THE DUY VINH PROJECT

 

Typical Classroom

 

We often take education for granted. But in Southeast Asia, Access to education is often difficult. Children in Vietnam attend school for an average of only 5 years. Access to primary school education has progressed considerably, but enrollment in secondary education level is not as strong. The number of out-of-school children in rural areas is almost as twice as high as in urban areas.

 

Riding to school on bikes

 

Secondary schools are often located too far from home or the children must often help contribute to the household income. Education is valuable as our most effective tool for personal empowerment For this reason, we have combined our efforts to see that the children of the remote island of Duy Vinh Vietnam.The aim of our project is to raise money to help the children in the remote village of Duy Vinh to continue their education, and under better circumstances.

Duy Vinh is an island located about 5 kilometers from the town of Hoi An in Central Vietnam. Almost 300 impoverished families live on this island, and 72 children currently attend the elementary school. The families on the island live from minimum revenue made mostly from weaving mats, and recently they have less work due to the less expensive machine-made mats. They do not have the means to provide a decent education for their children. School uniforms and supplies are costly and oftern the parents need their children to help with work to support the family. There are few children on the island that are able to continue their schooling beyond elementary school. Most parents cannot afford to purchase a bicycle so their child may travel to school, which can often be located many kilometers from their villages.

The Duy Vinh Project is a joint project run by the association Outback Riviera in the South of France and Heaven & Earth Bicycle located in the town of Hoi An in Central Vietnam. In Vietnam, Heaven & Earth Bicycle helps support the people of the village through equitable tourism, hiring local guides, charity tours, and offering the remote island of Duy Vinh an opportunity to benefit from small groups of tourists visiting the island on bicycle. Heaven & Earth Bicycle had been purchasing school supplies and uniforms for the school children for several years before Outback Riviera’s involvement in 2014 and efforts to raise funding for the children to continue their education.

In 2016 each international class of the Institute Fenelon began sponsoring a child’s education and the classes continue to sponsor the child each year. Nine children are currently being sponsored, but we would like to be able raise funds to sponsor the 27 children in the school so they each have an equal opportunity to an education.

 

Presenting Sports Equipment to School        Our Sponsored Students  Our Team with School Staff

                                                            

The Team

Cindy Bearce-Maffini, Project Coordinator in France. Founder of Outback Riviera and adoptive parent with children from Vietnam.

Pascal Rousseau, Project Coordinator in Vietnam. Co-owner of Heaven & Earth Bicycle in Hoi An Vietnam and originator of the Duy Vinh School project

Alexandre Maffini, Liaison with Universities. Born in Phu Tho, Vietnam, Currently a third year language student at University of Aix-Marseille

Emily Maffini, Liaison with Institute Fenelon. Born in Da Nang, Vietnam, currently in her final year at the Lycée Fenelon Grasse

 

Computer room before donation     New Computers  

 

Our Actions Since 2014 with the generous aid of the Institut Fenelon, Grasse...

2014  Sports Equipment for the School

2015  Computer Equipment for the School

2016  Sponsorship of 8 children in their continued studies; primary school, high school

2017  Sponsorship of 8 children in their continued studies; primary school, high school, university

2018  Sponsorship of 27 primary school children in their studies, Goal: 1500€

2019  Outback Riviera begins sponsoring 5 primary school students

 We are proud to learn that the first of the students we had sponsored successfully finished their studies.