Dien Ban is an impoverished countryside region, 15 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 900 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.

The Proposed Building Design

Progress

We completed construction of the Centre in December 2011 and hope to complete the fit-out work and begin providing services to children with disability from around March 2012.

We need to raise a further $100,000 in order to support operating costs.

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Pilot Project

In June 2010, we rented a small building close to the site of the proposed Day Centre, and began operating a Pilot Project. The purpose of the pilot project is to recruit and train the Vietnamese special education teachers, classroom assistants, physiotherapists and physiotherapy assistants so that they are able to work to a high standard as soon as the Day Centre is up and running.

It also allows us to start working with a number of beneficiaries that we have targeted in Dien Ban. There are currently 28 children attending the Pilot Project centre. This core group of staff and children will be transitioned to the Day Centre when it is built and additional staff and children incorporated.

Project Partners

This project is being made possible by the excellent support of our project partners:

	The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) is the major donor of construction costs on this project.
	Architects without Frontiers are the Australian-based project manager. They have also been involved in the design concept and preparing the design development drawings.
	Buro Architecture, Interiors and Planning has been working pro bono with Architects without Frontiers to develop the design concept.
	Chamberlain Javens Architects has been working pro bono with Architects without Frontiers and Buro Architecture to develop the design concept.
	Allens Arthur Robinson has provided pro bono legal advice.
	The Mulligan Project are our US-based fund raising partner.
	The Silvercrest Foundation have provided financial support towards the Centre's operating costs.