Socialist Republic of Vietnam

by Hoai Nam

QUANG TRI — Disadvantaged and disabled young people from Quang Tri will soon be able to study, learn job skills and undergo medical treatment in the central province following the official dedication of the Kids First Rehabilitation Village on the weekend.

Kids First, a Washington-based NGO, has been active in Quang Tri since 1997, when it established a scholarship programme for the province’s poorest young people.

These scholarships now support 320 local youth, including 100 students who have disabilities because of unexploded ordinance, landmine injuries or congenital abnormalities related to Agent Orange, to the annual tune of US$50 per capita.

During the American war, Quang Tri Province was the site of the demilitarised zone and there are estimated 15 million landmines covered 40 per cent of the province.

Last weekend’s dedication ceremony kicked off the first phase of the project, which is expected to be complete by the end of the year and self-sustaining two years later.

At the end of the project, the NGO expects there will be 15 buildings spread over the 2.4ha village, including student residences, treatment centres, vocational training centres and sporting fields.

Graduates from the village will be equipped with the skills to earn their own incomes and enjoy a higher standard of living.

The village will train local disadvantaged young people in business skills, information technology, hospitality, woodwork, metalwork and agriculture.

The village will cost US$2.268 million to build, and will take five years to complete.

Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee and Kids First signed the agreement for the construction of the rehabilitation village two years ago.

"I’m very happy by the work done so far, and pleased that the Rehabilitation Village project is well under way," Roger Ferrel, president of Kids First, told Viet Nam News.

Besides the village and scholarships programme, Kids First funded the construction of Song Hieu Primary School in Dong Ha Town, the nation’s first school that is accessible for young people with disabilities.

"We see this project as an example for other NGOs that can be implemented across Viet Nam, assisting the disabled and disadvantaged in the other provinces and cities," said Quang Le, the Kids First representative in Quang Tri.

The provincial authorities have helped the construction of the village by assisting with land clearance and compensation issues.

"We welcome the international organisations and NGOs who have come to help local people emerge from hard times and drive away the legacy of the war," said Nguyen Duc Chinh, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.

"We are working with the Government and international organisations to survey the number of landmines and unexplored ordinance in the province and clear the land so people can live in peace," Chinh said.

At the dedication ceremony, the People’s Committee awarded Ferrell with a certificate of merit for his great contribution to the province.

There are estimated to be 6,800 disabled children and young people in Quang Tri, with mobility, speech, hearing, sight and other impairments.

Kids First has also collaborated with the Women’s Union to break ground on a pig farm on 50ha of mined land in Cam Lo District’s Cam Thanh Commune.

The farm will be used for agricultural education and training, covering topics such as animal husbandry, fruit and flower farming, plant nurseries and growing food crops for the village or for sale at the market.

Representatives of Kids First said that once the village is established, they will establish partnerships with other NGOs to meet the medical treatment and traning needs of Quang Tri’s disadvantaged young people. — VNS