The "Godmother" program continues its journey for orphaned children in Nghe An.

Sponsorship connections have been established for 2,143 orphans.

Upon arriving at the resettlement area in Thanh Son commune (Thanh Chuong district), I was taken by officials from the Social Policy Bank branch to visit Quang Van Dat in Thanh Duong village. Hearing footsteps outside the gate, Quang Van Dat ran out of the house excitedly, greeting his adoptive mother Hanh, father Long, father Hai… (the bank officials who adopted Dat as their son through the "Godmother" program initiated by the Thanh Chuong District Women's Association).

Ms. Tran Thi Mai Hanh, Director of the Social Policy Bank Branch in Thanh Chuong district, shared: “Witnessing Dat's lack of both emotional and material support, everyone feels sorry for him. Besides the fixed support of 500,000 VND per month, whenever officials from the agency come to Thanh Son commune to conduct transactions or check on the use of funds, the staff, out of personal affection, send Dat packages of cakes, clothes, books, notebooks, or even a ball… to him.”

Quang Van Dat lost his father when he was 4 years old; his mother is in poor health and only works on a few acres of rice paddies and does odd jobs for hire. Dat and his mother are currently living in a temporary house built on land belonging to his maternal grandmother's family. "Once Dat and his mother have land to live on, the agency will continue to call for support to build a more decent house," shared the Director of the Social Policy Bank Branch in Thanh Chuong district.

In Nghi Lam commune (Nghi Loc district), tragedy struck three children, Nguyen Quoc Anh, Nguyen Ti Hi, and Nguyen Thi My Tien, when both their parents died in a natural disaster in 2022. At that time, the oldest child was 11 years old, the second 7 years old, and the third 5 years old, and they had to go live with their maternal grandmother in Nghi Phuong commune (Nghi Loc district).

Understanding the circumstances of the three children, the Nghi Loc District Women's Union connected with the Nghe An Outstanding Business Association to sponsor them for three years (October 2022 - October 2025), providing monthly support of 1 million VND per child. In addition, at the beginning of each school year, on holidays such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, Children's Day, Lunar New Year, Christmas, etc., officials from the Nghi Loc District Women's Union and the commune also pay close attention to visiting, encouraging, and giving gifts to the children.

Also in Nghi Loc district, in Nghi Long commune, Nguyen Dinh Hau, from Kim Dien village, lost his father at the age of 6 and his mother two years later. To support his grandmother in caring for and raising Hau, Ms. Ho Thi Thu, head of the Women's Association of Kim Dien village, mobilized the Women's Association to adopt Hau as their "foster child," providing monthly support of 300-500 thousand VND and regularly guiding Hau in his studies.

Every child, from birth to adulthood, needs the care, love, and protection of family members, especially their parents, with their sacred paternal and maternal love. However, some children lack these precious things, having lost their parents and becoming orphans. Driven by compassion and fulfilling their responsibilities as women's associations, women's associations at all levels in the province have taken on the responsibility of sponsoring and connecting with agencies, organizations, individuals, and philanthropists to sponsor orphaned children in difficult circumstances through the "Godmother" program launched by the Vietnam Women's Union.

After nearly three years of implementation (from October 2021 to April 2024), women's associations at all levels in Nghe An province have sponsored and connected 1,544 "Godmothers" for 2,143 orphaned children in difficult circumstances in the province. The committed support resources, as stipulated in the memorandums of understanding between the "Godmothers" and the families or alternative caregivers for the orphaned children, amount to over 26.3 billion VND.

Many good and creative methods.

The "Godmother" program, launched by the Vietnam Women's Union Central Committee in 2021, has been implemented by women's associations at all levels in Nghe An province with many innovative and effective approaches.

Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Hien, Permanent Vice President of the Provincial Women's Union, stated: Through a review, the number of orphaned children, either orphaned of both parents or orphaned of one parent, facing difficult and extremely difficult circumstances in the province is quite large, while the resources of the Women's Union are limited. Therefore, the guiding principle of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Women's Union is that, in addition to the internal resources and efforts of the organization, it is necessary to spread the program and mobilize the participation of the entire political system and the community to work together to help orphaned children.

Accordingly, in addition to strengthening communication efforts, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Women's Union issued a document to provincial departments, agencies, political and social organizations, and businesses to call for joint efforts and registration to sponsor orphaned children. The Provincial Women's Union organized the "Godmother - Connecting Love" program, linked with the launching ceremony of the "Godmother" program, which introduced 32 organizations and individuals who pledged to be "Godmothers" for 63 orphaned children with a total committed support of over 2.8 billion VND to spread awareness.

Each locality has its own creative and effective approach. For example, in Que Phong district, the Women's Union advised the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee to issue a plan, assigning specific targets to each Party organization and agency, unit, locality, and school to sponsor at least 1-2 orphaned children in difficult circumstances. Through this approach, each Party organization, agency, and unit in the district acts as a "guardian," and together with mobilizing and connecting with benevolent organizations and individuals outside the district, the entire district has sponsored 125 orphaned children with particularly difficult circumstances.

In Nghi Loc district, in addition to promoting awareness and responsibility, and mobilizing the entire political system and community, women's associations from the district to the grassroots level have organized many fundraising models to care for orphans. The most popular models include "Collecting scrap materials for fundraising," "Car washing for fundraising," "Selling flowers for fundraising," "Old books - a new hope," and "Supporting children to go to school"...

According to Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Hien, Standing Vice President of the Provincial Women's Union, a review conducted in May 2024 revealed that there are currently 12,084 orphaned children in the province; of which, 6,745 are orphans in difficult or extremely difficult circumstances. Meanwhile, only 2,143 orphaned children have received sponsorship in the past nearly three years; meaning that the number of orphaned children in difficult circumstances needing support and sponsorship is still very large.

This is an important task set by women's associations at all levels in the province, ensuring that more orphaned children receive sponsorship to support their material lives and, more importantly, to provide them with emotional support so that they can continue to pursue their dreams on their journey to adulthood.

Mai Hoa