Mung Nam Moi!
Happy New Year from the HSCV team!
A recap of their activities is as follows:
December 9th: Project Happy Feet went shopping with HSCV to purchase the goods to be donated. That was an exciting day at the Dong Xuan market. They purchased a photocopy machine, study aids, blankets, clothing and shoes. 
December 10th: HSCV escorted them to the Bac Phu Primary School in Soc Son District, about 70km from Ha Noi. The copy machine was donated to the school and the study aids to the children. The school held a warm presentation ceremony to acknowledge the receipt of the gifts. All the teachers, students and Project Happy Feet volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony. The school advised that they will no longer have to travel an hour away to have copies made.
Upon returning from the school the Project Happy Feet team visited the Bo De orphanage for abandoned children. This orphanage cares for 80 children who are housed in seven bedrooms. The children range in age from newborn to eighteen. Thirty cans of baby formula were donated along with 80 sets of personal hygiene products.
December 11th and 12th: The team traveled to Vinh Quynh Commune which is contiguous to Ha Noi. There they painted two houses. The families were very excited about the renovations and the special gifts Project Happy Feet donated after completing the painting. The gifts consisted of tables, chairs, dishes and rice cookers...
The team then traveled to Ha Cau orphanage, about 12 km from Ha Noi. This orphanage cares for about 55 abandoned children. Here Project Happy Feet donated jackets, shoes and blankets.
HSCV is thrilled with the assistance Project Happy Feet provided to the needy during their four days in Vietnam. This is a remarkable organization and the fourteen volunteers were wonderful. HSCV could not be more pleased to have been able to participate in their remarkably valuable venture.
Blogged by Chau Nguyen - HSCV team member
commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. Since young, he has been abandoned by his father who abandoned his family. Fatherly love to him is something that is completely foreign. Today, he is living with his mother and a sister. His mother has to work very hard every day from 4 am to 8pm at a plastic to support the family. However, her meagre salary is barely enough to buy food for their daily meals. Thanks to the support given by HSCV and the provision of rice and scholarship, Tu’s family is able to have sufficient rice for meals and Tu is able to continue going to school. Tu may not be a high flyer who can produce excellent results in class but he has been trying his best work hard in school. He enjoys going to school and mixing around with his classmates. He would like to study all the subjects in school but his mother is unable to pay for his school fees. A filial child, Tu understands that his mother has to work very hard and has decided to stop schooling after Grade 10 so that he can try and find a job to ease the financial burden on his mother.
Today, Tu is taking a six-month training course in a material and wrapping company to become a printing worker. For Tu, leaving school may be closing a chapter of his life but it has also opened a new door with new opportunities. During the training period, he will try his best to study hard and acquire new skills that would help him in future. He hopes that he will be able to find a good job to earn money to lighten his mother’s burden. In this picture shows that Tu hard at work.
We hope that he would realize his dream to earn a good income for his family soon..
For more information please visit our website at:
http://www.hscv.org/schola
Blogged by Luong Thuy Quynh
HSCV has cooperated with the Studio 25 about teaching modern art for free for our poor children. We have just warm up this program at an Orphanage Center named Ha Cau Orphanage Center in Ha Dong District, Hanoi City.
Every Sunday afternoons, there are three artists from the Studio 25 come to the Ha Cau Orphanage center to teach 55 children at this center with drawing pictures. The children are really interested in this program. After each lesson, all children pictures are showed up at the front yard and there will be a discussion between the teachers and the children to select which one is the best, second, third ...
They sit down with the artists every 3 hours on every Sunday afternoon to learn and draw pictures. They draw whatever they want and their pictures are very beautiful and impressed. This program will last for four months and after that we will move to other center or school to teach other children.
We do hope that there will be many people would love to buy the pictures of the children to help us with having some funds to purchase the serious needs of the children at this center such as food, soap, personal hygiene items, clothing, shoes and blankets...
Blogged by Chau Nguyen
The post high school sponsorships work a bit differently than those for the younger students. Rather than locating sponsors for each specific student we requested donations to be applied to the entire class. Last year sufficient donations were received to accomplish this goal. However, this has not been the case for the 2009-2010 class. Only four donors have come forward. In that HSCV had all but assured the 13 students for this year that scholarships would be provided we are funding them all. If we do not do this the heart break for the students and their families would have been overwhelming. But to secure the needed additional funding it has been necessary for HSCV to take funds from other programs. This is, of course, is only a stop gap solution to this problem. HSCV is therefore seeking additional direct support for the Post High School Scholarship program to assure other programs will not be affected negatively.
Upon graduation these young adults will become tour guides, cooks, accountants, teachers, nurses and electricians. All of these children come from impoverished backgrounds. Without this advanced education they, and their families, would almost certainly be condemned to a life of poverty. It may very well mean that these high achieving young adults may spend the rest of their lives toiling in the rice fields If that happens a lifetime of living in poverty is assured. Please help if you can. This is a very worthy cause.
Now, we would like to present the HSCV Post High School Class of 2009-2010.
Nguyễn Đăng Thiêm will be taking a course in Information Technology (IT) at the Hanoi Training Jobs College. This is a two year course.
Thiem comes from a very poor family in Vinh Quynh Commune, Thanh Tri District. His father is mentally deficient and requires frequent trips to the hospital. His mother work’s very hard to support the family. Thiem and his sixteen years old brother named Nguyen Dang Kien who is at grade 10 are excellent students, working diligently on their school studies as well as assisting their mother when they can. His primary goal is to get a job so he can assist his family and make their lives a bit easier.
Nguyễn Thị Hòa will be taking a cooking training course at the Hoa Sua Vocational
School. This will be a three year course. She is now 18 years old.
She lives with her 70 year old grandfather and her two sisters in a dilapidated house. Her parents abandoned the children after divorcing. Her grandfather still works to support the family. Her
elder sister named Nguyen Thi Thom is 19 years old and studying in Hanoi Economic College. Her sixteen year old sister named Nguyen Thi Thuy is studying at grade 8. HSCV has been providing rice for this family for five years and proving scholarships for the girls during this time.
Trần Tuyết Mai is 18 years old will be training to become a kindergarten teacher.
She will be attending the Kindergarten Teachers Training Vocational School for two years.
Mai lives at home with her mother and her twenty two years old sister named Nhung. Nhung is a student in a Medical College. Their family situation is quite desperate. All of the family income comes from working in the rice fields and
selling vegetables. Oftentimes the available money cannot cover the family’s daily expenses. HSCV has been providing the family with a monthly supply of rice and paying for Mai’s tuition expenses.
Phan Xuân Tuấn is 19 years old will be taking a course at the Economic and Industrial College He hopes to become an accountant. 
Tuan lives with his mother in a very small house. His father abandoned the family many years ago. His mother works in the rice fields. Oftentimes there is insufficient money to even pay for food. Tuan’s wish is to earn enough money to ease the burdens his mother has been carrying for many years. This family is on the HSCV rice program and Tuan has been receiving scholarship funding.
Nguyễn Đức Cảnh is 19 years old will be attending The Hanoi Economic College for two years. Canh lives with his family in a rice growing area. His father died many years
ago and his mother labors in the rice fields to support the family. HSCV has been helping Canh’s family with rice and scholarship support for many years. Wit
hout this enhanced educational opportunity it is almost certain that Canh would be destined to spend his working life in the rice fields.
Phan Thị Tỉnh is 18 years old will be taking courses at the Hoa Sua Vocational School for 2 years. This school teaches students to become cooks.
She lives with her mother and four siblings. Their house is in very poor condition. Her second sister name Phương is 19 years old and is staying at home to help her mother
with farming work. Her third sister named Tĩnh is 16 years old and studying at grade 10 and under the scholarship sponsorship at HCSV. Her fourth sister named Phượng is 16 years old and studying in Thanh Tri Handicapped School. And her smallest broth
er named Vinh is studying at grade 2. Her father died many years
ago and her mother works in the rice fields to support the family. Oftentimes money is insufficient to provide enough food for the family. Tinh has great compassion for her mother and the hard life she lives. She hopes to get a good job as a cook in a restaurant to provide her mother some relief.
Phạm Văn Tùng is 18 years old will be attending the Information Technology (IT) in
Hanoi Training Jobs College. This is a two year
course.
Tung lives with his mother and two siblings in a small house. His father died many years ago and all the family’s burdens are on his
mother’s shoulders. She works in the rice fields to support the family. HSCV has been assisting this family with rice and scholarships since 2004.
Nguyễn Thị Duyên is 18 years old will attend the Hanoi Industrial University. She will be taking a two year course to become a bank accountant.
Duyen lives with her family in a poor mountain area. Her mother has a serious heart condition in addition to kidney and liver disease. She is very weak now. Her father works very hard to cover the 
family’s daily needs and to pay for her mothers medical expenses. Duyen and her two sisters study hard and take their education very seriously. Her elder sister named Quyen who is 20 years old is a student in a college and her younger sister named Hien is studying at grade 9. They get excellent grades. They also assist their family in the ri
ce fields and with the house work. They have very little free time. This family has been in the HSCV rice program for several years and the children are on scholarship.
Nguyễn Thành Lê is 19 years old and his goal is to become a mechanic. He
will be taking a two year course at the Phuong Nam Vocational Training School.
Le lives with his family in a small house which is in very poor condition. His family’s income comes from working in the rice fields. Available food is oftentimes insufficient to feed the family. His sister named Lan is assisting the parents with the farming work. Anh Le’s younger sister named Dung is studying at grade 1 and he is doing well at the school. Le’s ambition is to earn a good living giving him an opportunity to improve his family’s very difficult life.
Nguyen Thi Thu is 19 years old will be attending the Hanoi Technical and Econom
ic Vocational School. This is a three year course
which will lead to a degree as an accountant.
Thu’s mother abandoned the family many years ago. Her father died a
few months ago. Thu now lives with her stepmother and stepbrother in a small dilapidated house. The family’s situation is very difficult, as
is Thu’s, and she is regularly depressed. She hopes to find a good job so she does not end up spending her life working in the rice fields.
Nguyễn Xuân Tú is 15 years old will be attending the Mechanical and Electric College. His goal is to
become a mechanic and this three year course will lead to a degree in that field.
Tú lives with his mother and sister in a small house in a rural rice growing area. His
father abandoned the family many years ago and the mother has to work very hard to support the
family. His sister is
working as a nanny in a family in Hanoi City. Tú feels very sorry for his mother and he decided to quit school after completing the 10th grade to attend this vocational school. His desire is to earn money to provide some relief for his mother and make her life easier.
Trần Thị Thùy Linh is 15 years old will be learning to be a tailor.
She will be taking a training course at a large tailor ship near her house.
Linh lives with her parents and four siblings named Thắng, Hà, Công
Anh, Minh Ánh in a very small house in poor condition. All of them are at the school age and HSCV is sponsoring for all children at this family to help them with staying at the school. Both parents, and
other family members when possible, work in the rice fields. That labor is the sole source of the
family’s income. HSCV put this family in its rice program and all of the children receive scholarship support. Linh feels very sorry for her parents and has decided to drop out of school to assist
allow her to contribute to her family’s income. It is always sad when a child has to drop out of
school but in some situations, such as this one, other options are really not available. Linh thinks that not only will her income help support her family the skills she will learn working at the tailor shop will allow her to make clothes for her the family.
HSCV has a special commitment to help these young people. Hopefully our supporters will see the need here and open their hearts to them. They are wonderful individuals who make this world a better place. We are fortunate to have them with us.
We thank you for your interest in our work to assist the needy children in Vietnam.
http://www.hscv.org/schola
Blogged by Nguyen Thi Minh Chau
Vinh Tuy, HaNoi
The next story I am going to tell you is about Ms.Thu Huong who gave me a lesson in optimism and the love of Life. She was born in 1982. She had measles when she was one year old. Later, the family discovered that she contracted myasthenia which developed into polio after a few months. Her inability to walk stole her ability to go to school or to have childhood friends as she grew up. At home, she cannot move or walk, she has to depend on her beloved family members to help her with daily routine activities. Otherwise, she has to crawl on the floor to get anything thing done. Despite her disabled legs, she participates in sports activities at the Disability Association with her family’s help. In the past, she used to dream that she would have a wheelchair – so that she would not have to depend on others and she could m
anage things by herself.Her dream came true when the District staff arrived to instruct her family how to submit an application for a wheelchair. After a month, she received the good news that she would get a wheelchair! She says that the wheelchair helps her to deal with the difficulty of getting around, and gives her hope for a better life. She wants to express her sincere gratitude to all the donors and Charity Organization for this gift. She also hopes that more disabled people will be able to enjoy the same happiness as she does now with the gift of a wheelchair. She said she intends to open an Internet shop at home to earn money to share the financial burden with her parents. Moreover, she will try to participate in activities at the Disability Association and be a companion with other physically handicapped people. Besides her happiness of getting the “mobile leg”, she will get married next year! She proudly told me this good news. She smiles during the interview! This girl now feels that she has a blessed life.
After seeing her, I must admit she’s inspired me never to give up when I too am sometimes spiritually “paralyzed” by my own difficulties and challenges in this life!
For only $500 you can sponsor HSCV's distribution of a container of 550 wheelchairs. This is less than $1 per wheelchair. HSCV receives our wheelchairs from Free Wheelchair Mission. They cover all expenses until the container reaches Vietnam. At that point HSCV works with a local partner to distribute the chairs. $500 will allow us to oversee the distribution of one container.
Follow this link to donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi
Blogged by Ngo Thuy Hanh
A Walk/Run to raise funds to benefit our Sister School in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Sunday, September 27th at 2pm
Sherburne County National Wildlife Refuge
on the Blue Hill Trail
(Hwy. 169 north of Zimmerman, west on County Rd. 9- trail on the north side of road about 5 miles, watch for the Refuge signs )
The Blue Hill trail offers 3 loops which measure a total of 4.5 miles. Walkers can choose the loop that best fits their desired experience.
Registration
Pre-registered fee - $15.00 per person includes a t-shirt
Pre-Registered fee - $ 35.00 per family includes 2 t-shirts
Pre-registration ends September 20th
Race Day fee-$20.00 per person t-shirt not guaranteed
Race Day fee-$40.00 per family t-shirts not guaranteed
Check-in and Same Day Registration begins at 1 pm
For more information or to register: www.journeyhomeschool.com
This walk is sponsored by Journey Homeschool Co-op.
Thai Hoa Community – Trieu Son District – Thanh Hoa City
Today, Phung Van Thanh is brought by his dad and uncle to the people’s committee of Trieu Son district to receive a wheelchair provided through a cooperation between association NTT and TMC Thanh Hoa, association for the support of Vietnamese Handicapped and Orphans (ASVHO), Free Wheelchair Mission (FWM), Giving it back to kids ( GIBTK) and Humanitarian Services for Children of Vietnam (HSCV).
Mr. Phung Van Thanh is 20 years old but looking at him, I feel that he’s a lot older than his real age. His health condition has probably affected his appearance and his life tremendously. Thanh was born disabled. For the past 20 years in his life, he’s had to rely on his family in every way. Everything regarding food, hygiene and daily needs are taken care of by his father. His mother is old and her eyesight is slowly weakening and she can’t therefore help him as much as she would like to. Whenever there are sudden changes in the weather, his nervous system disease reappears, his muscle gets strained and he constantly screams because of pain. Even though his family has brought him to several hospitals to find a cure for his h
ealth condition, there were no progresses to be seen. In his current situation, he has medical expenses that costs around 60 000 VND every month. In this amount, tonics and medicine H5 for the nervous system is included.The family has long wanted to have a wheelchair so that Thanh can move around more easily. But because of the family’s poor financial situation and their farming job can barely feed 6 mouths, 3 of which is still in schooling, it was simply impossible to buy Thanh a wheelchair. Sometimes when they’re out of rice and out of money, the family had to borrow money to be able to put food on the table, so the wish of getting Thanh a wheelchair was very distant and long-reached until now with the help from these charitable organizations. Even though this wheelchair comes a bit late to Thanh but the family are extremely happy and blessed by the consideration that the charity organizations has for their son and other disabled people. The happiness is clearly shown on the face, the eyes and the smiles of Thanh’s father and uncle. His father is very happy when receiving the wheelchair for his son. He said: “Now my son can move around on his own and a lot easier than before. It will also be less difficult for me and my wife now. I don’t have to help him with every step that he takes anymore because this wheelchair will replace my job”.
Looking at the father and the son’s cheerfulness, I can’t help but feel happy too. Because of the sharing and contribution of the charitable organizations, it has brought them happiness and a sense of warmth.
For only $500 you can sponsor HSCV's distribution of a container of 550 wheelchairs. This is less than $1 per wheelchair. HSCV receives our wheelchairs from Free Wheelchair Mission. They cover all expenses until the container reaches Vietnam. At that point HSCV works with a local partner to distribute the chairs. $500 will allow us to oversee the distribution of one container.
Follow this link to donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi
Blogged by Ngo Thuy Hanh
For the first time in 2008, HSCV offered scholarships to a group of students so that they could continue their post-high school education. This is an important step in breaking the cycle of poverty. Without this opportunity for further education and formal training, it’s likely these children would be doomed to spend the rest of their lives just working in the rice fields.
This fall, (2009), HSCV welcomed students to our second Class of Success program. These students will now have the option of choosing from a number of courses at local colleges and vocational training centers.
Once accepted into our Class of Success program, HSCV will provide each student with a scholarship tailored to their needs. Each student will receive funding as needed for items such as: tuition, school supplies, housing, and for transportation costs.
Below is the story of one child from our recent Class of Success who will enter a College or Vocational school this fall:
Van Anh comes from a poor family in Quynh Do village, Vinh Quynh commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. There are only two people in this single-parent family: a daughter, Van Anh and her mother. They live in a very small house which is in bad condition. It is a Compassion Home that the family received from the local People’s Committee in 2006.
However, in order to receive this house from the Government, the family themselves had to contribute a small percentage toward the cost of building the house – which left them in debt. Until this year, the mother was able to pay for this debt with the help of her relatives.
With only the mother working, she and her daughter have to face many difficulties. The mother’s income is mostly based on harvesting rice crops. In addition, this single mother is now suffering from heart disease and she’s slowly losing her ability to work day-by-day. So, it is becoming more difficult to make ends meet, especially when Van Anh enters school in the fall.
Despite these poor circumstances, Van Anh has studied well at school from grade 1 up to grade 12. She loves all the subjects but her two favorite subjects are Literature and History. She just finished high school this past May (2009), and recently took the college entrance exams. Van Anh submitted applicat
ions to enter two different schools: the Kindergarten Teachers Training Vocational School and the Central Kindergarten Training Teacher College. Her wish is to become a kindergarten teacher! HSCV hopes that we can find the financial help to make Van Anh's dream to become a reality by receiving support for our Post-High School program.
Any help you can provide would be treasure not only to Van Anh, but to all of the other students in the program. If you are interested in sponsoring Van Anh or another student in this program, please contact the HSCV office in Hanoi or in the USA for more information.
To learn more, please visit our website at:
http://www.hscv.org/schola
Blogged by Do Thi Thuy Hong
