Funds are also being used for children’s activities in the village of Pnuk.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (Aug. 9, 2021) Donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, has provided 17 poor students with school fees and boarding in Ia Krel, in the Gia Lai province of Vietnam. Remaining funds are being used for children’s activities in the village of Pnuk.

The students live at three boarding houses run by Sister of St. Paul and Sister of the Holy Cross. The donor funding is ensuring that each child is able to attend school and have a safe place to live. Children also have access to tutoring classes in math and the Vietnamese language, lunch, toys, and games.

Rolan H’Tieu is one of the children who benefited from the donation. She is in the first grade and lives with her sister. H’Tieu has been a part of the Salesian summer class and enjoys the friendships with her peers that she has developed. Through the funding, she is now boarding at Sister of St. Paul and enrolled in elementary school.

“We are grateful to our donors who provide funding so young children living in poverty have an opportunity to gain an education,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Students gain an education and then can advance on to skills training. Then they have a real opportunity to enter the workforce prepared both in terms of the skills they have learned and in their social development, ensuring a lifelong ability to retain livable wage employment.”

Salesian schools, services and programs throughout Vietnam are helping to break the cycle of poverty while giving many young people hope for a more positive and productive future. Salesian vocational and technical schools equip students with the skills they need to compete in the local labor market by offering courses that lead to employment in construction, hotel management, electrical and mechanical engineering, computer science, and other fields. Many Salesian students are school dropouts seeking a second chance.

According to the World Bank, Vietnam has seen a drastic reduction of poverty over the last 20 years, when the poverty rate was close to 70 percent. Today, poverty stands closer to 6 percent. The vast majority of Vietnam’s poor people—86 percent—are ethnic minorities. Vietnam has also made remarkable progress in education. Primary and secondary enrollments for those in poverty have reached more than 90 percent and 70 percent respectively.

Rising levels of education and diversification into off-farm activities such as working in construction, factories or domestic housework have also contributed to reducing poverty in the country. Salesian programs give impoverished children and families opportunities that are

typically only available to the middle and upper classes so that all people can have hope for a better future.

###

Contact: [email protected]