By Vu Ngan Giang Tran | Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising
Dear GlobalGivers,
Hello again! It has been three months since we updated you about the winners of Round 1, Narrow The Gap 2019. In last August and September, we visited two of the winning projects to listen to people on the ground who are working restlessly to serve their communities and those directly benefited from these projects.
Round 1 Narrow the Gap 2019
Mr Hoai - Chairman of the Disabled People Club in Soc Trang Province, project manager of ‘Supporting small-capacity solar power systems for poor households in Chau Thanh District, Soc Trang Province’ shared:
"Because I used to live in a house without electricity, when I volunteered in the remote areas of Chau Thanh district, Soc Trang province, I found many poor households who also did not have electricity like I used to. So I wanted to develop a project to provide solar power to support these households. [I] was introduced to Narrow The Gap Program by Vice Chairman of the Disabled People's Association of Can Tho City, I decided to write the project proposal and was lucky to eventually win the fund. I had to figure out how the project would last as long as it could.
After the solar power systems were installed, all the households are very excited. Electrical systems have helped change their lives. They have switched from using only kerosene lamps to electric lights from the solar power for night-time activities. Seeing this happening, our project team feels very happy. Talking about difficulties, the most difficult time when creating project is to survey the households in needed. Because with one leg of disability, it is difficult for me to access households in remote areas as the road is not convenient for people with disabilities, and checking the information provided by households always needs support from the local authorities.
From working on this project, I personally gained more experience in buying and using batteries that [are] durable and economical, working with local authorities and improving training for local technical support people."
Ms Lai, in Chau Thanh, Soc Trang Province, from one of 10 households which received the solar power system under the project shared: “I'm 87 years old this year. There are four people in my family, I'm the main worker in my home. My husband is sick and can't go to work. We have two children, one of whom is living with disabilities, the other works for other people. I used only oil lamps before, but now I can use the solar lights thanks to the project. I feel very happy. Our family is poor. I have only been able to buy one lamp. If I have money, I will buy more lights."
Narrow the Gap team also met the leaders of ‘Project Incubator for Young Social Entrepreneurs - PISE - Project’ in Can Tho province - the project aims to support equal opportunities for students in the countryside.
The first summer camp of PISE was the summer camp at Nguyen Quang Dieu gifted school. The event provided 15 mentees who are students in Dong Thap and some students in other areas. PISE has also launched 5 sub-projects. The initial success of PISE does not only support 15 mentees to build 5 sub-projects, but also the individual mentees who are inspired to study and do useful activities for the community, and who have improved knowledge and skills through the training and mentoring programs of PISE.
Round 2 Narrow the Gap 2019
As for Round 2, we will have the results of the 6 finalists on September 20, 2019 from the help of our skilled volunteers in Grant Allocation Committee. The informed finalists will present their projects on Community Day, 26 October 2019 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Please stay tuned for more updates from our final 6 projects as well as Community Day event where you will learn about the full result and this round's winners in our next report!
Your important support and donation allow this program to continue. Thanks to you, we can ensure local nonprofit organizations in Vietnam will continue to receive the necessary support and funding opportunity from Narrow The Gap!
For more information and real time updates from Narrow The Gap, please follow our page at https://www.facebook.com/NarrowTheGapProgram/
If you have any questions about Narrow the Gap, please feel free to contact me at kelly.vo@linvn.org.
Sincerely,
Vo Ngoc Tuyen (Kelly)
Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising
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