By Nguyen Van Hanh, General Manager, Dariu Foundation
Summer 2021 Newsletter
Yen Nhi, 15 years old, was born into a poor family. Nhi is the eldest of 5 children in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, 180 km west of Ho Chi Minh city. Her mother has some serious health problems and she has been using a wheel-chair for a long time. The family’s income has largely depended on the noodle-for-breakfast business with monthly income of around $170. This could hardly help the family make both ends meet.
When Nhi was in 7th grade, she told her parents that she had no longer wanted to go to school because she thought that they could not afford her secondary and high-school education. Her parents had been undecided between paying her school fees or letting her leave school. Luckily, they finally decided that she had to continue her education, hoping that she could have a better future.
As compared to her peers, Nhi is a strong girl at her age. Every morning, she supported her father with simple tasks at the noodle-for-breakfast business from 6:00 am to around 10:00 am. Then her father rushed to his other jobs or to buy materials at the local market for the next day’s business. She helped prepare lunch for the family and then left for school at about noon, since her classes started at 12:30 and it took her about 20–25 minutes to walk there. Nhi had several good friends, so they often picked her up with their bicycles. But when they could not come, Nhi had to walk. It was a hard walk for her, especially during sunny and rainy days.
In 2020, Nhi was referred by her teacher who knew about Dariu’s bicycle-granting program. She was granted with a bicycle from Pedals for Progress and a little financial support from The Dariu Foundation. Thanks to P4P’s bicycle, Nhi could go to school much more easily. As a result, her GPA increased from 7.5 (before being granted a bicycle) to 9.2 and she was nominated as the best student of the school year 2020–2021 at her school. Nhi graduated from secondary school in May 2021, and will start high school in this September. Although the new high school is further from home than the secondary school, Nhi is determined to complete her high school education and expects to enter university as an IT student.
Yen Nhi is among the more than 2,000 beneficiaries who, since 2012, have been granted P4P used bikes by The Dariu Foundation. The cooperation between the two organizations has enabled hundreds of poor kids in Vietnam and Thailand to continue their education with ease and prepare for a better future.