Children of Vietnam

Families headed by women are some of the poorest in Vietnam. They raise their children in structures that are made from woven plant fibers, corrugated metal and other unsafe building materials. The floors are generally of dirt and the structures contain no toilets for sanitary waste disposal. And the children of these families, particularily girls, attend a limited amount of schooling.

Reasons for this vary, but include the cost of education, the need to work to support the family, and lack of tutoring to allow girls to advance to high school.

Program Summary

Initiated in partnership with Dining for Women, a grassroots giving circle, Empowering Foundations for Women & Their Children combines the impact of a dry and safe housing with the opportunities an education can bring to help to move families out of dire poverty. COV builds stable, secure homes for families who have women head of households, provides bicycles for the children to get to school, and then provides funds for school costs.

Mothers who live with their children in healthy dwellings and do not have to make the difficult choice between providing the barest of necessities or paying for educational fees will keep their daughters and sons in school. By receiving an education young people will not only benefit themselves, but will have an impact on the entire family. Most will use their education to secure employment and then help educate their siblings.

The Women and Children Served

The beneficiaries of this program are single mothers and their children of Quangnam Province in Central Vietnam who live in dire poverty.

Goals

• Provide the protection and health offered by a dry, safe house to mothers and children
  
• Keep children attending school on a regular basis with access to transportation and better health
  
• Provide primary, secondary, or vocational school opportunity to children and youth