|
Q |
How long has SCC been working in Vietnam? |
|
A |
We were registered as a charity in the UK in 1992 and have been working in Vietnam ever since then. We received our full Vietnamese licence in 1996 and our US affiliate received 501 (c) (3) status in 1999. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
What does SCC do? |
|
A |
Saigon Children's Charity helps educate children living in poverty, those who struggle with a disability or who are otherwise vulnerable. We build schools, provide scholarships and vocational training to enable the children who struggle the most to gain a basic education and equip themselves with the skills necessary to work their way out of poverty. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
Where does SCC work? |
|
A |
We work in and around Ho Chi Minh City, mainly in the rural fringes such as Can Gio and Cu Chi but also in difficult central areas like District 4. In addition we work in 5 provinces surrounding HCMC. Currently these provinces are Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh and in the northern provinces of the Mekong Delta, Tien Giang and Tra Vinh. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
How does SCC choose the children for its programmes? |
|
A |
This is done carefully and objectively to ensure that we help those most genuinely in need. We visit children at home to assess the poverty and circumstances of their family. We tend to choose younger children as the poorest tend to drop out of school early in order to work. Many of the children we help are blind, deaf, disabled or missing one or both parents or from minority ethnic groups such as the Khmer. We find that we do not currently need to positively discriminate in favour of girls as there is, unlike many other countries, very little discrimination like this in Vietnam. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
Do SCC's programmes work? |
|
A |
We can confidently reply yes, they do. We monitor our work closely to ensure that we achieve our targets and evaluate projects at regular intervals. We have seen our children pass exams and have their work exhibited. We have watched as they grow in confidence and knowledge better able to face the challenges of the world and fend for themselves. Each year we see older students start work in hotels, shops and offices in Ho Chi Minh City for on-the-job training. Some of the children now even qualify for a place at University – so we are sure something is working! |
|
|
|
|
Q |
How many people work for Saigon Children's Charity? |
|
A |
Altogether around 20 people work full-time for SCC. Some are responsible for individual programmes, some are teachers. All are dedicated and committed people. We also rely on a great group of volunteers around the world who help to do many things for us – from helping to spread the word and fundraising to supporting our English tuition. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
Can I volunteer? |
|
A |
Please see the volunteering section of this site for more information. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
Can I visit the Charity? |
|
A |
We are happy to help where we can with this but are too small to be able to respond to all requests. If you have a particular reason for wanting to visit a project please let us know and we’ll see what we can do. |
|
|
|
|
Scholarship's FAQs |
|
Q |
Why do some of the poorest children drop out of school early? |
|
A |
There are two reasons. The first is that the cost of school can be high in relation to the poorest families' income. Costs consist of school fees (although often modest in rural areas), contributions to school maintenance funds, insurance, books, pens, uniforms and travel expenses. Many of these costs have to be paid in advance, at the start of the school year in September and finding a lump sum like this is often impossible. Additionally, as children advance up through school the costs increase.
The second reason is that families need their children to contribute to the family somehow even though they only generate tiny earnings by gathering snails, catching fish, tending the buffalo, weeding the rice or babysitting. Engaged in a hard manual working life, these children soon forget what they have learnt in school and many become illiterate like their parents.
|
|
|
|
|
Q |
How do we choose the children? |
|
A |
Children are introduced through our Vietnamese partners such as schools, orphanages and local government authorities such as the Education Departments as well as community groups such as the Women's Union. We then visit the family to assess their poverty and to choose speedily and efficiently, impartially and objectively, the poorest children. The children do not need to be clever to be chosen nor do they have to pass any test - they just need to be eager to learn. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
What does a sponsored child receive? |
|
A |
At the beginning of the school year, each child receives a full set of textbooks and enough exercise books and pens to last them for the first half of the year. Every month of the school year, each child also receives 10kg of rice. This makes a valuable contribution to the household budget and is roughly equivalent to their "lost earnings" - what they could have earned had they had not gone to school. It represents between 10% and 15% of a poor family's earnings.
At Tet, the Vietnamese New Year (around late January and early February), we give a school uniform to each student. This is a propitious omen for the New Year as traditionally new clothes are worn at Tet. We also give the children more exercise books and pens for the second half of the school year as well as household goods such as shampoo, cooking oil and sugar. For children in particularly difficult circumstances we provide individually tailored help. This often involves giving bicycles to children who have moved up from primary school to junior high school as the journey to school suddenly becomes much longer.
|
|
|
|
|
Q |
Why don't we pay school fees? |
|
A |
We don't pay school fees as part of the basic scholarship package because we believe this is the parents' responsibility. We do not want to take away all of the parents' responsibility for educating their children or that of the local authority either. Nor do we want to encourage dependency on us. And, by keeping our costs down we can assist even more children.
In rare cases we will help with school fees through another scheme called Extra Help. This is designed to be short term and to tilt the balance in favour of the family for a short period and to enable them to get back on their feet and the child back to school. An example would be that of a family having migrated from one area to another to seek work but still without any official status.
|
|
|
|
|
Q |
How do we monitor the sponsored children? |
|
A |
Every month we check the school attendance of every child. If their attendance is poor, we will visit the family to find out the reason and offer additional help if they have suffered a disaster. For example, we sometimes give a bicycle or a little extra money if a parent has died. At the end of school year in June we collect the children's school reports. Although scholastic ability is not a criterion for choosing, we do encourage and expect the children to make steady school progress year after year and show signs of making an effort. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
Do the scholarships work? |
|
A |
This question scores a loud and emphatic YES! Not only does it work it works very well indeed. The effectiveness of our programme is revealed by the very small drop-out rate of children in our programme. In fact in schools where an SCC scholarship programme is in place drop out rates can fall from an average of 7% or 8% to just 1% or 2%. Success is revealed by the increasing numbers who go on to finish Class 12 and we even have a growing number who qualify to go on to college or university. |
|
|
|
|
Q |
Where does your donation go? |
|
A |
The donation covers the total cost of rice and books for the children and the cost of our scholarship staff in administering the scheme. |