Gender Equality Vietnam Project #13980

100 Bikes for 100 Girls

by Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund

Project Report | Nov 4, 2014
Bikes For Girls Update: Meet Kieu and Thoa

By Patrick O'Brien | Board of Directors

Thoa and her father

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I hope this update finds you in good health and high spirits. We have just donated our 200^th bike in the last week! Thank you so much for your support. It’s hard to imagine your impact I’m sure, so we would like you to meet a couple of girls who have received a bike thanks to your generous donation.

Please know that you are making a huge difference in the lives of girls in Vietnam.

Kieu

10-year-old Kieu is one of 9 brothers and sisters. Four years ago, when she was six, Kieu’s father died, leaving her mother, Hien the lone supporter of the large family. Hien, works making $2-$4 a day selling snails she catches on the nearby shoreline.

Kieu’s three oldest siblings have all dropped out of school and traveled to different provinces, far away to find work to help support the family. Each month they send home whatever they can to help their mother with school fees and food for the rest of the children.

Kieu and her family were overjoyed when she received the bike. As much as her mother worries daily about her children, Kieu’s new bike offers a small respite, knowing that her daughter is more safe now going to and from school.

Thoa

Before we met Thoa, the 8-year-old was about to quit school. Her father Hieu, 36, a fisherman, and her mother Thao, 35, a restaurant worker, could not afford a bike for their daughter, and the 10 km distance to school was too far for her to walk.

Thoa’s father’s job requires him to be on the water anywhere from weeks to months at a time. His earnings vary, depending on the catch, and frequently he will come home after months away with only $50 -$100. Her mother earns around $100 a month working everyday at the restaurant. Thoa’s 14-year-old brother goes to the restaurant after school and works all night only to return home in the morning to make it in to school.

When Thoa comes home from school in the afternoon, she is alone in the house until 10 p.m. when her mother comes home from work.

“Looking at the cute girl’s face and her bright eyes, we felt really moved,” our program director said. “At her young age, she has no way of thinking how difficult her life is going to be in the future. She deserves more love from people and a good education for a better future.”

Thank you once again for your continued support. Know that your donation directly goes to the purchase of a bike for a young girl. Know that with each bike we give, another young girl has the opportunity to continue with their schooling. We are forever grateful for your generosity, you are an integral part in improving the lives of girls in need. We are changing lives, thank you for being a part of the change.

Thank you,

The Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund Team

Kieu with her new bike

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Aug 4, 2014
More Giving More Bikes for Girls!

By Patrick J O'Brien | Board Member/Director

Bike Giving Cam Lam, Vietnam

Dear Friends,

We hope your summer is going well and this update finds you in good health. We are getting close to the last week of our trip in Vietnam and we couldn’t be more happy with the work that you have helped us accomplish and only wish we had more time to stay and do more.

So far we have had two bike giving ceremonies in Cam Duc and Cam An villages, with one more to go in the coming week. By the end of our trip we will have given 60 bikes to girls in the Cam Lam district and by the end of this year we hope to donate 150 more bikes to girls in need in Viet Nam.

It is hard to describe life in Cam Lam to anyone who has never been here. It is hard to explain to someone what a family living on only $1 a day looks like, or what it’s like to visit a young girl’s home who has lost both her parents and lives with relatives in a tiny, one-room cement house with no furniture, and yet still maintains a constant smile and a thankfulness for a gift that we so often take for granted. We also can’t describe fully what it feels like to watch as a group of girls jump on their new bikes and ride away, as we look on and hope that they may be able to continue their education because now they have a way to make the trek that the day before seemed too far for a pair of feet alone to conquer. We also can’t explain, or reconcile even with ourselves what it’s like knowing that for whatever small measure of good we are trying to produce here, it is never enough, and the importance of supporting girls’ education worldwide is paramount for the success of future generations.

But one thing we can try to do as best we can is to say thank you. We can say that with your thoughtfulness and generosity that you are making a difference in these girl’s lives and we are seeing it first hand. We can tell you that we are forever grateful that you have chosen to support these beautiful girls. We have made sure that every $55 has gone directly to buying a bike.

We hope you will continue to have good health, good luck, and good success in the months and years to come.

Thank you again,

The Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund Team

New bike!

Happy girls

Rock-Paper-Scissor's Volunteers Giving Bikes

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May 5, 2014
Spring Update on Giving 100 Bikes to 100 Girls

By Sara Nerone | Founder and President

RPS Board Member Luu Phan in Vietnam

Dear Friends,

Thanks to all of you who have supported our 100 Bikes for 100 Girls program on Global Giving. We have just reached another funding milestone by raising enough money to buy bikes for 100 more girls! Thank you so much for the continued support, the girls are so happy to receive the bikes from you all. The girls and their families send their hellos and thanks to you all.

In March, one of our Board Members, Ms. Luu Phan was in Vietnam and she went for the first time to visit our art, music and bike program in the province of Khanh Hoa. She was very happy to be able to take part in a bike giving ceremony while she was visiting, and was so happy to see the reaction and gratefulness of the girls receiving the bikes that you have given them. The photographs linked to this report are of Luu with some of the girls.

More good news is that a staff member of Global Giving also went to visit our program in Vietnam. She sent back rave reviews to their office here in the states, so we are very excited to have this independent critique of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Please let us know if any of you have plans to travel to Vietnam, a group of us will be there from the U.S. this summer for one month working with the kids.

Please know that all of your donations have gone directly to purchasing a bike or bikes. We look forward to continuing this program on Global Giving. Thank you again for supporting the girls and giving them an opportunity to own a new bike, the opportunity to travel to school easily and most of all safely. Your gifts have already made such an enormous, direct difference in each of these girl’s lives.

Best Wishes,

Sara Nerone

Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund Bikes

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