Representatives of the Dak Lak provincial Child Sponsorship Fund present scholarships to poor students. (Photo: Nam Trang)

10-year-old Luc Thi Tham in Ea Hu village feels happy because, for the first time, she can live in a new and spacious house which the Dak Lak provincial Child Sponsorship Fund financed more than 2,100 USD to build.

Tham’s father died when she was very small, forcing her mother to shoulder the responsibility for all family affairs. Shortly after, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Day-to-day life has become a struggle, with household and medical expenses left to grants set aside for the poor, together with financial assistance from neighbors. The dire conditions have made Tham and her family not dare to repair the dilapidated house.

“I’m very happy to know that the provincial child sponsorship fund would finance my family to build a new house. Now, I won’t be afraid of rainwater leaking in any more or having to move to my grandparent’s house to sleep,” said Tham.

H’Nul Nie of the Ede ethnic group in Ea Gar hamlet is the youngest of four siblings. The family’s economic difficulties have forced her brothers to leave school in order to make money. H’Nul Niê is the only child to go to school. Well aware of the sacrifice of her brothers, especially when their father, the family’s breadwinner, died of drowning and thereafter with her mother falling ill, she has done the utmost to study hard and tend all household affairs so that her brothers feel secure to work. Despite life hardships, H’Nul Niê has been an excellent student for many consecutive years. Recently the fund has presented her a scholarship worth 43 USD as an encouragement for her better study.

H’Nul Nie said: “I am very excited to receive a scholarship this year. It will motivate me to work harder in the future.”

Seventh grader H’My Su of the Ede ethnic group in Drao hamlet is studying at Le Dinh Chinh Secondary School.  She is overjoyed to learn the fund presented her with a bike worth nearly 65 USD.

H'My Su said that for many years she routinely walked 2 km to school. To be at school on time, she always had to set out much earlier than her friends, rain or shine. For 3 consecutive years, she has been recognized as an excellent student with great potential.

H’My Su said: “I’m thrilled to have the bike. It is a meaningful gift for me, because it helps to shorten the distance from my house to school, leaving me with more energy for my studies. I will study harder to realize my dream of becoming a doctor.”

Since the beginning of this year, the Fund has presented nearly 460 scholarships and 100 bicycles to disadvantaged children with exemplary academic performance, and financed the construction of 11 houses for orphans. A total of 7,000 children in the province have benefited from the fund’s charitable programs worth more than 275,000 USD.

Lam Dinh Nhien, the Fund’s Director, said that the Fund will continue to call on social organizations and individuals to help children with disadvantages.

“We will continue to call for financial assistance to help construct a regional kindergarten and houses for underprivileged children in remote areas and provide free examinations and operations for children with congenital heart disease and with cleft lips and palates. More scholarships will be granted to encourage the children to attend school,” said Nhien.