During a recent field trip to Nga My commune, mountainous district of Tuong Duong, we were introduced by Ms. Thuong Huyen - an officer of the Organizing Committee of Tuong Duong District Party Committee to visit the house of the adopted daughter that the Committee has taken care of. That is Lo Thi Diep Linh, (born in 2012) in Na Ca village.
Just coming home from school, seeing her godmother come to visit, the eyes of the Thai ethnic girl sparkled with joy. Since Linh's mother passed away suddenly not long ago, her brother born in 2002 went to work far away, Linh has been living alone with her father in a small house along Highway 48C. Linh's father is disabled, one eye is blind, the other eye has poor vision, so the family is in a particularly difficult situation. "Since my mother passed away, I often feel sad and miss my mother, but thanks to the care and encouragement of my foster parents, I have gradually overcome it and continued to go to school like my friends...", Linh emotionally expressed.
Sitting quietly next to his daughter, Mr. Lo Van Khay confided: “After his wife passed away, raising a child as a single father was very difficult. Luckily, the District Party Committee adopted her as an adopted child and provided her with both material and spiritual support. I am very grateful. Last summer, she and her friends in the same situation were also taken by their godparents to visit Uncle Ho's hometown and go on vacation at Cua Lo beach. When she returned, she took a plastic bottle filled with some seawater to show her father how blue and salty the seawater was, which moved me to tears…”.
It is known that in Nga My commune, in addition to Diep Linh, there are 9 other students sponsored by units such as the District Political Training Center, Party Committees of Tuong Duong District Party Committee and school units, Health Station, Women's Union, Nga My Commune Party Committee. They are all orphans of both parents, or father or mother, with especially difficult circumstances: Lo Thi Tuoi, born in 2011, (adopted child of Tuong Duong District Political Training Center) is orphaned of both parents, living with an uncle who is in poor health and has no stable income; Luong Manh Quan, born in 2011 (adopted child of the District Party Committee's Propaganda Department), his mother is mentally ill - a social protection subject, Quan and his mother live with their elderly and disabled grandmother; Baby San Thi An Nhien, born in 2020 (adopted child of Nga My Primary School and Health Station), orphaned, is currently being taken care of by her father San Van Man (born in 1993), but her father is sick for a long time, the family has 7 members, and is in financial difficulty...
Ms. Luong Thi Lang - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nga My commune said: Thanks to the support of collectives and individuals, the children's learning path is not interrupted halfway, giving them more confidence and motivation to rise up in the journey of growing up and maturing. In addition to monthly financial support, through the Women's Union of the commune, parents also regularly visit their adopted children during each business trip, encourage them, support them with clothes, books, school supplies and give them gifts during holidays and Tet. Thereby, sharing some of the difficulties and shortages in terms of material and spirit, creating conditions for the children to develop comprehensively in the love and care of their families and communities.
Leaving Nga My commune, we visited Xa Luong Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Xa Luong commune) - where 4 students are supported under the program "Godmothers connect love" and met and talked with two orphaned boys living in Na Be village, the same age, studying in the same class, sitting at the same table and sharing the same name, Lin Van Anh. Both boys are Khmu ethnic, fatherless, small in stature. One is an adopted child of the Women's Union of Tuong Duong district, the other is an adopted child of the Kindergarten, Primary School, and Secondary School in Xa Luong commune. In their conversation with us, these two boys expressed their gratitude for the care and attention of their teachers and godmothers, and at the same time expressed their determination to learn a trade after finishing school to help their families. As for the little girl with rosy white skin and a pretty face, Lo Thi Truc (adopted child of the Women's Union of Xa Luong commune) expressed her dream of continuing her studies to become a teacher for village children so as not to disappoint the guidance and care of her godmothers.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan - President of the Women's Union of Xa Luong commune: Currently, in the commune, many workers go to work far away, especially women, 500/1000 members go to work far away, leaving their children to be cared for by their elderly grandparents, so the children suffer many disadvantages. In particular, the whole commune has up to 29 children who have lost their father or mother, 1 child who has lost both parents; of which 8 children are in especially difficult circumstances and need the sharing, encouragement and help of the community. Currently, 4 children have been sponsored by organizations and units. The support for the children does not stop at material things, but the godparents regularly visit and care about their spiritual life, studies and activities, especially on the occasion of Lunar New Year, International Children's Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, the new school year... From there, helping the children have more joy and motivation to excel in life and study.
Some units also assigned staff to monitor and pay attention to the situation of the children and their families and relatives to promptly resolve any arising issues, creating conditions for the children to live in a healthy and safe environment. The Women's Union of Xa Luong commune alone organized many collective labor activities such as car washing to raise funds, clearing and cleaning the environment around Van temple area... to have more funds to support the adopted children that the association sponsors.
Discussing the effectiveness and influence of the program "Godmothers connect love", Ms. Nong Thi Kim Tuyen - President of the Women's Union of Tuong Duong district, said: This is a program launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union. However, the difference in the remote district of Tuong Duong is that not only the women's unions at all levels take action, but the program also has the cooperation of the entire political system with the active participation of the Party Committees of the District Party Committee, departments, offices of the District People's Committee, communes, towns, units, agencies, enterprises, armed forces, enterprises inside and outside the district with the spirit of "no child is left behind". Up to now, 187/261 orphans (72%) in 17 communes and towns have been sponsored and helped by 43 agencies, organizations, units and individuals with good hearts, becoming one of the localities with the largest number of sponsored children in Nghe An province.
To achieve the above results, immediately after receiving instructions from superiors, the District Women's Union requested the policy of the Standing Committee of the Tuong Duong District Party Committee on the implementation of the "Godmother" Program. Realizing the humane significance of the program, the Tuong Duong District Party Committee agreed on the policy and issued Official Dispatch No. 689-CV/HU dated February 28, 2023 on directing the implementation of the "Godmother" Program to support the care and upbringing of orphans in difficult circumstances in the district. At the same time, it called on organizations, units and individuals with good hearts to sponsor orphans with a spirit of volunteerism and companionship.
Accordingly, the Women's Union of Tuong Duong district has directed all levels of the association to coordinate in reviewing and verifying the specific circumstances of each child, making a list in order of priority for sponsorship, coding the records of each child; organizing a memorandum of understanding between the organization, the sponsoring individual, the representative of the child's relatives, and the women's union at all levels from the village to the district to ensure consistency and sustainability. In order for the program to be effective and have a wide spread, the Women's Union of the district has strengthened communication work about the program in many forms such as integrating through conferences, through mass media, through Facebook, Zalo, Fanpage channels... At the same time, proactively meeting, coordinating, exchanging information to promptly remove obstacles in the implementation process with the units, organizations, and individuals sponsoring the children. The decisive and timely direction of Party committees and authorities at all levels and the joint support and companionship of organizations, individuals, agencies and units in the area have contributed to the effectiveness and spread of the "Godmother" Program in the poor district of Tuong Duong.
According to Ms. Vy Thi Bich Diep - an official of the Women's Union of Tuong Duong district, who directly led us to the field trip, many organizations and units that sponsor orphans have opened accounts and set up savings books for the children with support levels of 500 - 600 thousand VND/month until the children turn 18 years old through the Women's Union of the commune. Many individuals who sponsor orphans are leaders of district-level departments such as Mr. Mac Van Nguyen - Head of the Organization Department of the District Party Committee, who sponsors 1 child in Xieng My commune; Ms. Vy Thi Bich Thuy - Head of the Propaganda Department of the District Party Committee, Director of the District Political Training Center, who sponsors 2 orphans in Luu Kien commune...
The godparents have always cared for and supported their children so that they have the best living, studying and health care conditions. At the same time, they have provided career guidance for their children in the future. The Women's Union of Tuong Duong district has sponsored 3 orphans in remote areas such as Nhon Mai, Xa Luong and Yen Thang communes. Each child has a savings account worth 20 million VND. Due to the difficulty in operating costs, the associations at all levels have created many activities to raise funds to support orphans such as cultural exchanges, car washes, fundraising sales, or the green house collecting scrap of the Women's Union of Tam Thai, Xa Luong, Luu Kien communes, Thach Giam town... Especially through the program of performing ethnic costumes combined with selling brocade products organized by the District Women's Union, 37 orphans have been sponsored by groups and individuals up to the age of 18 with a total amount of 1,572,000,000 VND.
According to the assessment of the leaders of Tuong Duong district, the "Godmother" program to support the care and nurturing of orphans in difficult circumstances has initially brought about effectiveness and widespread influence in the area, thereby helping many orphans have the opportunity to go to school, have a foothold in the journey of growing up, becoming useful citizens for society. This is also a practical work to concretize the implementation of Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW dated May 18, 2021 of the Politburo on continuing to implement Directive No. 05-CT/TW "on promoting the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle" in the area. Because during his lifetime, Uncle Ho paid special attention to children - the future owners of the country. Uncle Ho once advised the entire Party and people to "raise their responsibility in caring for and educating children" in Nhan Dan Newspaper, No. 5526, June 1, 1969.
Following Uncle Ho's teachings, currently, women's associations at all levels in Tuong Duong district are actively coordinating with the Vietnam Fatherland Front and local political organizations to carry out many activities to bring the "Godmother" Program to higher and more sustainable results.
“Currently, after checking the area, there are still 73 orphans and many children in difficult circumstances who need support. Therefore, in the coming time, the association will continue to take advantage of social networks to propagate, call for, mobilize the cooperation, companionship, love and responsibility of the whole community to help children have a better life. At the same time, further enhance the role and responsibility of Women's Union organizations at all levels in implementing the programs "Accompanying children", "Godmother" through effectively organizing fundraising models such as: "0 VND" booths, turning waste into useful things, 1,000 VND ATMs, rice saving jars... to have more resources to support orphans and children in difficult circumstances in the area", Ms. Nong Thi Kim Tuyen - Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Tuong Duong district affirmed.