Education Vietnam Project #13391

Art Mentorship for Poor Vietnamese Children

by Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund

Art Mentorship for Poor Vietnamese Children

Project Report | Sep 8, 2020
Rock-Paper-Scissors Art Program Update

By Sara Nerone | Founder

Paper Flower Making

Dear Friends of Rock-Paper-Scissor’s Children’s Fund,

It’s good to be sending you an update; I hope that you all are staying safe and well these days.

Our art program in Vietnam has opened again, and the kids are going back to school next week. Like here in the US it’s been up and down for students, either schooling remotely, or in person, or not at all if they don’t have access to the internet. We have a mix of those students, especially in the village where none of the kids has devices. Schools closed in Vietnam at the end of January and reopened from May-July with in-person learning. We have been holding our art classes since May and between the three programs continue to support over 70 kids. In August, there was another outbreak of Covid19 in the city of Danang. Our art classes in Hue had to be put on hold for another couple of weeks, but we opened again this weekend, with most of the students eagerly appearing on the first day back.

This summer, we started a summer tutoring program for minority girls in the village of Son Tan. The classes included Physics, Chemistry, Math, Vietnamese language, and English. Altogether 27 girls and one boy took part in the six-week program, and 14 of the students had been participating in our art program in the village since they were very young. All of the girls will be leaving home this week. They will be attending a boarding school for 6^th through 9^th graders. Three of the kids from our art and tutoring program will be going into the 9^th grade this year. High school in Vietnam starts in 10^th grade, so this is a big year for these three students to pass the entrance exams. The art classes and the mentoring by our art teachers have made them grow into confident, smart, young adults over the last seven years. This is all due to you, our donors; supporting these kids could not be happening without you. It means a great deal to them, and perhaps one day some of you will be able to travel to meet the kids, and do a little painting with them!

I hope you enjoy the photos this month and again, thank you for everything.

Sara

Hue Art Class

Flower making class

Chicks

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May 11, 2020
Art Classes, Lock down, and Families in Need

By Sara Nerone | Founder

Dear Friends,

A lot has been going on since our last update to you all in January, as I know is the same for all of you personally. We sincerely hope that you, your family, friends, and neighbors are all well and staying as safe as possible during the pandemic. Even in just a few months, times have changed drastically for us all, with so much uncertainty for what is to come.

At this time, Vietnam has been reporting having only around 300 cases of Covid19 with no deaths in the country. News reports state that with experience gained from dealing with the 2003 SARS and 2009 H1N1 pandemics, Vietnam's government started organizing its response right away in early January. Schools have been closed since the Tet Holiday that began at the end of January, and they have only recently re-opened on May 4^th. Thousands of people have been placed in quarantine camps around the country and on April 1st the government issued a stay-at-home order country-wide which stayed in place for approximately four weeks and was just lifted last week.

During the lock-down our staff was hearing from some of our students in the village of Son Tan that the families in the village had been cut off from food sellers who travel up the mountain and that many of the families were desperately in need of food, unable to travel outside of their homes. Because of this, we made a plan with our partners in April to provide supplies for 120 of the neediest families in the village, providing them with rice, noodles, beans, and fish sauce that would last most families 3-4 weeks during the lock-down. These are just a few photos of our staff distributing the supplies.

For our art and music students in Hue and Cam Duc, we decided to re-open the programs at the same time that the schools opened on May 4^th. Like all schools in Vietnam, we are following strict protocols for social distancing, holding smaller classes and providing masks, and hand sanitizer as the students come in. Our school houses have large, wide doors that open fully to make an open-air space as well so that kids can paint and play music under a roof outdoors.

We are so proud of our staff in Vietnam and of course all of our wonderful students. Thank you so much for continuing to be a part of their lives.

Please take care!

Sara

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Jan 13, 2020
Giao Meets Michelle Obama!

By Sara | Founder

Giao-Far Left, Light Blue Shirt

Hello Everyone,

A quick update on our art program!

Giao has been our program manager since we started the non-profit. She teaches English at a local High School in Cam Duc where one of our art and music schools is. She grew up in the small town with her sister, brother and parents and stayed on to teach English at the high school. When we first approached her about working for us, Giao was a little skeptical about the usefulness of us focusing on the arts, but she has grown to love the arts herself, and can see the amazing benefits for our students and some of hers who now attend our classes. Giao herself is an incredible singer!

In December, Giao, had the chance to participate in a small workshop in Ho Chi Minh City with the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance. The workshop participants included seven non-profits like ourselves, working in Vietnam trying to create change through the promotion of girl’s education. During this day, the group worked to identify tools and strategies to help overcome barriers that are common in Vietnam for girls accessing education.

We were so honored to be selected to participate being such a small non-profit! For Giao this was an amazing experience, and to add even more excitement to her day, she was able to meet Michelle Obama who was there in Vietnam visiting organizations working with girls!

We have a lot planned for 2020, including hosting a young, mural artist named Danae Brissonett, who is just amazing. Danae will be training four-five of our female art students on mural making, as well as working with all of the children creating wonderful masks and artwork. We have a lot planned!

Thanks to all of you who have supported and continue to support our art program. Two of our former students have now sold their works of art for over $300 each, and both of them are using the money to support themselves through college. Amazing how your donations and support have changed these kid’s lives.

Happy New Year and thank you,

Sara

Mural by Danae Brissonnet

Rock-Paper-Scissors Art Student

Linh and her student

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