Our Children
These are some of the lovely girls in our education program in Quang Nam. They have differing family circumstances, but all couldn't afford to continue their education without financial support due to the low income of those caring for them. A few are no longer in our program, but together they give a sense of the variety of children we take on, find sponsorships for, provide financial support for, as well as the extra education programs for them.
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Minh Hang
Hang who has been sponsored three years, has always had good school results. Besides working hard at school she volunteers with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union at school and in her community. She still doesn’t know exactly which career she wants but loves working to help her local community. Her mother buys vegetables, honey, and herbs from Tay Giang and sells them in Hoi An. Due to traveling a long distance to do this, she works there for three days and visits home one day and travels on the other days. Dad worked as a laborer and construction assistant. Unfortunately, he fell from the 2nd floor of a building and had serious multiple injuries (liver and kidney, neck, pulmonary contusion, mediastinal trauma, broken right-shoulder and ribs). Luckily, he wasn’t paralyzed but needs long term treatment. Currently, Hang's mother is the breadwinner of the family. It’s difficult for her to afford the family and education costs of three children. |
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Thanh Thao
Thao lives with her mother and two siblings, 11 and 4, in a fishing village. Her mother, 45, was a housekeeper in a hotel, then stopped work to give birth to her unplanned baby in 2020. In the same year she lost her job due to Covid, then stayed at home and cared for the children and her ill husband. In the same year she found out she had a breast tumor which wasn’t cancerous but needed treatment. Thao’s father was a fisherman and the breadwinner but he got throat cancer, had many chemotherapy sessions and when he passed away two years ago left them with a large debt from treatment and building a new small home 5 years earlier. Thao who has been sponsored three years, was always a good student during her 11 years of school, except for the year her father was dying as she was too sad to concentrate. |
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Thi Diem
Diem’s mother was diagnosed with stage II lung cancer four years ago even though she already had one lung removed. Presently, she only does light household chores. Her father, who has a disability became the sole provider for the family since her mother got sick. Every day he collects food scraps to feed his pigs. Their finances depend on raising pigs, but it’s an unreliable income as sometimes their pigs die. Beside that her father is a tailor and makes uniforms for students during the summer holiday. Her family has a large bank debt and in addition, Diem’s uncle and neighbors lent them a large sum without interest for her mother’s treatment. Diem has maintained good grades for many years in a row. So when Diem’s mother told her that they could not afford to send her to school anymore, Diem burst into tears and said that she would not drop out of school and could find a part time job such as washing dishes in a local restaurant to earn money to go to school. We heard of their situation and found a sponsor for her. |
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Anh Thuong
Thuong has been sponsored for 11 years through many family ups and downs. She lives with her parents and brother in a small house in the countryside. Thuong’s mother has a disability, can speak English quite well and used to look after their family tourist bike rental business when they lived in town. This ended with Covid. Recently they took out a loan to reestablish this business. Thuong’s father, although illiterate, is the sole breadwinner of the family, works as a motorbike taxi driver and takes responsible for the family business now. Their income is unstable, and it’s difficult to pay their interest and daily costs. At home, after doing homework, she helps her family with household chores and looks after her baby brother. Her dream is to be an architect but she knows her standard may not be high enough, but she is working hard to improve it, and if not successful, she will study to be a teacher next year. |
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Hoai Nhi
Nhi who’s been in our sponsorship program for four years, has always done well in school. She lives with her 85 year old granny and brother in granny's house in Que Son. Her brother is a paraplegic due to falling off the roof while doing repairs. As he's an IT engineer he can work from home. Although mum has spinal damage she works as a housekeeper in Tam Ky on a low income, earning enough to support herself. Dad who died from a heart attack 5 years ago believed that if his children were educated it would change their lives. She is considering studying Law at university after graduation. |
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Kim Thoa
Thoa has been in our program four years and always does well. She loves school and wants to be an IT Engineer. She always works hard to make her parents happy, to have a better job in the future, and to be able to look after her parents. When Thoa was three, her mother got Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, causing both kidneys to fail. The family returned from Saigon to her hometown to have family support as dad has poor sight and couldn't manage. Thoa’s mother can't work as she’s in hospital most of the time. For the last seven years her mother has been very ill and needed her father to look after her in hospital. When Thoa’s parents aren’t home, she stays with her maternal grandparents and uncle's family. She recently applied to study IT at university and has been accepted based on her high school results of the last three years! |
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Minh Duong
Duong who has been sponsored four years and has been the best student in her school since she started. Duong is outgoing and is the school’s MC. Duong’s mother committed suicide when she was 13 months old after an argument with her husband. When Duong was five, her father re-married an ethnic woman and they lived in Tay Giang. There, he worked as a school security guard and her step-mother was a teacher. They had two children. Because of his low income, Duong’s father quit his job and then worked as a construction worker with a higher salary but couldn't support the family on his unstable income. When Duong was eight years old she moved to live with her unhealthy 66 year old paternal granny in Que Son who still worked her rice fields, raised a cow, a calf and a few chickens. She also looked after her mother-in-law who was 100 years old. Duong plans on a university education in the future. |
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Ly
Ly's mother left her with her grandparents when she was very young and she is still angry with her. Her grandparents brought her up, with granddad supported the three of them, by selling lottery tickets. Sadly he died recently and granny is very weak now. Ly has been a tomboy and quite tempestuous, but has settled down as she realized she has a big responsibility coming as she has to support herself and her granny. She has been sponsored for thirteen years now. She did well in high school and entered university to study Russian and also went to Russia for a year to study Russian. Ly is back and is coming to the end of her studies, and at present is applying to do further studies in Russia. |
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Minh
Minh has one sister who also was sponsored by CEF to study accountancy, and who successfully completed her college course and is working and helping support her mother, sister and uncle. She and her sister live with their mentally ill uncle and their single mother. Minh was sponsored for five years, and was an excellent student each year. Her teachers were proud of her and entered her in education competitions. As mum sold some of their land, she was able to build a new home, and they renovated their old house and rent it out now, so they no longer need help. Minh still attends CEF workshops and events. |
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Nhu
Nhu is an orphan who lives with granny and auntie in the hallway of a government apartment block, next to the rooms of an aunt. They live here while they wait for the local government to release land for them to live on. Nhu is a very sweet young woman who was sponsored eight years and when young did well in school, but in high school struggled with her education. She has completed her education and is working now. |
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Tuyen
Tuyen's parents are both blind and dad worked full time as a massage therapist earning about $1 a day for a massage centre. For two years he had no income due to Covid, as people watched their budget. Mum hasn't good health and stays at home to look after Tuyen. Tuyen's grandparents live next door and help out when need be. Tuyen has been sponsored for ten years and wasn't doing very well at school because she didn't have anyone at home to help her with home work. We found a tutor nearby who helped her for three years, kindly funded by her sponsor. Now there is no one to give that support, so once more is challenged. As she was getting older she realized the importance of being educated and made a greater effort, but she couldn't get into high school, so she applied to train as a hair dresser, which she has started and loves. |
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Ha
Ha's father died and her mother moved to HCM City with some of her siblings where she sold food and sent funds to granny each month to feed Ha. Ha moved between two homes; the home of one granny and that of her other grandparents. Ha, a sweet, thoughful and helpful girl, was sponsored for seven years. She worked very hard and was a good student. She graduated from high school and moved to live with her mother in Ho Chi Minh City and to study at university there. Granny also moved down there with her. |
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Thuy
Thuy lives with her granny, a disabled aunt and her cousin and his mother. Her cousin's mother helps to support her. Her father died and mum remarried and she has not seen her much since then. Thuy worked very hard at school, but her results suffered because she had little time for homework; she helped her aunt and uncle who lived next door with childcare as they helped support her. She has graduated from high school and is now studying at college. |
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Vy
Vy's mother died of stomach cancer ten years ago, and since then she lived with dad when he was not away working, until he died six years ago. She is a sweet girl whose school results suffered for a couple of years with all the sadness and insecurity, but they improved again. Another charity built a house for her as her old wooden-slat home was delapidated. Her brother sometimes stays with her and other times an aunt does. She now has graduated from high school and is studying to be a nurse at university. |
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Dieu
Dieu's parents drowned and then she lived with her sister, brother and elderly grandparents. Her sister received educational support from CEF to complete high school and to attend college and lived at home until she married, and now lives near by. Her brother had a sponsorship to study at university which he completed six years ago and is now working. Granny died five years ago and now just Dieu and granddad live at home. Dieu has been sponsored twelve years. She did well in high school and has gone onto university where she is studying journalism. |
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My Nhu
My Nhu lived with granddad and her mentally ill aunt who is in her 40's. Granny died before she was born. Her father died in an accident when she was a baby and mum remarried and moved to the south of Vietnam when she was in grade 1. She has not seen her mother since. My Nhu didn't do well in high school, due to too much social media time, but she did pass. She is now studying to be a receptionist. |
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Trinh
Trinh was a weak, unhealthy and frightened toddler when we first met her. Over the years she gained both weight and confidence. She lived with granddad and an auntie. Mum died from brain cancer eight years ago and granny passed away soon after. Trinh who was sponsored nine years loved school, but due to no one being able to help her with homework didn't do well in school and is now training as a seamstress and working. |
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Phuong Linh
Phuong Linh lost her father four years ago after he had a stroke. She’s only 16 but shows a maturity beyond her age. She asked her extra tuition teachers to reduce the fees they charge to help her mother, and she help around the house a lot. She’s a hard worker in class too, often complimented by her teachers. Her only dream is for her mother to live a long and healthy life. She is now in university. |
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Dung
Dung was living with her mum, elderly granny and auntie when we first met her. Nine years ago she moved into boarding rooms to be in a position to attend high school, as there was no high school near her family home. She adjusted well, worked hard, and did just as well in high school as she did in secondary school. She then went onto university and has just finishing her work experience and will shortly graduate in Construction Finance . She got good results all the way through and is employed in her field. |
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Hien
Hien is a bubbly girl and loves singing and had a strong desire to be a professional singer. She lives with mum and her elderly granny who both have poor health. Mum works in a factory and granny is too old to work, but helps out at home. She loved school and did well. Hien requested English classes as she wanted to communicate with the English-speaking children in her neighbourhood. She was thrilled when we told her of free classes she could attend at STEC, a local English language centre and she did well there. She has graduated from high school and is now studying English at university. |
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Hoai Nga
Nga's father only can do domestic chores because of a serious back injury and mum works in a factory. Nga was excited when her mother bought a cooker, as she no longer had to cook for her family on a wood fire, giving her more free time for home work, enabling her to maintain her ongoing very high standard. Maintaining a high academic standard has always been important to her. She did well in school each year and now is doing well in university studying English. |
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Tuyet Trinh
Tuyet Trinh, a quiet young lady who was hard-working at school and consequently always had excellent results even though she helped her mother with her work for a couple of hours a day. Her mother made a meagre living from selling rice porridge early each morning and then made small colourful lanterns with silk threads during the remainder of the day. Trinh who was sponsored for five years is now studying psychology at university in Ho Chi Minh City. She was successful at obtaining two grants for her university studies. |
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Diem Quynh
Diem Quynh has a lot of character and is full of energy. Having HIV doesn't seem to impact her present day life in any obvious way except she has to take her medications at set times and have regular health checks. Both her parents have passed away from HIV. From when she was born she has lived with her grandparents and cousins. Granny is a farmer and garbage collector who works hard to support the family. Quynh loves school mainly for the friendships and art and is not doing very well academically. No one is strict with her as they expect her to die and tell her so. As Quynh gets older she is a little more motivated to study, but not enough to do well. |
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Thuy Van
Thuy Van is a hard working and clever girl who is doing really well at school. When not at school or doing home work she helps her mother around the house. Her father died suddenly from a stroke although he had stopped working and was taking it easy as he was told he had congenital heart disease. Mum does whatever work she can get to support her two children and at present grows vegetables, then sells from her bike each morning and cares for someone else's acacia trees. |
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Dieu Huyen
Dieu Huyen loves school and after graduation she plans to be a modern farmer using modern farming techniques and equipment. That is a long way off as she is still in secondary school, not doing very well as dad isn't attentive to his children or their studies. Dad has been looking after three children since mum died from a brain injury as the result of a serious motorbike accident. She had emergency brain surgery but it wasn't soon enough to save her life. |
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Huyen Vi
Huyen Vi's parents divorced years many ago and dad remarried. Mum works away from home doing two jobs to earn enough to support her mother and youngest child, Vi, who lives with granny. Mum sells coffee in the early morning then has a cleaning job in a hotel for the remainder of the day. Vi dreams of being a physical education teacher so she can teach young people how to stay healthy and how to get enough of the right exercise. She did well in high school and has gone onto university. |
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Thanh Thao
Her mother is very caring and spends a lot of time helping her with her school work. This has resulted in her doing well at school. Her mother used to work, but got weaker and lost a lot of weight. Nowadays she has no income as no one will employ her so she helps her relatives and cares for her daughter and the family help support the two of them even though poor themselves. Thanh Thoa lives and eats with her grandmother as mum doesn't want to risk Thao getting infected. Her mother has HIV and dad has passed away from HIV. |
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My Lan
Lan is a sweet girl and is doing very well in school. She is unusual as ethics is her favourite subject as she loves to solve ethical problems. In literature classes she loves writing about and describing trees. Her mum works in a factory and earns very little and can't afford to support her four children. When her parents divorced she went to live with her paternal grandparents with her brothers. Mum and her sister lived with the maternal grandparents. Soon after the divorce dad was stabbed by a drunk stranger. Recently with a loan mum has built a small home next to her in-laws, enabling the family to be reunited which has thrilled Lan. |
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Thanh Nhan
Dad died five years ago from a lung infection, possibly from aspestosis, as well as kidney failure. He had been a construction worker for his working life and his health had been suffering for many years. Since dad died this young girl has learned to look after herself more and can do cleaning such as mopping and can wash her own clothes. Her biggest dream is to stay in school a long time. Her mother sells snails each morning in the hope of earning enough to support her three children and when there is a lack of snails, she looks for construction work. She wants them to all to be well-educated so they can have a good income. |
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Nhu Quynh
Nhu Quyn lives with her parents, two brothers and grandfather. Mum was unwell due to cancer and the required treatment, so was living with her mother for some years. Dad is a rice farmer and works in a rice mill too. Grandad makes money from using the front room for motorbike parking. As there was no woman in the house Quynh did the housework and most of the cooking for three years. This is understandable but unfortunately it affected her results. Mum has been well for two years now, returned to live with the family, and worked as well as helping in the home. Quynh has been able to do more study and her results have improved. Mum managed to save, and with a loan they have been able to build their own home, no longer needing to live at granddad's home which they are thrilled about, as he was a difficult man. The finances of her parents have improved, they have a home and can now support Quynh to complete high school, so she is in a fortunate situation and has left our program. |
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Thi Thanh Thao
Thao who is a sweet, shy and very quiet girl, loved going to school, especially studying literature as it helped her get in touch with her feelings. Sadly one of her older sisters killed herself due to the effect their poverty had on her and her education. Since then the parents have been very aware of how their children are feeling and do whatever they can to ensure they have the educational support they need. They only have a small amount of land and grow rice and corn in rotation, and sell bananas, steamed cassava and sweet potatoes at the market, so CEF has been sponsoring two of their children since one of their daughters died. The eldest we helped through high school and university and now she is working. Thao struggled with her education although loved school. Her sister has graduated from university and the family income had improved so Thao's sister is helping her to complete the remainder of her education. |
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Thanh Tra
When we first met Tra eight years ago in front of her old dilapidated wooden house she greeted us in excellent English and just wanted to practice her English, as her goal then was to study English at university. She has been successful with her studies and did exactly what she wanted. Now she has graduated from university and is working in an English center. Her elderly parents have poor health from a life of ongoing hard work and now neither can work much these days. Fortunately the eldest of their children are all working, including Tra and are all able to help their parents a little. |