Current projects

For many peasant families in Vietnam, supporting basic needs can be a struggle. Having a visually impaired child can be a massive extra burden. The child is often seen as a hopelessly unproductive member of the family. This is often made more acute with disabled veteran parents (80% of whom have been exposed to Agent Orange) who are reliant on their children to support them.

Access to the right education can bring hope to a visually impaired child's family. Since 1991 we have been supporting the Haiphong School for the Visually Impaired in northern Vietnam. The school provides children with Braille tuition up to primary school level, as well as basic life skills. There is also a workshop where they can learn simple skills if they do not want to go on to higher education, such as making brooms and toothpicks, and a farm project which is much reduced due to avian 'flu. The academic levels the pupils reach enable them to be integrated into mainstream secondary and high schools, something previously considered impracticable. One has graduated from University and now has a government contract teaching IT skills to the blind Three young men and one young woman are now studying at university.

As well as education and all equipment needed the physical conditions require support with upgraded buildings, Braille printers, computers, kitchen equipment, water purification and washing facilities. The Housemothers who we supported pointed out the need for extra food, which we give as a subsistence allowance of about £2.00 a month to each pupil in the Blind School and also the higher education pupils. The latter mostly live at home and we give bicycles to selected families or teachers to get the children to and from school. We also give the same allowance to one teacher in each secondary or high school that is integrating a blind pupil into his or her mainstream classes.