Protect 30 girl children at risk of prostitution

Dear friends,

We are so excited to share with you latest updates of our project over the past three months.

Thanks to your support, we have maintained the comprehensive assistance to all girls in the program that  makes their way back to school become easier after the eight-month lockdown period in Ho Chi Minh city. Our staff keep in close contact with the girls and their families weekly via phone or text message to follow-up their learning process. To date most of the girls who attend secondary school and high school have been back to school while the younger ones have still remained their online learning process and waited new updates from their schools.

Our program also welcome another two participants to the group: 6-year -old Poppy and fifteen-year-old Gazania. Poppy is living with her single mother and a 11-month year old sister. Poppy starts her 1^st grade this school year. Her father was back to his hometown in Nghe An province (central Vietnam) and has not met the little girl and her sibling for a year. Gazania is currently a freshman in a high school. “I truly want to study but my mom wants me to leave school and find a job to help my family” - Gazania told us. “What are your plans for your daughter’s future after she leaves education?” - We asked her mother. “I don’t know. She may stay home and help me with the chores for a short term and then I will help her find a job”. “Do you think that she will get a stable job when she has not earn a high school degree?” We continued asking her. The mother did not answer us. The case like this is not rare in our program, especially during this difficult times when most of the parents have to work from home and face all the financial uncertainty surrounding Covid-19. The current pressure is too big that they cannot think about the future. But it’s important to remind them that this is a unique situation and we could work together, overcome it and keep the children in school, as this is their right and our responsibility.

In last December, we carried out one of the most vital activities of the program every year : the annual evaluation. This is a process of collecting and analyzing information from all beneficiaries (the girls and their caregivers) in order to understand the effectiveness and the ongoing operations of the program, as well as promote communication and provide useful feedback about the program and staff. This is a crucial step helping us improve the impact and performance of our work every year. 

Last but not least, we would like to send you our great news that Phuong Uyen, our program intern already successfully completed the 8-month internship period. She has been in charge of supporting and following the girls in the Where Dreams Bloom program since April, 2021. It’s a great pleasure for us to have contributed to her professional growth. Also, we send our thanks to her for all of the efforts and energy she has brought to work everyday. Phuong Uyen will continue working at our organization in the role of program collaborator over the next several months.

The ongoing involvement of youth in the roles of collaborators, volunteers or interns in the program not only bring a source of positive energy to the girls but also become role models for in gaining more independence and taking their first steps towards their future as an adult.

Thank you for your ongoing support towards empowering the girls. You are truly making a huge different for them with your care and generosity. We  wish you and your family a Happy New Year! May the new year brings to you lots of love, laughter, and joy.

All the best,

-Your friend at Alliance Anti-Trafic Vietnam

Links:

• AAT Vietnam Facebook page

Dear our friends,

Ho Chi Minh city entered its fourth wave of Covid-19 at the start of May 2021, seeing its peek at 6.318 new cases on July, 26th. The health crisis has pushed many urban poor families in Ho Chi Minh city including the families in our program into deeper poverty.

Sine last July, we have given cash to the families monthly aiming to help them partly overcome difficulties during this hard times. Our staff also distribute food to two girls and their siblings who were stuck in lockdown areas while their parents were fighting with Covid-19 in hospital. Even the pandemic shows a little sign of slowing down currently, for these families, the crisis is far from over.

All students in the city started their remote learning in August, 2021. More often than not, the girls in the program don’t have good condition or environment when attending their online lessons, especially when home technology was lacking or was reliable. Some of them don’t have a smartphone to study. We will provide Calla, Rose and Peony with new smartphones to enable their learning next week. Our team is trying our best to help the girls financially and spiritually so as to stabilize their learning process until the back to school.

In August, our team also organized “Better Together” activity creating the chance for the girls to meet up and have great discussions via Zoom. We aware that during these months, most of the girls may feel stress and anxious, and might find it hard to understand what they are seeing on TV or how their parents or carers disturbed by COVID-19 impacts. Therefore, having a supportive and open discussion to help them understand about the virus, cope and protect themselves or even make positive contributions for others is important.

This month, we are thrilled to partner up with Hopebox, a social enterprise supporting women who have experienced gender based violence, to distribute mooncakes to the girls in program. Mid-Fall festival (“Tet Trung Thu” in Vietnamese) is a great time to reunite with loved ones and appreciate the significance of families and friends. During the pandemic, this kind of connection is even more important. The activity hopes to convey love and joy to the families and put a little smile on girls’ faces during this difficult times.

Last but not least, we would like to share with you a great news that Ivy has successfully applied for vocational training program of La Boulangerie Française, a social enterprise dedicated to training young people to become highly-skilled bakers. Our program introduced Ivy to the baking course after she completed high school and supported her during the applying process. It was such a good news to our team and encouraged to work even harder to help the vulnerable youth in program.

We could not accomplish these achievements without your support. Once again, thank you for being a part of our team of supporters that are making our missions realities.

As we go forward, we’ll be sure to keep you updated and know that we always value your questions, ideas and feedback. Please send us email via: vnaction@allianceantitrafic.org if you have any questions about our program.

We hope that you, your loved ones, and your colleagues will safe and well during this time. 

Sincerely,

Alliance Anti-Trafic Vietnam Team

Links:

• AAT Vietnam Facebook page