Minh
is a 10 year old living outside Hanoi. His
mother is seriously ill with heart disease. As
soon as his father found out he packed his bags
and left his family to the care of their
grandmother who has no land, no home and not
much income. The mother is so ill she is unable
to work. In fact several times she took the boy
to his father to beg the father to care for him,
but each time the father refused. So now Minh
is left in the care of his grandmother and what
little money they have is used up to help their
mother buy medicine for her illness.
Ta
Van Phong is an 11 year old whose mother had him
when she about 15 years old. No one will really
talk of what happened or how she got pregnant,
but she does not know who the father of Phong
is. Recently the mother remarried, but because
her new husband is also poor his family has
refused to have Phong come to live with them.
So now Phong is raised by his grandmother who
also has another grandchild to care for. They
have 7 people living in one small house and
sleeping in one small bed. Like the other
families they also have no land so they have to
work as laborers in the field.
Trung is an 8 year old boy, his father suffers from
mental illness and so is not able to work. In fact
when we went to visit their family the father was on
the bed lying down and shouting all the time. This
family has two children, but as the father is now
able to work,
with the entire care of the family left up to the
mother. Countries like Vietnam do not have many
mental health facilities, especially for the poor so
the mentally ill are usually left at home or if
lucky cared for by relatives.
Nguyen
Phuong Linh is a 10 year old girl. A few years ago
her father was ill and after 2 years of medical care
and a pile of hospital bills he died. Their mother
is now left to care for her two children on her
own. The family is so poor they do have not have
proper drinking water in their home. When I spoke
with the mother I told her to make sure her children
go to school. She agreed and told me school as very
important. We could see their school uniforms
hanging on a line for all the children wholive in
their home, a basic white shirt and red scarves.
This is
just a small cross section of some of the children
that our school backpack program will help. They
are families who are desperate but also families who
realize that the most important thing they can do is
to attempt to give their children an education by
somehow finding a way for them to stay in school and
continue to get an education. Our school backpacks
will help them to do that by giving them the basic
supplies they need to start off the school year with
pens, papers, markers, pencil sharpeners, erasers
and other supplies.
These backpacks will make a difference in the lives
of these children! |
