Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
.Q. Why do you concentrate on education for girls?
A. In rural Vietnam Taoist and Confucian philosophies stress the need for males to be well educated and if a family can afford to do this, then education for males is given priority. But because females in Vietnam assume the main responsibility for raising children and often provide a significant part of the family income it is important for girls from poor families to receive an education so that they can fulfill this role in the best way possible. A full education to the end of high school is crucial for young women. They are then better able to value and support the education of their children and to have greater choice in the work arena. An educated woman has greater choice and power to effect change in her culture.
Most children trafficked are from poor farming and fishing communities. A girl in school is less likely to be trafficked. Young women who have received a full education are unlikely to choose prostitution or lowly paid factory work as a way of supporting their family.
Q. How many of the CEF students are boys?
A. We assist boys who are orphaned or if they are in a very challenging situation to a maximum of 5% of the total number of students.
Q. Where in Vietnam do the children live that you have organized sponsorships for?
A. CEF has children in education projects in Quang Nam province and Da Nang City in central Vietnam. We had a project in Thai Binh province in the Red River delta in northern Vietnam until recently, and that program is complete now.
Q. How do you decide who to help?
A. We have a list of criteria the child and family have to meet. Some examples follow. We conduct a full assessment, and then their case is considered carefully before help is given.
The child has to be referred to us by another charity, by a nun, a priest or a neighbour of the child and has to provide a letter from a local government authority proving that they are poor. Children who are given priority are either orphans, come from single parent families or have a disabled or ill parent. They always come from a family who is struggling to make ends meet. They have to live in Quang Nam province or Da Nang City, these being the areas we have permission to work in.
Q. How much does CEF plan to grow?
A. We only plan on growing a little each academic year. We wish to stay small to maintain a close relationship with our children and families and provide them with the best support we can.
Q. How much do the poorest Vietnamese earn?
A. Their incomes vary dramatically. Some earn nothing, others use the food they grow to barter for what they need. Incomes vary from $15 to $400 a month. Higher incomes are from seasonally employment leaving families with little to no income for many months of the year.
Q. What is the income of the families you help?
A. We have grandparents looking after children who grow food and barter, we have some too old and weak with no home grown food or income. We have a single mother earning $15 a month selling betel nuts. We have others with seasonal incomes each year of up to $400 a month, for example planting trees in forests, cutting and loading trees and harvesting rice for other farmers.
Q. What other support does CEF give to school students?
A. Each child has a unique situation, so support varies from child to child. All students receive the support they need to ensure their main education costs are covered.
Some students receive:
A bike to get to school
Food support
Medical support
Reimbursement of travel costs to come and see us at our Hoi An office
A second-hand computer if this would be of benefit in their course work (year 12)
We may also give medical support to the child’s main care-giver
High school students receive mentoring
Q. What other support do you give to tertiary students?
A. All of our tertiary students receive mentoring support including help with budgeting.
Wherever a student’s financial resources are insufficient we also provide:
Food support
Accommodation support
Reimbursement of transport costs to come meet with us
Second hand computers
Academic materials
English lessons in the summer holidays
Online English conversation sessions
Fees for essential additional courses a student was not notified of before commencing studies
Special educational materials and books they may need in order to be able to pass exams
The tertiary students in Da Nang and Quang Nam also attend our workshops such as Budgeting, Life Skills and Girls to Women Workshops and other workshops we run
Q. What are you doing about human trafficking in Viet Nam as I hear it is a serious problem?
A. Our staff have received training on this subject. Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, who are an anti-trafficking NGO, teach the staff about the latest methods used by traffickers to traffic girls for sex and forced labour both domestically and internationally. We also include this topic in workshops for our high school and university students. Our staff run local sessions to bring to the attention of those who live in Quang Nam and Da Nang what trafficking is, how to recognize it and what to do about it.
Q. What training do you provide your staff?
A. Our staff fulfill many roles at CEF: do talks on Trafficking and Child Labor and Child Sexual Abuse, attend to all our partner, local, provincial and national NGO related paperwork, they visit children and their families and write up reports, have input into workshops we run for the girls in our programs, write reports in English and translate letters from children, which are sent to sponsors, talk to visitors about CEF and their roles and much more. To help them perform these many roles effectively we provide them with training. For example, they have attended sessions on human trafficking, child sexual abuse, paediatric first aid, HIV and AIDS. They also have weekly English classes which are practically relevant to their work requirements as well as exploring the most recent articles in the media which relate to their work, such as female health, human trafficking, forced labor, child development and mental health.
Q. How does CEF fund a child's education costs?
A. We find one sponsor for each child. The sponsor undertakes to pay an annual sponsorship fee which covers the child's core education costs, for example, compulsory school contributions (fees), insurance and compulsory extra tuition. We ask sponsors to commit to funding each child until they have completed their high school education.
Q. Do you have 501(c)(3) status?
A. We do have 501(c)(3) status. Please consult your accountant regarding the tax-deductible eligibility of your gift.
Q. I would like to sponsor a child and want to know if I will be paying the same cost each year for their whole education?
A. The sponsorships are not the same amount each year. Education costs go up as the child progresses from grade 1 to 12 and on to university. We also sometimes pay a food supplement on top of school costs for families who are struggling to feed their children sufficiently. Due to inflation we also increase costs every few years in accordance with inflation.
Q. I would like to know if I get an annual report on the child I sponsor?
A. Yes you will receive an annual report on the child you sponsor including their school results, a few photos of the child, and a letter or drawing (depending on the age of the child).
Q. Can I sponsor a child for just one year?
A. CEF makes a commitment to a child and her family that we will support her to complete her high school education. We ask sponsors to join us in this commitment. We have a scholarship program for girls from Phuoc Son district and scholarships are just for one year.
Q. I am interested in sponsoring a child and would like to know how much it costs per year.
A. The cost of our sponsorships varies according to which class a child is in. There are also extra costs in certain cases. For example, we provide a food supplement to families who are struggling to feed their children.
The costs for the school year 2019-2020 are:
$260 for classes 1-5
$320 for classes 6-9
$385 for classes 10-12
$120 - $150 for a food supplement per academic year
$500 - $1200 on average for each year of university depending on the student's circumstances (if there is no one in the family to help with any costs, then it could be as much as $1200 a year). Most university courses are four years.
Q. How many students has CEF got in the current school year?
A. CEF has 200 students at present.
Q. How many children does CEF have in college or university at present?
A. CEF has 38 tertiary students for the 2019-2020 academic year. This is very exciting to see many of our graduates become university students. Back in in 2016-2017 we only had 16 students in university.
7 university students in Ha Noi.
9 university students in Hue.
3 university students in Tam Ky.
16 university students in Da Nang.
1 in Hai Phong
2 university students in HCM city.
Q. Who manages CEF?
A. CEF's founding director, Linda Burn, is also CEF's In-Country Manager in Vietnam. The management in the USA is by Stephen Jackel. We also have a board of directors in the States. There are seven people on our board including myself; all bringing a variety of life and work experience to CEF.
Q. Where do CEF funds come from?
A. CEF is supported entirely by donations from individuals, NGOs and companies. CEF does not receive grants from any government or religious bodies.
Q. I would like to visit the child I will be sponsoring. Is this possible?
A. We do what we can to make it possible for donors and sponsors to meet the child they support. It is possible most of the time, but we do need to say it not always possible. We need plenty of notice to make sure that the child is available. Children are usually at school 6 - 6 1/2 days per week and most are free part or all of Sunday. Staff need to be available too. What frequently works is for the student to come to us at CEF with a family member on a Sunday.
We have students as little as 10 minutes away from our office, but many are considerably further away. We suggest that if you know you will be coming to Vietnam and wish to meet the child you sponsor you let us know when you make your request to sponsor a child. We then will organize for you to sponsor a child who is not too far away from our office.
Visiting children far from the office would involve you hiring a car and driver and taking one of our staff with you. Staff sometimes haven't got the required flexibility in their schedule to do this. In this situation sometimes it works for the child and a family member to come to us, if the sponsor or donor can fund their transport.
Q. Can I give a present to the child when I meet them? What is best to give?
A. The children love to receive gifts from their sponsors. We suggest inexpensive and useful presents, but what to give depends on the age of the child and their needs at the time. Examples are: school supplies, good quality school satchels or treats for personal use such as hair slides and hair ties. All the required school supplies can be bought locally. Art materials from overseas are a special gift for any of the children who love art and are good artists.
Q. Can I communicate directly with the child I will be sponsoring?
A. Communication with and from the child you are helping comes through CEF. If you'd like to write letters to the child we will translate them and deliver them to the child. We work this way to protect both the child and the sponsor.
Q. Can I visit the child whenever I want?
A. All meetings between sponsors and children are in the company of CEF staff and are organized so that the family has plenty of notice. Meetings take place when it is convenient for the child and their family and when the CEF staff member who is responsible for the child is available. Meetings are generally in working hours and not after sunset. We do whatever we can not to interrupt their daily lives and to leave their evenings free for home work, meals and family time. We also believe it feels safer for the children and families to have our visits during daylight.
Q. What is your wish list?
A. That's always a hard question to answer as we are a small NGO with many needs. It changes too. Some of the support appreciated at present follows:
-Sponsor students who would love to go to university but their sponsor can't afford the cost of university.
-Funds towards our University Education Fund as many sponsors can't afford the university costs for their sponsor child. We do not want to deny a student a university education if they are capable of it and have the drive to do well.
-Funds to buy one new laptop for staff as their old one is nearly dead.
-A new printer is needed as our old one can't be repaired further.
-Financial support of our Trafficking and Child Labor education program.
-Funding of our workshops such as Girls to Women ~ Female Health and Hygiene, Water Safety Day and Life Skills workshops, Child Abuse and Human Trafficking.
-Funding for a high quality promotional video about CEF.
-Fund a part time social worker.
-Pay the salary of one staff member.
If you wish to support a specific program please note that when you donate. Thank you so much.
This information was correct at the time of updating in October 2019.
A. In rural Vietnam Taoist and Confucian philosophies stress the need for males to be well educated and if a family can afford to do this, then education for males is given priority. But because females in Vietnam assume the main responsibility for raising children and often provide a significant part of the family income it is important for girls from poor families to receive an education so that they can fulfill this role in the best way possible. A full education to the end of high school is crucial for young women. They are then better able to value and support the education of their children and to have greater choice in the work arena. An educated woman has greater choice and power to effect change in her culture.
Most children trafficked are from poor farming and fishing communities. A girl in school is less likely to be trafficked. Young women who have received a full education are unlikely to choose prostitution or lowly paid factory work as a way of supporting their family.
Q. How many of the CEF students are boys?
A. We assist boys who are orphaned or if they are in a very challenging situation to a maximum of 5% of the total number of students.
Q. Where in Vietnam do the children live that you have organized sponsorships for?
A. CEF has children in education projects in Quang Nam province and Da Nang City in central Vietnam. We had a project in Thai Binh province in the Red River delta in northern Vietnam until recently, and that program is complete now.
Q. How do you decide who to help?
A. We have a list of criteria the child and family have to meet. Some examples follow. We conduct a full assessment, and then their case is considered carefully before help is given.
The child has to be referred to us by another charity, by a nun, a priest or a neighbour of the child and has to provide a letter from a local government authority proving that they are poor. Children who are given priority are either orphans, come from single parent families or have a disabled or ill parent. They always come from a family who is struggling to make ends meet. They have to live in Quang Nam province or Da Nang City, these being the areas we have permission to work in.
Q. How much does CEF plan to grow?
A. We only plan on growing a little each academic year. We wish to stay small to maintain a close relationship with our children and families and provide them with the best support we can.
Q. How much do the poorest Vietnamese earn?
A. Their incomes vary dramatically. Some earn nothing, others use the food they grow to barter for what they need. Incomes vary from $15 to $400 a month. Higher incomes are from seasonally employment leaving families with little to no income for many months of the year.
Q. What is the income of the families you help?
A. We have grandparents looking after children who grow food and barter, we have some too old and weak with no home grown food or income. We have a single mother earning $15 a month selling betel nuts. We have others with seasonal incomes each year of up to $400 a month, for example planting trees in forests, cutting and loading trees and harvesting rice for other farmers.
Q. What other support does CEF give to school students?
A. Each child has a unique situation, so support varies from child to child. All students receive the support they need to ensure their main education costs are covered.
Some students receive:
A bike to get to school
Food support
Medical support
Reimbursement of travel costs to come and see us at our Hoi An office
A second-hand computer if this would be of benefit in their course work (year 12)
We may also give medical support to the child’s main care-giver
High school students receive mentoring
Q. What other support do you give to tertiary students?
A. All of our tertiary students receive mentoring support including help with budgeting.
Wherever a student’s financial resources are insufficient we also provide:
Food support
Accommodation support
Reimbursement of transport costs to come meet with us
Second hand computers
Academic materials
English lessons in the summer holidays
Online English conversation sessions
Fees for essential additional courses a student was not notified of before commencing studies
Special educational materials and books they may need in order to be able to pass exams
The tertiary students in Da Nang and Quang Nam also attend our workshops such as Budgeting, Life Skills and Girls to Women Workshops and other workshops we run
Q. What are you doing about human trafficking in Viet Nam as I hear it is a serious problem?
A. Our staff have received training on this subject. Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, who are an anti-trafficking NGO, teach the staff about the latest methods used by traffickers to traffic girls for sex and forced labour both domestically and internationally. We also include this topic in workshops for our high school and university students. Our staff run local sessions to bring to the attention of those who live in Quang Nam and Da Nang what trafficking is, how to recognize it and what to do about it.
Q. What training do you provide your staff?
A. Our staff fulfill many roles at CEF: do talks on Trafficking and Child Labor and Child Sexual Abuse, attend to all our partner, local, provincial and national NGO related paperwork, they visit children and their families and write up reports, have input into workshops we run for the girls in our programs, write reports in English and translate letters from children, which are sent to sponsors, talk to visitors about CEF and their roles and much more. To help them perform these many roles effectively we provide them with training. For example, they have attended sessions on human trafficking, child sexual abuse, paediatric first aid, HIV and AIDS. They also have weekly English classes which are practically relevant to their work requirements as well as exploring the most recent articles in the media which relate to their work, such as female health, human trafficking, forced labor, child development and mental health.
Q. How does CEF fund a child's education costs?
A. We find one sponsor for each child. The sponsor undertakes to pay an annual sponsorship fee which covers the child's core education costs, for example, compulsory school contributions (fees), insurance and compulsory extra tuition. We ask sponsors to commit to funding each child until they have completed their high school education.
Q. Do you have 501(c)(3) status?
A. We do have 501(c)(3) status. Please consult your accountant regarding the tax-deductible eligibility of your gift.
Q. I would like to sponsor a child and want to know if I will be paying the same cost each year for their whole education?
A. The sponsorships are not the same amount each year. Education costs go up as the child progresses from grade 1 to 12 and on to university. We also sometimes pay a food supplement on top of school costs for families who are struggling to feed their children sufficiently. Due to inflation we also increase costs every few years in accordance with inflation.
Q. I would like to know if I get an annual report on the child I sponsor?
A. Yes you will receive an annual report on the child you sponsor including their school results, a few photos of the child, and a letter or drawing (depending on the age of the child).
Q. Can I sponsor a child for just one year?
A. CEF makes a commitment to a child and her family that we will support her to complete her high school education. We ask sponsors to join us in this commitment. We have a scholarship program for girls from Phuoc Son district and scholarships are just for one year.
Q. I am interested in sponsoring a child and would like to know how much it costs per year.
A. The cost of our sponsorships varies according to which class a child is in. There are also extra costs in certain cases. For example, we provide a food supplement to families who are struggling to feed their children.
The costs for the school year 2019-2020 are:
$260 for classes 1-5
$320 for classes 6-9
$385 for classes 10-12
$120 - $150 for a food supplement per academic year
$500 - $1200 on average for each year of university depending on the student's circumstances (if there is no one in the family to help with any costs, then it could be as much as $1200 a year). Most university courses are four years.
Q. How many students has CEF got in the current school year?
A. CEF has 200 students at present.
Q. How many children does CEF have in college or university at present?
A. CEF has 38 tertiary students for the 2019-2020 academic year. This is very exciting to see many of our graduates become university students. Back in in 2016-2017 we only had 16 students in university.
7 university students in Ha Noi.
9 university students in Hue.
3 university students in Tam Ky.
16 university students in Da Nang.
1 in Hai Phong
2 university students in HCM city.
Q. Who manages CEF?
A. CEF's founding director, Linda Burn, is also CEF's In-Country Manager in Vietnam. The management in the USA is by Stephen Jackel. We also have a board of directors in the States. There are seven people on our board including myself; all bringing a variety of life and work experience to CEF.
Q. Where do CEF funds come from?
A. CEF is supported entirely by donations from individuals, NGOs and companies. CEF does not receive grants from any government or religious bodies.
Q. I would like to visit the child I will be sponsoring. Is this possible?
A. We do what we can to make it possible for donors and sponsors to meet the child they support. It is possible most of the time, but we do need to say it not always possible. We need plenty of notice to make sure that the child is available. Children are usually at school 6 - 6 1/2 days per week and most are free part or all of Sunday. Staff need to be available too. What frequently works is for the student to come to us at CEF with a family member on a Sunday.
We have students as little as 10 minutes away from our office, but many are considerably further away. We suggest that if you know you will be coming to Vietnam and wish to meet the child you sponsor you let us know when you make your request to sponsor a child. We then will organize for you to sponsor a child who is not too far away from our office.
Visiting children far from the office would involve you hiring a car and driver and taking one of our staff with you. Staff sometimes haven't got the required flexibility in their schedule to do this. In this situation sometimes it works for the child and a family member to come to us, if the sponsor or donor can fund their transport.
Q. Can I give a present to the child when I meet them? What is best to give?
A. The children love to receive gifts from their sponsors. We suggest inexpensive and useful presents, but what to give depends on the age of the child and their needs at the time. Examples are: school supplies, good quality school satchels or treats for personal use such as hair slides and hair ties. All the required school supplies can be bought locally. Art materials from overseas are a special gift for any of the children who love art and are good artists.
Q. Can I communicate directly with the child I will be sponsoring?
A. Communication with and from the child you are helping comes through CEF. If you'd like to write letters to the child we will translate them and deliver them to the child. We work this way to protect both the child and the sponsor.
Q. Can I visit the child whenever I want?
A. All meetings between sponsors and children are in the company of CEF staff and are organized so that the family has plenty of notice. Meetings take place when it is convenient for the child and their family and when the CEF staff member who is responsible for the child is available. Meetings are generally in working hours and not after sunset. We do whatever we can not to interrupt their daily lives and to leave their evenings free for home work, meals and family time. We also believe it feels safer for the children and families to have our visits during daylight.
Q. What is your wish list?
A. That's always a hard question to answer as we are a small NGO with many needs. It changes too. Some of the support appreciated at present follows:
-Sponsor students who would love to go to university but their sponsor can't afford the cost of university.
-Funds towards our University Education Fund as many sponsors can't afford the university costs for their sponsor child. We do not want to deny a student a university education if they are capable of it and have the drive to do well.
-Funds to buy one new laptop for staff as their old one is nearly dead.
-A new printer is needed as our old one can't be repaired further.
-Financial support of our Trafficking and Child Labor education program.
-Funding of our workshops such as Girls to Women ~ Female Health and Hygiene, Water Safety Day and Life Skills workshops, Child Abuse and Human Trafficking.
-Funding for a high quality promotional video about CEF.
-Fund a part time social worker.
-Pay the salary of one staff member.
If you wish to support a specific program please note that when you donate. Thank you so much.
This information was correct at the time of updating in October 2019.
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