Last summer, I took a trip to Vietnam, where I was born. While I was there, in addition to spending time with my birth family, I worked with a non-profit organization called Children of Vietnam (childrenofvietnam.org), which serves thousands of children experiencing poverty with programs to address education, small business training for single mothers, nutrition, healtcare, and the needs of children with disabilities.
Each day, I spent time with families, schools, and woman-owned small business that were recieving support from Children of Vietnam. The time I spent with staff was amazing. All the benificaries we visited had their own heart-warming stoies of the positive effects COV has on them. The staff was able to translate so we could communicate well with COV families. We saw famlies and children living under very challenging circumstances who, with support from COV, are able to flourish as students, business owners, teachers and members of their communities.
One of my favorite aspects of the trip was our visits to Hoa Mai orphanage, where COV provides teachers and many of the children go on to university when they leave the orphanage.
During our visits, I taught English lessons and bonded with the children living there while playing soccer.
Their "field," however, was unfortunatley just patch of dirt and two makeshift goals. The kids did not have shoes and were playing in their bare feet. When I noticed I was the only one wearing sneakers, I took my shoes off and immediately felt what it was like to play on a field covered with rocks and sharp vines. It made me wonder how the kids were able to play through that pain. This motivated me to raise money to build a soccer field at Hoa Mai orphanage and purchase shoes and jerseys. The cost for field construction is $880. The cost per child for shoes and jerseys is $22, or $440 for 20 children.
I would really appreciate any support you can provide to help me reach my goal. Perhaps you can make a contribution toward the field construction or cover the costs of shoes and jerseys for one, two or more children? Together we can help the children at Hoa Mai orphanage be able to have a safe way to play soccer, which they clearly enjoy as a a highlight of their days. I plan to return to Vietnam and promise to send you a photo of the kids playing on their new field with their new gear.
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