Vietnam: Street Vendors’ Children Receive Free Education In Ho Chi Minh.

Impoverished children roamed the streets during the day, unable to get an education . . . until the Tan Hung Charity School changed their lives for the better.

There are plenty of temporary residents in the Tan Hung Ward of Ho Chi Minh City.  Early each morning, populous streams of vendors trudge from the outskirts into the city.  They pull their carts long distances to set up urban sidewalk stands where they sell food items and small trinkets to urban workers.  As they barter with clients, the vendors work long hours, hoping to make enough money during the day to support their families.

Meanwhile, their children wander about the streets to polish shoes, sell lottery tickets, and occasionally get into trouble.  These children cannot enter state or charter schools because they lack money, household registrations, or temporary residence permits.  As such, the day merchants’ children in the Tan Hung Ward remain uneducated, doomed to the poverty experienced by their parents.

But the Tan Hung Charity School changed that.  The school offers free education to 150 children, provides them with their books and learning supplies, gives them a uniform, and ensures they eat a nutritious lunch each day.  (For some, it is their only meal of the day.) Because their parents are busy selling wares on the street from early morning until late evening, the school’s schedule parallels the same extended hours.

Through a special arrangement with the government, students who successfully complete their school studies can transfer into the public school system, continuing their education at no cost to the students. As such, Tan Hung Charity school offers a unique way to triumph over a system that otherwise denies them educational opportunities. These disadvantaged children become educated, contributory citizens with an academic skillset that prepares them for well-paying jobs. It helps them break through the glass ceiling, which otherwise would keep them uneducated and impoverished.

Update:

Your contributions helped provide these underprivileged students learning materials, lunchtime meals, and free classroom tuition.