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Need more financial resources for Vietnamese children to get better care

19/06/2017

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It was a mid-May day, we had the opportunity to set feet in Quy Hop, a mountainous district the northwestern part of Nghe An province, where the school milk program – For Vietnamese Stature has played its full role: be nutritional relief for children in particularly difficult circumstances.

Improve meals quality for the poor

Quy Hop was raining continually, with the wet air and the mountainous forest rich fragrance. The first place we visited was Chau Cuong Nursery School, Ha Dong.

The outside school was built quite attractive with spacious campus and many games for the children. Especially, these toys were set by the school's teachers at the mechanical workshops in the town.

What made us impressive was the 30-metre-square yard covered by vegetables grown by the teachers and the children themselves. This was an incremental increase, helping to reduce the cost of food that had been already limited at this mountainous school.

Amidst the same-aged cohort holding the milk with the excitement and curiosity in the eyes toward the strange visitors, we especially paid attention to one boy who has a swarthy complexion, worn a shirt tank top above a threadbare short. His eyes were full of sparkling joy and his smile seemed to breaks invisible barriers that blew all glooms in such a rainy day.

His name is Sam Dinh Chieu, 4 years old, one of the students in extremely difficult circumstances. After talking to the teacher in charge, our team was taken to Chieu’s home to talk and ascertain about his family.

 

Sam Dinh Chieu enjoys going to school with the support from the nutrient programs.

 

The tiny house of Chieu’s family laid on a large piece of land, surrounded by trees, including wild plants. Around the house had a few more vegetable beds. The small kitchen was erected with green canvas, with plenty of dry wood, miscellaneous bottles and a small handkerchief with a dozen pieces of fresh white bamboo shoots. Next to the pot, there were a few pieces of meat as small as two fingers.

Mrs. Linh - mother of Chieu clarified that due to having guests, she specially bought for children some meat, which normally did not appear in their quotidian meals.

Unconsciously, all of us looked at each other, a choking feeling stuck up our neck and spitted our eyes. This was my family's daily meal. Compared to an urban one, we did not know whether to call it a meal or not.

Many of our team wondered if with the amount of food for all family members is enough for a child who is in need of nutrients such as Chieu to grow? The answer is clear. But look at him, he is still solid, healthy compared to a 4-year-old kid.

In conversation with the school, we were told that he had gained 3cm in height and 4kg in weight since he attended school six months ago. Recalling the milk carton that he held in the afternoon, we thought it was a part of the probable reason.

 

 

The joy of  children in Chau Cuong preschool when drinking milk at school

 

Exchanging with Mrs. Sam Thi Ly - Teacher in charge of Chieu, we had informed that, since the school milk program – For Vietnamese Stature Fiundation operated in school, she and other teachers have worked harder but happier to see the children have milk to drink.

Before the new academic year (September 2016), the school had 8 children in the form of malnutrition, now only one child. Parents who learned about the program initially also objected to the idea that the family had to pay extra for milk, but did not know the consequence. However, now most of them support this project because of the practical effectiveness.

"The program always supports the price of milk for the children, as Chieu gets 100% free. I just hope this program is sustained." she said.

Need for supporting resources

Mr. Dang Thai Huong - Specialist of Quy Hop district education department, in charge of school milk, said: "Quy Hop district has 20 communes, 1 town, up to 14 communes with special difficulties (area 135). The district has 23 preschools and 26 elementary schools.

In the school year 2016 - 2017, when deployed School Milk Program – For Vietnamese Stature, the district has 14.942 out of 17,916 primary school pupils, accounting for 83.4%. Of which, 88.5% of children were enrolled in preschool, 79.5% of those coming from primary school. The number of poor children who drink free milk is 4,533 (25%).”

The fact is that the program is strongly supported in poor areas, because the rate of poor pupils is very supportive, as in Quy Hop, 25% of pupils are given free milk.

"But the program needs to be expanded and accessible to all students, not just poor and near-poor students, to ensure that all students enjoy the school's nutrition," said Huong.

Evaluation of the results of the implementation of the school milk program, Huong said, Vietnamese school milk – For Vietnamese Stature is a very humanitarian program.

"Thanks to this program, the inadequate children in remote areas like Quy Hop are able to drink milk daily. A box of milk for students in the city, the plain is nothing, but for poor families here, it is very precious. The value is not in money, but in the maintenance of regular daily drinking which helps their children develop mental fitness - which poor parents have tried, nonetheless, not had enough conditions to meet for children.” Mr. Huong said.

 

The daily 3:15 to 3:30 milk meal, the children learn the nutrition lessons and put waste in place

 

In fact, in Quy Hop, the rate of malnutrition and stunting in kindergartens is usually at 11-13% at the beginning of the academic year. However, after one year of schooling, this rate has dropped to between 2.5 - 4.9%. At the elementary level, this percentage has dropped from 8.6% to 4.9%.

 

In remote parts of the country, children are in need of school milk boxes in meals to be healthier to attend school

 

Accompanying with the People's Committee of Nghe An province to implement the school milk program is TH Group. Madam Thai Huong – President of Th group shared: "International and national scientific studies have shown that children aged 0 to 12 are at 86 percent of individuals’ physical and mental development. However, for many reasons, most of mothers cannot properly take care of their kids’ nutrients, including milk, which is especially for 2-year- old babies, leaving breast milk.”

“We believe that mothers will understand the benefits of breastfeeding in order not to miss out on their children's developmental opportunities during this golden period. Every day passing is the fact that these chances are lost." she noted.

In sympathy with poor children, TH Group - through For Vietnamese Stature Foundation has developed the model "social mothers" supporting poor mothers with milk for children to develop stature. In this remote mountainous district, TH Group’s commitment has been the most drastically realized.

Goodbye Chieu and his family, Chau Cuong Kindergarten and teachers, we continue with our journey, to visit other families. The little dream of the Chieu’s teacher impressed us: "Just hope that the school milk program is maintained forever...”

In the middle of nowhere in Viet Nam, there are young people in need of school milk boxes in the meal to be healthier to attend school.

There are many choices in life. However, the individual’s choices that bring benefits to the community are vital and valuable.

We returned with the hearts were riddle with the disquiet and concern.