Hoi Tu Thien: the homeless children's club

Hoi Tu Thien: the homeless children's club

Buu Tri Pagoda

Buu Tri Pagoda

Welcome

The Can Tho Youth Empowerment Project has partnered with VietHope and Princeton in Asia and is currently working with two institutions in Can Tho--Hoi Tu Thien and Chua Buu Tri--to provide educational opportunities to poor children in the community. Chua Buu Tri is a pagoda in Can Tho that houses and cares for nearly 50 orphans. Hoi Tu Thien is a home for poor and homeless children which houses almost 30 children and provides educational services for many more.

It is our belief that all children deserve an opportunity to flourish and it is our privilege to be able to offer services to help some children in great need follow their dreams. By creating and sponsoring several work-study positions, we have been able to develop a unique educational program which offers English lessons, Computer instruction, and tutoring to these children. At the same time we are providing students of Can Tho University with scholarships to support their own pursuit of education and valuable work-study experience that is relevant to their field of study.

As of December '07, we have seven part time student-workers involved with our project, and we have organized the following classes:



ENGLISH



-English for children (Under 12 years old) -- Two nights a week plus every other Saturday. (2 classes: 1 at Hoi Tu Thien, another at Buu Tri Pagoda)


-English for children (12 and over) -- Two nights a week plus every other Saturday. (2 classes: 1 at Hoi Tu Thien, another at Buu Tri Pagoda)


-English for adults (for volunteers and staff at both institutions, and for some of the older teachers)--Two nights a week (2 classes at Buu Tri Pagoda--beginner and intermediate levels).



COMPUTER LITERACY AND PRACTICE (Computers were donated by the Carrie Gordon Memorial Fund, and VietHope)



-Basic Computer and word processing skills--Eight separate groups, each meeting for one hour/week (four groups at Hoi Tu Thien and four groups at Buu Tri Pagoda)


-Computer practice --Eight supervised two hour practice sessions per week.


We have also worked with Nexus Australia to arrange vocational scholarships for area children in financial need.


This website is intended to document some of the work we have done at these institutions. For more information about our project or to find out what you can do to help please contact us at carriebrightvn@gmail.com.

News: Buu Tri Pagoda

News: 12/26/07: Some additional pictures of our classes and our team can be found at www.people.virginia.edu/~dw3xx

News: 11/22/07: This blog is undergoing a very long overdue update. New pictures, student profiles, and information will be posted soon, so check back often.

News: 04/19/07: We are very excited to announce that we will be cooperating with yet another fantastic institution in Can Tho to further our goal of providing educational resouces to some of the area's underprivileged youth. Buu Tri pagoda is the home to 39 abandoned children (including 9 children who arrived last year. Over the course of the last few weeks, I've been in contact with Su Co Tam Niem (the head nun at Buu Tri Pagoda) to discuss the possibility of replicating our program at Hoi Tu Thien at her institution. Su Co Tam Niem is very interested in our program and has given us full permission to administer an English and computer program at Buu Tri Pagoda.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Child Profile: Thuy


Meet Nguyen Thanh Thuy. She's 13 years old and also come from the town of Co Do, in Can Tho province. Her parents still live in Co Do with her younger brother, but they are very poor. Her father is able to eek out a living as a manual laborer in Co Do. She's been living at Hoi Tu Thien for more than three years now and only gets to go home 2 ro 3 times a year to see her family (although they are only a 30 minute motorbike ride from the orphanage). Thuy studies in the 8th grade. Her favorite subject is literature, because she "likes to read stories". When Thuy is older, she hopes to become a tailor. She's not sure why she wants to become a tailor, but she thinks it's a good job and she likes to sew.


Thuy studies in our English class and is also learning some basic computer skills in our program.
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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Dan,
I am a member of the PIA Board and you should know that we think you are doing a fabulous job with your program. The blog is a terrific idea and the thoughtfully written descriptions of the students make the program all the more compelling. Keep up the great work and keep letting us know how we can help!
Sharon Volckhausen, P'91

March 6, 2007 at 9:52 AM
d. white said...

Thanks for the positive feedback, and keep reading the blog! It's good to know that people are reading. I'll try to keep it updated regularly.

March 19, 2007 at 12:09 AM

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