COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CONSTRUCTION OF RURAL BRIDGES
HỮU NGHỊ 3 BRIDGE
(VESAF Bridge No. 16)
Phu My Commune, Phu Tan District, Ca Mau Province
Specifications: Steel-reinforced concrete bridge, length = 40 m, width = 2.2 m
Financial support: VESAF (70%) and People’s Committee of Phu My Commune (30%)
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
The new bridge has replaced an old, collapsed bridge that could not be used by local people, including school children, for river crossing in recent years.
03/06/2019: Groundbreaking
04/01/2019: Inauguration
HỮU NGHỊ 4 BRIDGE
(VESAF Bridge No. 17)
Hoa An Commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province
Specifications: Steel-reinforced concrete bridge, length = 25 m, width = 2.2 m
Financial support: VESAF (70%) and People’s Committee of Hoa An Commune (30%)
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
This new bridge facilitates safe river crossing for people in the Commune, including many school children. Until recently, there was no bridge at this location; the locals crossed the river by small boats or wood rafts.
03/02/2019: Groundbreaking
05/09/2019: Inauguration
HỮU NGHỊ 5 BRIDGE
(VESAF Bridge No. 18)
My Duc Dong Commune, Cai Be District, Tien Giang Province
Specifications: Steel-reinforced concrete; length = 27 m, width = 2.5 m
Financial support: VESAF (70%) and People of My Duc Dong Commune (30%)
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
The new bridge replaces a degrading footbridge that posed an extreme hazard for school children, especially during the rainy season.
03/01/2019: Groundbreaking
05/30/2019: Inauguration
06/19/2019: Poetic acknowledgment from Bridge-to-Friendship Club
Công trình từ thiện đã xong
Chân thành cảm tạ tấm lòng bao la
Dù rằng cách trở nơi xa
Nhưng tâm vẫn mãi mặn mà yêu thương
Trọn bề cùng với quê hương
Xây cầu nối bến, con đường lưu thông
Mái nhà che nắng, mưa giông
Người dân vui sướng, ước mong đạt thành
Chiếc cầu soi bóng như tranh
Lung linh dòng nước trong xanh lững lờ
Duyên quê nối trọn đôi bờ
Ê a tiếng hát trẻ thơ vui đùa
“ Ví dầu những sớm cùng trưa
Em đi đến lớp nắng mưa chẳng nề
Cầu ngang bắt nhịp sông quê
Cho em vững bước, tiến về tương lai”
Nguyễn Thành Đạt
Chủ nhiệm (Chairman)
Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club)
VĨNH HƯNG BRIDGE
(VESAF Bridge No. 19)
Tran Phan Commune, Đam Doi District, Ca Mau Province
Specifications: Steel-reinforced concrete; length = 28 m, width = 2.2 m
Financial support: VESAF and Ông Bà Trần Đăng Long (Nam Định)
Logistic and technical support: Nhóm Ái Hữu Công Chánh Sàigòn (AHCC-Saigon, Fellow Civil Engineers Group in Saigon) and local volunteers
This new bridge will facilitate safe river crossing for people in the Commune, including many school children. At present, there is no bridge at this location; the locals cross the river by using small boats.
05/24/2019: Groundbreaking
09/17/2019: Inauguration
CONSTRUCTION OF RURAL ROADS
VĨNH LỘC A2 ROAD
(VESAF Road No. 5)
Vinh Loc A Commune, Hong Dan District, Bac Lieu Province
Specifications: concrete; length: 1,135 m, width: 0.8 m, thickness: 8 cm
Financial support: VESAF (70%) and People of Vinh Loc A Commune (30%)
Logistic and technical support: Nhóm Ái Hữu Công Chánh Sàigòn (AHCC-Saigon, Fellow Retired Civil Engineers - Saigon) and local volunteers
This new road will replace a slippery dirt road, previously named đường Bến Luông, in Vinh Loc A Commune, which the children use everyday to attend grade school.
05/17/2019: Groundbreaking
09/18/2019: Inauguration
BUILDING HOMES WITH LOVE (NHÀ TÌNH THƯƠNG) FOR FAMILIES IN NEED
NHÀ TÌNH THƯƠNG VESAF No. 3
(Mái Ấm Tình Thương 3)
Hamlet 5, Hoa My Commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province
Specifications: Prefabricated structure, concrete floor, length = 9 m, width = 4 m, height = 4 m
Financial support: VESAF
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
Recipients: Mr. Nguyễn Ngọc Đức and family (husband and wife, and 2 young children)
03/09/2019: Groundbreaking
04/30/2029: Construction completed
NHÀ TÌNH THƯƠNG VESAF No. 4
(Mái Ấm Tình Thương 4)
Thanh My Hamlet, Hoa My Commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province
Specifications: Prefabricated structure, concrete floor, length = 9 m, width = 4 m, height = 4 m
Financial support: VESAF
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
Recipients: Mr. Nguyễn Thanh Hùng and family (husband and wife, 2 small children, and an old mother of poor health)
03/09/2019: Groundbreaking
03/23/2019: Project completed
NHÀ TÌNH THƯƠNG VESAF No. 5
(Mái Ấm Tình Thương 5)
Hamlet 5, Hoa My Commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province
Specifications: Prefabricated structure, concrete floor, length = 9 m, width = 4 m, height = 4 m
Financial support: VESAF
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
Recipients: Ms. Nguyễn Bích Thủy and family (single mother of poor health and 2 young children)
03/02/2019: Groundbreaking
03/19/2019: Project completed
NHÀ TÌNH THƯƠNG VESAF No. 6
(Mái Ấm Tình Thương 6)
Long Phung Hamlet, Hiep Hung Commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province
Specifications: Prefabricated structure, concrete floor, length = 9 m, width = 4 m, height = 4 m
Financial support: VESAF
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
Recipients: Mr. Phạm Văn Triệu and family (husband and wife, and 3 young children)
03/03/2019: Groundbreaking
04/17/2019: Project completed
NHÀ TÌNH THƯƠNG VESAF No. 7
(Mái Ấm Tình Thương 7)
Hiep Hung Commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province
Specifications: Prefabricated structure, concrete floor, length = 9 m, width = 4 m, height = 4 m
Financial support: VESAF
Logistic and technical support: Câu Lạc Bộ Nhịp Cầu Hữu Nghị (Bridge-to-Friendship Club) and local volunteers
Recipients: Mr. Nguyễn Văn Dũ and family (husband and wife, and 3 young children)
05/07/2019: Groundbreaking
05/27/2019: Project completed
SOLAR-POWERED LIGHTING
VESAF continue to partner with AHCC- Saigon and VU PHONG Company, Ltd. (Binh Duong, Vietnam) to provide solar-powered light to communities in need in the Mekong Delta.
06/22/2019: With the logistic support from AHCC-Saigon, VESAF expanded the solar lighting project to Long An Province, distributing solar light sets to 30 families in need in Mộc Hóa District.
01/15/2019: With the logistic support from AHCC-Saigon and VUPHONG Solar, VESAF distributed light sets to 26 families in need in Vĩnh Lộc A Commune, Hồng Dân District, after the inauguration of Vinh Loc A Bridge and Vinh Loc A Road.
MICROFINANCE
Economists and other social scientists know how hard the climb out of poverty is for poor rural people in developing countries. The many obstacles include the need to support a family while starting or expanding a business, acquiring needed business knowledge, access to markets for one's goods and/or services, the support of other community members, and above all, finding the financial capital to invest in the needed tools and supplies. Microfinance programs, which supply needy entrepreneurs with small ($300-500) loans after organizing them into local support groups, overcome the last two of these obstacles. The loans are repaid to the lending organization, which then recycles the funds into new loans to other similar individuals and communities. Such microfinance programs multiply the benefits of the invested funds to the benefit of the borrowers and their neighbors.
Since 2017, in an extensive and expanding microfinance program, VESAF has partnered with Hearts For Hue (H4H), a Vietnamese nongovernmental organization based in Hue, to provide microloans to families in need in the region. These loans have gone to a total of 225 families in various hamlets and townships in Thua Thien Hue Province. Forty seven of these were made with repayment funds from previous recipients. And as more loans are repaid and additional families participate, we can expect this to lead to a continued expansion of the program and its benefits. The funds have been used in a variety of productive ways: to expand supplies offered in rural retail stores and service establishments such as beauty parlors, and to buy and plant pomelo trees.
VINH PHÚ PROJECT
Hamlet 16, Vinh Phu Commune, Phu Vang District, Thua Thien Hue Province
07/22/2019: 10 new loan recipients were added to the program with loan repayment funds
01/12/2019: VESAF provided additional funds to support the 26 initial participants, each receiving 10,000,000 VNĐ in the second phase of the loan program. In addition, 24 new recipients were added to the program with loan repayment funds.
05/12/2018: 10 new loan recipients were added to the program with loan repayment funds.
09/12/2017: 6 new loan recipients were added to the program with loan repayment funds.
04/12/2017: 3 new loan recipients were added to the program with loan
01/12/2017: H4H distributed VESAF loans (7,000,000 VNĐ each) to the 26 families participating in the first phase of the loan program.
QUẢNG PHƯỚC PROJECT
Lam Ly and Mai Duong Hamlets, Quang Phuoc Commune, Quang Dien District, Thua Thien Hue Province
04/17/2019: VESAF provided additional funds to continue the support for the 26 initial participants, each receiving 10,000,000 VNĐ, in the second phase of the loan program. In addition, 11 new recipients were added to the program with loan repayment funds.
05/17/2018: 13 new loan recipients were added to the program with loan repayment funds
03/17/2017: Loans (7,000,000 VNĐ each) were disbursed to 26 participating families in the first phase of the loan program
HƯƠNG VÂN PROJECT
Huong Van Commune, Huong Tra Township, Thua Thien Hue Province
04/20/2019: 11 new loan recipients were added to the program with available loan repayment funds
01/20/2019: 20 new recipients were added to the existing loan program with available loan repayment funds
11/20/2018: VESAF provided additional funds to support 50 more participants in the expanding program.
09/20/2018: 15 new loan recipients were added to the program with available loan repayment funds.
07/20/2018: 15 new loan recipients were added to the program with available loan repayment funds.
05/20/2018: Expanding the program in Huong Van, VESAF provided additional funds to H4H in order to support 50 new participants.
01/20/2018: Loans (7,000,000 VNĐ each) were disbursed to 26 families participating in the first phase of the loan program.
View Videos of Progress and Case Stories: Expanding a beauty parlor, Planting pomelo trees, Running a retail store
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
VESAF SCHOLARSHIP AT HUE UNIVERSITY
Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province
The Foundation has created a VESAF scholarship program at Hue University in 2018.
09/12/2019: On the first day of the 2019-2020 academic year, the representative of VESAF, Hearts for Hue, and Hue University distributed the VESAF scholarship to 32 underprivileged students at the University.
These students, all of whom are from families experiencing severe financial and/or medical hardship, were awarded the scholarships for their strong academic performance. They will continue to receive VESAF scholarship support until graduation if they continue to demonstrate a good academic standing and good conduct in the following school years.
04/17/2019: Representing VESAF, Hearts for Hue, in cooperation with Hue University, distributed the second half of the 2018-2019 VESAF scholarship to all 32 deserving students at the University.
02/26/2019: Hearts for Hue represented VESAF to distribute the first half of VESAF scholarships to 20 underprivileged students who are studying in various Schools of Hue University (9 students in medicine and pharmacy, 4 in pedagogy, 4 in economics, and 3 in physical sciences) during the 2018-2019 academic year.
VESAF SCHOLARSHIP AT XUÂN LỘC PRIMARY SCHOOL
Xuan Loc Commune, Phu Loc District, Thua Thien Hue Province
Starting with the 2019-2020 academic year, VESAF awards scholarships to good students in great need of financial help at Xuan Loc Primary School, in Xuan Loc Commune, Phu Lọc District, Thua Thien Hue Province. Without VESAF support, many of these students would have to drop out of school. Representing VESAF, Hearts for Hue works with school administrators to determine those students who deserve scholarships.
Xuan Loc is a poverty-stricken mountainous community, with a population of 2,820 people, 85% of them being of Van Kieu and Ka Tu ethnics. Most of the local people earn their living by farming, and many do not have the ability to send their children to school.
09/27/2019: On the first day of the current academic year, Hearts for Hue represented VESAF to distribute VESAF scholarships to 50 deserving students at Xuan Loc Primary School.
HUMANITARIAN AID
“MÁI ẤM TÌNH THƯƠNG” ORPHANAGE AT QUANG CHÂU PAGODA
Hoa Chau Commune, Hoa Vang District , Da Nang
01/10/2019: VESAF continued to financially support “MÁI ẤM TÌNH THƯƠNG” Orphanage, operated by Quang Châu Pagoda. This Center is home to more than 100 orphans, ranging in age from newborn infants to teenagers, and is also helping old, poor, and dependent individuals without families with lodging, meals, clothing, and medical care.
