| We endeavor to reach the
poorest of the poor. Development programs sometimes fail to do so; for instance
the women are not always accepted in the savings-credit groups or do not
dare to join, in case they fail to reimburse their loan. Other members may
reject them because they could have to pay in their place.Scholarships are
given to the poorest children (less than 3%) who may drop out from primary
school. We are now looking for ways to improve the economic situation of
these approximately 1500 households, in a more sustainable manner. Other
activities aim at create employment, like handicrafts, plantation of trees
along public roads etc.
Education is far from free in Vietnam, right from crèche or
kindergarten onwards. A pupil at primary school costs her/his parents
20-30 € / year, not counting indirect expenses, which are unavoidable
also. The poorest have a daily income per household of 1 €/day.
Attendance is almost 100% at primary school level, but more than 25% children
do not go to the secondary level. Their chances for their future life
are then very limited.
We have launched a scholarship program for the poorest. They are short listed
first by the school: they must have reasonably good results. Then they screened
by the commune authorities, who select the poorest. Later the village workers
and the program staff visit all households to check. Only less than 3% pupils
are accepted.Are automatically excluded:
- the children of government staff and eachers
- the children of women, who as member of a savings-credit group, did
not refund their loan as scheduled -thi is only a small number
- the communes where the local authorities fail to collaborate well
enough (at present 2 communes out of 21).
The "marathon" organised by the
project in solidarity with the poorest pupils of the district has
been a real success. |
A scholarship amounts to 300.000 VND (16 €) paid in 2 installments:
in October and in February. The parents commit their child will not drop
out from school.
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