Engaging minority and non-minority communities in early childhood care and development in Phu Yen, Vietnam

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Engaging minority and non-minority communities in early childhood care and development in Phu Yen, Vietnam

Phnom Penh, CambodiaPhu Yen, Vietnam
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Established
Budget: 
$100,000 - $250,000
Website:
http://www.aeai-sea.org/en/index.php
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

AEA works to achieve quality education for all; with this project focused on improved education, health and cultural understanding.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

The school in Phu Yen is a mixed ethnic minority and non-minority school; because of economic restrictions the school is currently only able to operate half days, thus limiting the quality of education. The school has a canteen; however it is currently unused because of economic constraints. Additional challenges include: lack of infrastructure, teachers and equipment; malnutrition; language barriers (minority children do not speak Vietnamese fluently and therefore face learning challenges); and parents do not value early childhood education. Also, because of the mix of cultures and language barriers, there can often be cultural hurdles to address. Therefore the overall goal is to enable children to access better education, health and empathetic cultural understanding at a young age.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Classes must be conducted for a full school day in order to increase the quality of education. It is often seen that students earn respect from peers and teachers as their education/grades improve, therefore as minority children’s grads improve their acceptance among non-minority peers/teachers will increase. Additionally, opening a school canteen to offer a nutritious lunch will decrease malnutrition and also decrease the burden to parents, allowing parents to work for the full day, while also reducing the burden to household food security. Furthermore, creating a school empathy package, which will be included in the curriculum, will act in creating cultural acceptance/understand, allowing children to exude empathy and acceptance of each other’s differences at an early age, which is fundamental for future empathetic development. Additionally mobilizing the community, teachers and principals through training and advocacy, is necessary in order to increase empathy at the community level
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

The project will benefit a total of 426 children age 0 to 5, including 229 children who are currently enrolled in school. The school lunch program will assists in malnourishment prevention and health (significantly assisting the 39 children who are currently malnourished). Through advocacy, training, and parent and community engagement, over 4052 people will directly and indirectly benefit. Primary activities include three components, education, health and empathy. The education component consists of: implementing full day school sessions, organizing trainings for teachers to develop better early childhood education skills and enhancing the materials and equipment of the classroom. Health related activities include: training of social workers, collaboration with staff from the communal health center, equip and management of the school canteen, and awareness raising with families, especially mothers, in order assist them in detecting abnormal child development. Under the empathy component, both children and the community will be included. Empathy will be introduced to the school curriculum, in which teachers receive minority language education and skills training, in order to allow teachers to implement a curriculum, which will increase child empathy, and bridge cultural understanding between minority and non-minority students. Minority students will also receive extra Vietnamese lessons. Finally, every Friday parents/care takers, will be asked to visit the school and participate in awareness activities with the children, in order to enhance understanding at all levels.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

As Aide et Action (AEA) works with the goal of improving “access to education for all,” therefore we work with our peers in a complimentary context, rather than competitors, in order to work together in achieving development in the education sector. This eliminates many of the challenges toward project success, because our goals are generally aligned with others working in the field. This includes education services at all levels, the communes, woman, youth unions, NGOs and the government. AEA differentiates itself from others working in our capacity through focusing on the most marginalized and hard to reach populations. Additionally, AEA works with the goal of investing in people (training and capacity building), rather than infrastructure, in order to achieve sustainable development.
About You
Organization:
Aide et Action
About You
First Name

Deanna

Last Name

Morris

About Your Organization
Organization Name

Aide et Action

Organization Country

, PP, Phnom Penh

Country where this project is creating social impact

, Phu Yen

Your role in Education

Other.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with

Public (tuition-free)

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation
How long has your solution been in operation?

Operating for more than 5 years

Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

AEA works to achieve quality education for all; with this project focused on improved education, health and cultural understanding.

Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

This project engages minority and non-minority communities to participate in cultural learning to positively impact future development.

Social Impact
What has been the impact of your solution to date?

This project is a replication/expansion on a previously successfully implemented project in Vietnam’s commune of Suoi Cat. This previous project directly benefited over 100 children and parents. As a result of this project 100% of children now have birth certificates; 90 children go to school; teachers are better trained; malnutrition has been reduced and health has improved through health monitoring with regular follow-up; the canteen has provided to be a resource center for learning and better hygiene; and families/teachers are better informed of children’s care and learned to develop a safe environment at home and at school. This replication project in Phu Yen also aims to achieve these same goals, in education, health and hygiene, on a larger scale; while also using teacher education, language training and awareness activities as empathy activation and anti-discrimination tools, in order to facilitate improved child educational attainment and socialization.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

This project directly and indirectly engages 4052+ stakeholders. The impacts of this project includes improvements in three areas: Improved education: Schools will be opened for the whole school day; nine teachers will receive training in language, early childhood care and empathy, thus improving 229+ student’s quality of education and rational skills development for future educational development. Improved health/nutrition: All children will receive nutritious school lunches, reducing child malnutrition. Improvements will be made to two damaged classrooms, including improved sanitation and hygiene facilities. Enhanced cultural understanding and empathy: Student and the community will work together to improve on these skills, allowing for enhanced cultural understanding and development.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

Language barriers – Minority students do not speak Vietnamese, therefore incorporating language lessons for both minority and non-minority teachers and students to enable them to better understand each other. Canteen Challenges – Because children are being fed at school, parents may not properly feed them at home. Therefore, parent education on health and nutrition is important in helping parents understand the necessity of providing children with healthy balanced meals. Project Continuity – Economic challenges are a major problem faced in this region. Therefore to allow for project sustainability, AEA will decrease its activities and financial obligations slowly, working with the government and community to increase funding and relinquishing management to the local school.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Within the first six months improvements in health, education and social engagement between students will be developed.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1

Teacher training – teachers will receive training on language, early childhood education and empathy curriculum development

Task 2

Community mobilization – parent and community engagement with the project through education seminars and forums.

Task 3

Longer school days and canteen opening – Canteen volunteers will be trained and food resources will be made available.

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Children education and health will have measurably improved; children exhibit empathy through improved cultural understanding.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1

Training – Training of teachers, parents, volunteers and the community in education, health and culture.

Task 2

Curriculum adjustment – Classes will incorporate empathy/awareness raising activities, and an improved curriculum will be set

Task 3

Parent and student engagement – students and parents/care takers participate together in school awareness raising activities

Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]

Pierre Bernard Le Bas was a young volunteer working in India; through the experiences he gained in India, Le Bas returned to France believing in the value of utilizing education as a fundamental development tool. Upon his return, Pierre Bernard Le Bas founded Aide et Action in February 1981. Approximately six months after the creation of Aide et Action, Le Bas commented to his supporters: “What was obviously a crazy project at the outset gradually took shape...and we are now sponsoring 1,816 children as of August 12, 1981.” Today, thirty years later, there are 57,000 sponsors contributing to the education of more than two million children. There are thousands of stories to tell with our 30-years experiences. However, all of these stories incorporate similar components, these are stories of communities and villagers, from Togo to Vietnam, of the children and adults in far flung places who can now read, write and count, thanks to the teams from Aide et Action and its partners.

Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships

This project is partnered with the Union of Friendship Organization of Phu Yen. Additional collaboration will be at the field level with the Phu Yen School, political authorities of the commune, and women and youth unions. Additional technical experts on language, teacher training, empathy, and health and nutrition will also be implementation partners.

What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]

The project will be made up of a diverse team working on various levels. Local authorities will act as leaders supporting this process, while AEA will support local authorities in implementation, monitoring, reporting and funding. Partners will be specialized agents to assist in the implementation of education and language, nutrition/heath and school empathy activities. The project will also use/train existing school staff who will disseminate knowledge and improve educational standards. Community volunteers will be trained to sensitize families and partly manage the canteen.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

AEA is always looking for organizations working in the Education sector to collaborate and partner with, and would be happy to share ideas and/or develop partnerships with organizations working in line with our organizations mission and goals.

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