Kianh Foundation - British Charity providing health and education services to disabled children in Central Vietnam

disabled vietnamese orphan boy receiving physiotherapy from a Kianh Foundation staff member at Hoi An Orphanage

vietnamese orphans learning in the Kianh Foundation's special education classroom at Hoi An Orphanage

Providing health and education services to children with disabilities in Central Vietnam

DIEN BAN

Dien Ban is an impoverished countryside region, 10 minutes drive from the popular tourist destination of Hoi An. It has a population of approximately 200,000; nearly 50% of households make their living from the agricultural, forestry and aquaculture sectors.

The Need

Dien Ban has one of the highest proportions of disabled and disadvantaged children in Quang Nam Province. The local government authorities attribute this, in part, to the fact that area was heavily bombed and sprayed with defoliants, during the war with the United States. Based on government records, there are over 800 children with disability, the majority of whom do not have access to essential education and therapy services.

To address this need, the Kianh Foundation intends to expand its work by building a purpose-designed Day Centre for children with disability. The Centre will be the first of its kind in the region and aims to address a critical gap by providing much-needed special education and therapies such as physiotherapy and speech to children with disability.

This project directly contributes to the Vietnamese Government’s Socio-Economic Development Strategy. It is also hoped that the project becomes an example of good practice and capacity building that could be replicated to other areas of Vietnam.

Progress

We have been working with Australian not-for-profit organisation Architects without Frontiers and Melbourne based pro-bono partner architectural firm BURO Architecture + Interiors to develop the Day Centre designs. We have also entered into a funding agreement with The Royal Melbourne Institute of technology (RMIT).

In June 2010, we rented a small building close to the site of the proposed Day Centre, and began a Pilot Project. The purpose of the pilot project is to recruit and train the special education teachers and physiotherapists who will be required at the Day Centre. It also allows us to start assisting some of the children who will later attend the Day Centre.

We are in advanced discussions with our Vietnamese government partners and anticipate final project approval at the end of August 2010. It is hoped that construction of the Centre will commence at the end of 2010/early 2011. Based on this timeframe, the Centre would begin providing services to children with disability from around June 2011.