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(15 Tuxuong, Q1, HCMville)

FRIENDS FOR STREET CHILDREN

(FFSC)

Sœur Le Thi Thao, directrice des AER
courriel: thao-ffsc@vnn.vn

Thomas Tran Van Soi, fondateur des AER,
au Maroc tohemigbm@yahoo.com.

La composition des AER

La brochure

Présentation des AER 

Le compte rendu septembre 2003 des AER :

sept2003.htm  

Attention pour lire les cractères vietnamiens, vous avez besoin de VNTIMES, en téléchargement libre sur

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FRIENDS FOR STREET CHILDREN (FFSC)

Catholic Committee

15 Tu Xuong Street, District 3

Hochiminh City, Vietnam

Tel: (848) 829-6951 E-mail: tohemi@cinet.vnnews.com Fax: (848) 820-1374

Office Branch: Thomas Tran Van Soi

140/97 Vo Thi Sau Street, suite # 201 Executive Director

Ward 8, District 3

Hochiminh City, Vietnam

February 2002

PART I: FFSC &endash; AN OVERVIEW

A. CONTACT INFORMATION

1. Name of Association: FRIENDS FOR THE STREET CHILDREN (FFSC)

2. Address: 140/97 Vo Thi Sau Street, District 3, Hochiminh City, Vietnam

3. Telephone number: (84.8)8296951

4. Fax number: (84.8)8201374

5. E-mail address:

tohemi@cinet.vnnews.com

6. Executive Director: Mr. THOMAS TRAN VAN SOI

B. PHILOSOPHY

The supreme principles are eloquently expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been signed and ratified by most nations in the world. A child's right to survival, development, an equitable living standard, health care, safety, education, and non-discrimination would remain purely theoretical unless adequate personnel, proper development methods and feasible material conditions are mobilized.

The above Convention is the fruit of the human intellect and a standard with which to measure the civilized level of the human race in respecting and promoting human dignity, especially the dignity of those helpless innocent children who need special care and protection. It has brought to mind an awareness in mankind of the need to protect and care for children. Vietnam was the second nation in the world to sign this Convention, and we would like to help transform this awareness into a reality.

C. OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the Friends For Street Children is to take care of street children and of countless numbers of disadvantaged and marginalized children so that they will achieve a self-confident and independent life with their own cultural abilities and occupations when they grow up. This objective is realized through different programs.

D. ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION

FFSC is a social non-profit organization under the Hochiminh City Catholic Committee. It was established in 1993. After 4 years of an experiment period, FFSC programs were introduced formally in 1997. Mr. Thomas Tran Van Soi, who worked for many years with marginalized/disadvantaged and street children is the founder of FFSC.

Organizational Chart

Currently, FFSC delivers its social services to 1,635 children and their families in 8 Development Centers. Such Development Centers are Le Minh Xuan, Binh Trieu, Binh Hung, Pham Van Hai, Phu Tho, Tan Huong, Thu Thiem, and Binh Tho. Within the centers are 44 Development Classes and many vocational training courses.

Currently, we have the following activities:

For children

a) Warm shelter

- For boarders: FFSC provides board, lodging and educational means for orphans, displaced children, helpless children, and children in extremely difficult circumstances until they are integrated into their family, community and society.

- For day-pupils: classes are held for children whose families are unable to care for their children due to difficult circumstances so that the children may have an opportunity for education and development.

b) Integration

Integration for disadvantaged children is through the Development Classes. There are now 44 classes in 8 Development Centers from Kindergarten to Grade 5 for children aged between 5 to 17 who are unable to attend mainstream schools. Education activity in these Development Classes enables children in difficult circumstances (displaced/disadvantaged children) to be qualified enough to be admitted to mainstream schools of the formal system. Discrimination is to be eliminated and normalization encouraged for children.

c) Scholarship/sponsorship

FFSC gives scholarship and financial assistance for children in mainstream schools. The beneficiaries of this activity are pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school due to a financial problem.

d) Vocational training

The vocational training courses are for children in the Centers or in the community who are interested in sewing, embroidery, computer skills, playing the organ, learning English, etc. The vocational training activities aim to provide a means for children to be able to earn a living.

For parents

FFSC also delivers activities for the children's concerned parents.

e) Counseling

f) Lecturing for parents by required topics

g) Facilities for parent groups

h) Saving-microcredit skills

i) Awareness raising activities

For FFSC staff

j) Professional development for staff: training

i) Foreign experiences

E. EXISTING PARTNERS OF FFSC

At the present, we have the following partners and sponsors who have been helping and assisting our activities for children.

1. ACA-AQUA (Japan).

2. Fr. ASADA TOSHIO and Mrs & Mr KIM NOBUO (Kyoto, Japan).

3. Fr. MICHELCHRISTIAENS, Matsubara Catholic Church-Oriens Institute (Japan).

4. ISHIKAWA - Ken UNESCO ASSOCIATION and Professor MATSUHARU Kawabata (Japan).

5. OECD and Mrs RUTH STOCK (France).

6. OLIVIER DE MONDE and Mr DANIEL LANCE (France).

7. PROJECT AOSIS JAPAN - STREET CHILDREN COMMITTEE

8. RICOH Company/Asia section through its HCMC office.

9. RINSAI ASIA CENTER KOBE (RACK) and the Most Venerable KONO (Japan).

10. The GLOBAL FUND FOR CHILDREN

11. Mrs. YOSHII MICHIKO who is active on external relationships to get the confidence of many individuals, organizations, co-partners and benefactors.

PART II: FFSC - DEVELOPMENT CENTERS

FFSC has 8 Development Centers. Each center has its own history and characteristics. The number of children each center is different. In general, the program of each center is the same. However, each center has a different approach which is adequate to its situation.

1. BINH TRIEU DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Binh Trieu Development Center is at No. 30B/1 of National 13 Street, Bình Trieäu Hamlet, Hieäp Bình Ward, Thuû Ñöùc District, near the Bình Trieäu train station and the Bình Trieäu market. This center was established in 1993 as a pilot program of the Hochiminh City Catholic Committee &endash; with 3 children living in a small wooden house situated on small piece of land. In 1994, two others wooden houses were built on another piece of land. At the same time, another small house (4m x 6m) was bought to response to the needs in the future.

In May of 1995 a dedicated woman came to live in this new house to begin the first steps of the program. After two months she contacted about 100 children who were street or homeless or displaced children. She grouped about 20 children and started teaching them to write and to read.

In June of 1995 FFSC bought another simple house to take in children as boarders. In July of 1995 FFSC repaired the power system, dug a water well and made tables and benches and provided school tools to classes. At the end 1995, 3 boys and 4 girls began living in this house under the care of the person in charge.

In 1997 this wooden house was replaced by another house covered by iron roofing. A hedge was planted at the front of the house.

On November 22,1997 Binh Trieu Development Center of FFSC was recognized officially by the Hochiminh City Catholic Committee through its announcement that the house was open, including Development Classes.

Since then, Bình Trieäu Development Center has expanded. By the end of 1999, a new house (a dormitory) was built. Today, there are 31 children who board, 37 day-pupils, 150 children attending the Development Classes and 84 children participating in the Vocational Training activities.

2. THU THIEM DEVELOPMENT CENTER

The characteristic of Thu Thiem area

Thu Thiem, which is a rural village in a newly established district of HCMC, is located on the left side of the Saigon River, and has a population of 10,000 persons. Thu Thiem has slowly been urbanized by both governmental policy and social trend. The government has launched a project to build a tunnel under the Saigon River in order to develop Thu Thiem and its area. Therefore, a lot of illegally-built houses along the riverside have been evacuated without compensation. Some of these families moved to a cemetery and built temporarily houses. Some moved to rice-fields. The living conditions are very poor due to the lack of hygiene and the shortage of food and medicine. Many people have no jobs. Children are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. Most of them are not able to go to school, and they hang out on the graves or steal or fight one another. The children, who live in the rice field, prefer chasing frogs and tadpoles and groping for field crabs than going to school.

Aside from that, some families from the countryside rent houses temporarily while they make living. Their children sell chewing gum and lottery tickets and do errands to earn money. Moreover, lots of families whose parents have a low educational attainment do not care about their children's study. This reality means their children will of play rather than study.

Beside, many teenager girls become prostitutes in dancing-bars or on foreign ships. The increase in prostitution is alarming.

Thu Thiem Development Center - History and Activities:

The building of Thuû Thieâm Development Center was begun by the Lovers of the Holy Cross Congregation. From the very beginning, Thu Thiem Development Center received financial support from FFSC for some of its programs such as the Development Classes, scholarship programs, and vocational training programs.

In 1993 the Center had 5 Development Classes in which about 60 out-of-school children were enrolled. The number of children 1995 was 82. In the 1998-1999 school year there were 141 children, and in the 1999-2000 school year there were 157 children. Today, there are 205 children enrolled at the Thu Thiem Development Center.

3. LE MINH XUAN DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Le Minh Xuan Village lies in Binh Chanh District, one of the outer districts of Hochiminh City. It has an area of 36.5 km 2 and is 30 km from Saigon Center in the Southwest direction.

Le Minh Xuan is a commune which was formed after 1975. Previously the area was a sparsely-populated wasteland. In 1976 the area became a New Economic Zone. People from various places gathered here to do farming (mainly sugar canes and pineapples). Hence, private sugar refineries were set up. Gradually with the depopulation policy adopted by the Government, more and more people moved to this area. Most of them are immigrants without houses and professional skills. They came from Northern, Central, and Western provinces of Vietnam.

The immigrants make a living by working for private sugar refineries or doing manual work: grass cutting, soil digging, etc. Though they do hard work they are paid very little. Until now many of them have been unable to secure a house of their own. They, together with their families, have to live temporarily in the sugar refinery compounds. They really live a hard life. Their children find it impossible to go to school, partly because they have no residence permits and birth-certificates and partly because their parents are so poor. They have to earn money for survival by making and selling joss-sticks (there is a pagoda nearby). However the situation is becoming worse now. Reasons: in the past few years the price of cane sugar has decreased sharply. Sugar refineries have to close. Only a few of them are in operation and they operate intermittently. The residents face even more difficulties. They have to work far away from their homes as bricklayers or hired laborers. Children are mostly engaged in selling lottery tickets. They even go to Hochiminh City to earn money as peddlers and lottery ticket sellers. Thus, coming to school classes is only a dream to them.

In 1993, FFSC established an educational program for children in communities on the outskirts of Hochiminh City. The program started with classes called "Cau Xang Love Class", later it became known as Le Minh Xuan Development Center. At first a thatch-roofed rustic house was used as a classroom for 30 children. Student's tables and chairs were borrowed from a refreshment shop nearly. Yet, the striking thing was that neither teachers nor students missed any classes.

Gradually with the assistance of benefactors the classes have been maintained, developed and extended. Not only have the children had the opportunity to learn they also, from time to time, have been awarded presents (including toys, story-books, clothes, etc.) to encourage their study spirit.

In the year 2000, with the support of Ms. TAKAGI Kazuko, a new house was built for the children of the Le Minh Xuan Development Center.

4. PHAM VAN HAI DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Pham Van Hai is a neighboring area of Le Minh Xuan. At the beginning there were only 2 classes with 25 pupils and 1 teacher. Today, there are 32 pupils who are taken care of by one teacher.

5. TAN HUONG DEVELOPMENT CENTER

There are 237 children studying in 7 Development Classes, 1 embroidery training class and 1 English class. These children come from the Ward 16, Taân Bình District. The children and their parents earn money by scavenging. Their living environment is not good, therefore they have respiratory and skin diseases.

Before FFSC cooperated with Sister Marcel, who is from the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent, she took care of children from Taân Höông Development Center. FFSC was responsible for the payment of the social workers and teachers. Sister Marcel was responsible for other fees. Today, Sister Marcel is accountable for educational activities, FFSC is accountable for social activities.

6. PHU THO DEVELPOMENT CENTER

The residents of Phu Tho area are very poor. They live in dilapidated thatch-roofed houses. Their level of education is low, their income is unstable. As a consequence, their children have no opportunity to go to school classes. In addition, they moved to the area from various places with different needs. They make their living at any costs and by any means. Social problems spread quickly, effecting children considerably. Needless to say education is one of their priority needs.

Phu Tho Development Center was founded in 1991. Now it belongs to The People Committee of Ward 15, District 11. Because of a lack of funds (only 350.000 VND/month) the person who is in charge of this Center asked FFSC for support.

Thanks to the assistance of FFSC, Phuù Thoï Development Center maintains its activities. There are now 68 pupils in the Center.

7. BINH HUNG DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Binh Hung Development Center is 6 km away from downtown Hochiminh City. It is situated on the left of Interprovincial Road No. 50, on the way to Can Giuoc from District 8. According to the Government City Development Planning, Binh Hung will become, in year 2010, a new part of Hochiminh City bearing the name of "Quan Nam Saigon" (Southern District of Saigon).

Over 70% of residents are immigrants. They came there from all parts of the country in order to find jobs. Some are from Central Vietnam and from Western provinces in South Vietnam, where they suffer from flood and other natural disasters. Others are poor people who lived for a long time along canals in Hochiminh City without legalized papers and who had their houses removed, without any compensation, by order of the government.

These families lead an unstable life. They possess nothing: no house, no capital, no career. More than 50% of them are illiterate. Most of them live in small tented houses which are covered with thatch or corrugated iron and lack hygienic facilities. The rental ranges between 100,000 and 250,000 VND/month. They make a living by selling lottery tickets, collecting waste materials, being peddlers, bricklayers, hired laborers, and plucking ducks' feathers. Their jobs are irregular. They live in poverty and are heavily in debt because they have to borrow money at high interest rates for capital and for rental. A large majority of children in those families have to work as lottery tickets sellers, peddlers, hired laborers or do housework in order to contribute a bit to the family budget.

Regarding the educational situation, children do not go to school because they do not have legal papers, enough food, clothes and money to pay for school tuition as well as textbooks. Most of the residents are immigrants, so a lot of social problems and difficulties have arisen. A large number of children are illiterate and uncared for. They soon become victims of social evils such as drug addiction, gambling, alcoholism, prostitution, stealing and fighting.

Women's poor health and children's malnutrition are serious widespread problems. A lot of children attending school at the Center are seriously malnourished. Many women who are mothers of children attending school at the Center live from hand to mouth. They have to earn money for every meal in the family, regardless of their own health.

Binh Hung Development Center started its operation in 1992 to meet the needs of poor local residents who needs range from the desire of children to go to school to the wishes of parents to be understood, shared and given guidance. The Center conducts 7 Development Classes for 176 pupils from grade 1 to 5.

8. BINH THO DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Binh Tho ward belongs to Thu Duc District which is at North-Eastern Hochiminh City, boarding on District 2 and 9.

The residents from Binh Tho area are very poor.

Besides the local residents, immigrants from the North, West and the Central Vietnam who were hit by natural disasters such as floods, failure of crops, and starvation, have moved to Binh Tho ward to seek their living. There are other people who lived in clearance areas of Hochiminh City and move to Binh Tho causing the situation to become more complicated.

The living conditions of these families are very unstable due to their lack of professional skills and low educational attainment. Most of their jobs are to plant vegetables, do farming, be hired laborers, sell lottery tickets, be peddlers, be bricklayers, and be cyclo-drivers…

Most of these families are living in houses built of thatch and old wood, and the others have to live in rental houses at the cost of from 200,000 to 300,000 VND/month; or they have to live with their maternal/paternal families with many households sharing the same house.

The children here receive no care and have no access to school, or they have to stop their learning to become street children because they have no legal documents for schooling. And some of these children have to contribute their labor to help their parents earn a living.

The speed of urbanization together with the import of its cultural habits has contributed to the production of social problems, especially drugs &endash; easily adopted by young people and causing serious bad influence to today's youth in their life-style and behavior, which leads to serious problems in society.

To respond to the situation of Binh Tho, the Binh Tho Development Center was established in early 2001. The enrolment for the children has been carried out with the scheme of Development Classes (classes offered to the poor local children) since the school year of 2000-2001 with a total of 65 pupils. So far, there are 98 pupils who are in especially difficult circumstances. They are from 6 &endash; 17 years old. Among these children, there are children of single parents (father or mother died, divorced…), some are living with their paternal or maternal grandparents, and some are weak intellectually.