By Sara Nerone | Founder and President
On Monday morning the Rock-Paper-Scissor’s staff arrived at Cam An Nam High School, in south central Vietnam to give 20 girls their new bicycles. All of the girls waited patiently as the new bikes were unloaded from the truck, and lined up perfectly on the makeshift stage, set up for the giving event. One parent or grandparent sat with each girl on small red stools lined up neatly in rows. The girls wait patiently to be told to take a place next to her beautiful new bike.
The ceremony was simple but formal, with members of the school and local government present. Every ceremony begins with a short speech by one of the local government officials about the importance of staying in school and studying hard, and the gift of a bicycle. Then one of the girls is always chosen to give her own speech, thanking us for the bicycles and promising to stay in school and continue to work hard.
Each of these beautiful, young girls have special stories about their lives, and this day we meet one very sweet girl receiving a bike. Her name is My. My is 13 years old and is the oldest sibling of 3 girls and 4 boys, ages 1-13. We learned today that My has kidney disease, and that although she takes medicine year round which has helped to keep her out of the hospital, her health is still quite poor. My says that “this year is the best year because I have spent the least time in the hospital, and I can go to school regularly. Normally, I have had to take a lot of medicine and go to the hospital and I can’t attend school as regularly as I expect” Despite her difficulties and poor health, My is nothing but optimistic and enthusiastic about life.
We meet many girls with similar stories, some with health conditions like My, some who have lost their parents, and of course all these girls continue to struggle in a life of poverty every day. Often times we have met girls through our Bikes for Girls program and have invited and accepted them into our music and art after school programs. There we are able to provide more one-on-one support for them through mentoring, being involved in a supportive community of students and young adults, just plain having fun away from the stresses of their daily lives, and of course for us to provide for them, their siblings and family through tuition payments to their schools and other needs.
This summer, I will be traveling to Vietnam and will be visiting My and her family. I hope to learn more about the medical care My needs, and raise money for her family to help care for My and her siblings as much as possible.
Since January 2015, we have given 80 bicycles and in 2014, 200 girls received new bicycles. Each of you receiving this letter has volunteered to help encourage these girl’s to continue to go to school to improve their lives through their education, and of course provided them with the simple joy and pride of being able to own and ride a new bike to school.
Thank you as always,
Sara Nerone
Please email me at: sara@rockpaperscissorchildrensfund.org if you would like to know more about our program, if you would like to volunteer, or you just plain want to ask me more!
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