Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why do you concentrate on education for girls?
A. In rural Vietnam Taoist and Confucian philosophies have a strong influence on parents’ views on education. These traditional 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. With rural incomes around $30-$70 a month there is often not enough income to put children through more than primary education. Families will borrow to pay for males to continue into secondary school. Girls, however, either receive part of their secondary schooling, being removed when they are of an age to help the parents look after younger siblings or work, or never begin it.
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 impoverished families to receive an education so that they can fulfill this role in the best way possible. A full education to the end of secondary 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 communities. A girl in school is unlikely to be trafficked and young women who have received a full education are unlikely to choose prostitution as a career.
Please see RESOURCES for more information on this subject.
Q. Where in Vietnam do the children live that you have organized sponsorships for?
A. CEF - VN has children in education projects in Thai Binh province in the Red River delta in northern Vietnam, and in Quang Nam province and Danang City in central Vietnam.
Q. How do you decide who to help?
A. We have a long list of criteria the child and family have to meet. Some examples follow. They have to go through a full assessment, and then their case has to be discussed before help is given.
The child has to be referred to us by another charity, or by a nun, a priest or a neighbor of the child. The children who have no parents, one parent, one disadvantaged parent, one ill parent, a severely impoverished parent or parents are the priority. They have to live in Thai Binh province, Quang Nam province or in Danang City, as these are the areas we have permission to work in.
Q. How much do impoverished Vietnamese earn?
A. Incomes of impoverished Vietnamese vary dramatically. Some earn nothing, some trade food they grow for food others grow, some earn $10 a month and some earn up to $150 a month, but only seasonally.
Q. What is the income of the families you help?
A. The incomes of the families we help vary. We have grandparents looking after children who grow
food and barter. We have a single mother who earns $5 a week. We have others with seasonal incomes
of up to $150 a month for the months they have work.
One father, left with a child and baby to care for
works when his baby is well enough. He earns $5 a day when he works; some months he has no income
and sometimes as much as $150.
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. Education costs go up as the child progresses from primary school through secondary school 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.
Q. I am interested in sponsoring a child and at present I can afford $250 a year.
A. We always have children in need of sponsorship. If we don’t have a child in need of sponsoring at $250 for this year we will let you know of the children we have at $200 or $150 for this 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 the required level of education. There are also extra costs in certain cases. We have a food supplement we pay to some of the families who are struggling to feed their children.
The Danang Education Support Project for children from the isolated Hoa Van leper community has higher costs because the children in this project have to live away from home to receive education beyond primary school. The families have either set up a second home close to the school or pay other family members or friends to look after their child.
The costs for 2011:
$150 for Grade 1-5
$200 for Grade 6-9
$250 for Grade 10-12
$250 for Grade 6-9 for children from the Danang Education Support Project
$300 for Grade 10-12 for the children from Danang Education Support Project
$100 food supplement per academic year
$900 for each year of university
$500 for vocational training - one of payment for one year’s training
These answers were correct at the time of writing them on December 31st, 2010.