Will you help us restore hope for a better future?
Families living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam near the Cambodian border live in extreme poverty. They are ethnic minorities, and the local government provides few resources for them.
Our missionary friars came to this area in 2005 to bring the Gospel in word and deed to the local people. When they arrived, they found the families living in shacks without electricity or running water. The children were small, weak, and skinny due to harsh living conditions and the lack of food.
Sometimes, the families go without anything to eat for days and are often malnourished, making them vulnerable to infections and disease. None of the children have shoes or sandals. They are all barefoot.
The adults must do strenuous labor working in the forests or in the fields just to try and feed their families. Many carry their young children on their backs while they work or let them crawl on the ground in the rain and mud or the baking sun.
Without an education, the children are trapped.
Our friars also witnessed adolescent children staying home from school to care for their younger siblings so their parents could work. The older children were missing out on their chance to get an education.
Unfortunately, no kindergartens or daycare programs have been established by the local government for ethnic minority children in the Central Highlands. Kindergartens are only for children of the Kinh ethnic group, the majority community. Ethnic minority families are very poor and cannot afford to send their children to those kindergartens.
Without an education, the children are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Most are illiterate, and many suffer from impaired psychological and social development. They will live out their entire lives in dire poverty and despair.
Our Franciscan missionaries need your help
Father Peter Nguyen Trung Phat, OFM and our other missionary friars felt compelled to do something to help after experiencing the tragic situation of these minority children. They decided to establish daycare programs for the children.
The Franciscan daycares are open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The daycares are set up to care for children from 1 to 5 years of age.
This extensive schedule allows the parents to labor in the forests and fields knowing that their children are safe and well cared for. It also allows the older siblings to attend school and achieve their own education instead of caring for their younger siblings.
From the local villages, our missionary friars recruited young ethnic women willing to work at the daycares. These women were sent for training in child-rearing methods and skills by religious sisters with expertise in preschool pedagogy. After two years of studies, the women returned to their ethnic villages to work in the daycare centers.
The children at our Franciscan daycares are served three meals a day. Lunch, the largest meal of the day, includes rice, some meat or fish, and some vegetables. There are morning and afternoon snacks with soy milk or something depending on the availability of funding.
Our missionary friars established the first daycare in Bo village in 2005, then gradually established 6 others: Eahuh village, 2006; Kutong village, 2010; K’Mong village, 2011; O village, 2012; Nu village, 2016; and Djoh village, 2020.
Currently, there are 7 daycare centers with 386 preschool students and 25 teachers!
You can restore hope for a better tomorrow
– Select [24A8DC] Restore Hope for a Better Future – Day Care Program in Vietnam
Vietnam is a poor country, and our missionary friars have limited resources. Fr. Peter and our missionary friars in Vietnam have submitted an emergency request for funding the daycares to restore hope to these poor families. He has asked for $20,000.
I am writing today to ask you to help Fr. Peter and our other missionary friars give these children a chance to break the vicious cycle of poverty, so they do not have to work their entire lives in the woods or as farm laborers. Please help provide these children with the learning experience that will develop the skills they need for a better future.
Will you send a generous donation today to help Fr. Peter give these children hope by allowing them to go to school? Your gift to help a child reflects your loving heart and your commitment to helping the poor.
YOU have a special place in the prayers of all our friars because you support our Gospel work around the world. Please help our missionary friars restore hope to minority children and allow them to dream of a better tomorrow!
Thank you for your generous support.
With a hopeful heart,
Brother Andrew Brophy, OFM
Executive Director
P.S. Thank you for your wonderful generosity. Your donation today will give a child living in dire poverty the opportunity to attend daycare. It will also give that child hope and the chance for a better future.
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