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Spreading the Wings of Hope – Building a Daycare Nursery
Que Chau is a small commune of Que Son District, located in the mountainous Central Highlands of Vietnam. People who live here are mostly farmers, working on the land. However, many young, newly wed families own very little land since most of the land had been given earlier to older farmers households. In a typical young family, the father would do odd labour jobs for whomever that needs their help for the day. Some work as brick layer assistant, others work as carpenters. The wives usually stay at home taking care of the little land that they have or work on the garden and taking care of their children.
The situation of young children in Que Châu and in remote countryside in general:
1.Young children are often neglected, left alone without anyone caring for them.
2.In many families, the wives have to stay at home to take care of their young children and thus cannot work, therefore the family’s possible income is reduced.
3.In the remote countryside like Que Son, often older kids play with younger kids around the house and the garden, or roam about on the sides of streets. It is pitiful to see these very dirty and neglected kids.
4. Que Chau commune has 8,947 people with 1,350 families. There are about 200 children between 12 to 36 months. The commune is divided into 10 villages. There are 4 kindergartens, each has 2 to 5 classrooms. The local people requested Eyes of Compassion Relief Organization (EOCRO) to help build a much needed daycare nursery for the young children. The daycare nursery will be built at the centre of the commune where there is an existing Kindergarten School of Quế Châu. The daycare nursery will be built on an area of 101.8 m2 with three large rooms accommodating three groups of children namely toddlers from 12 to 24 months; 24 months to 36 months; and 36 months and older.
5. The daycare nursery can house a quarter of all children in the commune of Que Chau. It can also accommodate other children in the neighboring commune, if needs rise. Not all children will have a chance to attend the daycare nursery for reasons such as geographical distance and lack of transportation means. The mountainous terrain makes it difficult to travel. In addition, houses are usually spread too far apart, without any means of transportation other than walking. Therefore, it would be difficult for parents to take their children to the daycare nursery.
The Local Government :
1.According to the State education policy in Vietnam, the local government only cover full costs for schools for children of 4 years and older. Some schools only accept children from 5 years of age and older, due the shortage of schools’ capacity and space.
2.The budget to build schools for pre-school children comes from local tax payers. For more developed city such as Saigon, where the population is bigger and better-off, and thus more tax payers, schools are built more easily and better-equipped with all the necessary amenities using tax money. Many schools have school buses taking the children to and from school. Some classrooms are also equipped with air conditions with the extra school fees collected from the parents. To the contrary, in poor region like Que Son where poverty is every where, people barely have enough money to feed themselves, let alone paying tax to the local government. Therefore, the local government does not have the capacity care for its citizens.
Throughout many years of charity work,EOCRO volunteers have come to understand those facts of life and living conditions in remote mountainous villages like those in Que Chau. We sincerely ask for your support to this Daycare Nursery project for the less fortunate children. With this daycare nusery, the young parents of Que Son will have a place to care for their kids, freeing them from having to stay home to watch their kids and allow them to go out trying to make a living. Young children will have a safe place to stay, to learn and play in a healthy and nurturing environment. This would avoid children playing by themselves, getting themselves hurt on the streets; risking their lives due to unsafe play zones or causing injuries that may affect the rest of their lives.
This project was brought to you by the loving hearts of a young couple Nguyễn, Thành Tâm and Trần, Lê Trang Duyên. For many years, they have been the benefactors for a few charitable projects organized by EOCRO, especially in the project of sponsorship of young children encouraging them to continue schooling, as well as helping other less fortunate children living in poverty. It is their wish to create a sustainable change for young children living in poverty. The daycare nursery would provide the children a safe place to learn, play and be fed. The parents can also be free from having to stay home taking care of their children so that they can to go to work and earn a living to make ends meet.
Stage #1 of the Project – Completed:
The wish to build a daycare for kids is not only of the young couple Tam and Duyen but also a long dream a of Teacher, Trần, Đình Phúc, a dedicated volunteer of EOCRO in Vietnam. This is the reason for our first step of success as follow:
1.The government donates long-term land permit, 300 m2, to build the daycare nursery. The project will be taken by EOCRO.
2.Teacher, Trần, Đình Phúc will be the primarily responsible person in overseeing the construction of the project. His responsibilities include hiring workers; (hiring people to) design the school’s architecture; signing contracts with the builders as well as selecting and purchasing building materials. He will provide all details of the construction of the project including all costs details as well all receipts and/or proof of purchase.
Stage #2 of the Project – The construction of the Daycare nursery will commence at the beginning of 2011, Ms. Diệu Liên, on her way to do other charitable projects; will personally be onsite to assist with the building to the daycare nursery.
The Construction Costs – To be paid by EOCRO:
The total cost of building the daycare nursery will be $3,000,000 VND (Vietnamese Dong) per square meter. We have a building permit of a plot of land of 101.8 m2 . Main rooms 69.6 m2, kitchen 22 m2, rest room 10 m2. Our goal is to build a strong building that can last a long time. This can also be a place of shelter for the villagers should there be strong typhoons or high flood. Below are the details of all approximate costs of materials and labour contracts prepared by Teacher Tran Dinh Phuc.
Construction Cost: Approximately 180,000,000 VND (approximately $9,000 USD/CAN)
Cost of School Name engraving and billboard: $5,000,000 VND (approx. $250USD/CAD)
Reserved adjustment costs (10% fudge factor): $18,000,000 VND (900 USD/CAD)
Cost of constructing a washroom of 10 m2: $30,000,000 VND ($1500 USD/CAD)
Cost of desks, chairs, beds, blankets, drapes and kitchen ware: $33,000,000 VND ($1650 USD/CAD)
Summary of Total Costs:
Construction: $233,000,000 VND
Furnishings: $33,000,000VND
(Including desks, chairs, beds, blankets, drapes, cookware and utensils)
Total cost of the building the project is: $266,000,000 VND (approx. $13,000.00 USD/CAD)
Operating Costs:– A responsibility of the local representatives as follow:
1.On-site teacher and cook:
Administrative tasks such as collecting fees, daily operation, teaching, feeding the children will be the responsibility of Mrs. Hang, the principal of the Kindergarten school of Que Chau nearby under a close assistance from Mr. Phuc. All decision makings have to be agreed between the two people. All fees collected will be agreed (and stipulated) between the parents and the local government officials to ensure fairness and affordability. To avoid people taking advantage of the daycare program, we will charge a nominal fee for all kids participating in the program. We should recognize that when a parent is freed from having to stay home to take care of their young children, he/she can now go to work and earn some money. For brick layer assistant, one can earn at least $80,000 VND, so after paying $10,000 per child for a daycare per day and an additional $8,000 VND for food, there is still $50,000 VND earnings for the family. On top of that, the child is being well cared for. However, there will be exceptions, where a family is unable to afford the fees. In which case, volunteers from EOCOR will investigate the family situation and make exceptions where there will be no cost for daycare if qualified. No child will be denied from care due to the lack of money.
In the early stage of the program, we are aiming to accept 30 children between the ages of 1 and 3. There will be 2 care-givers and 1 cook. In order to ensure the quality of care giving, we will select only qualified caregivers who have completed their college studies in the subject of daycare. Also to ensure the children are fed with nutritious meals, we will employ a cook with background training in child nutrition and is experienced in preparing meals for young children. This will, in effect, create a few jobs for people in Que Son where unemployment rate is high.
The salary for the care-givers per month is: $1,500,000 VND/01 person, thus totalling $3,000,000 VND (approx. 150USD/CAD) for 02 care-givers.
Salary for the cook responsible for purchasing the food and cooking will be $1,000,000 per month ($50 USD/CAD).
2.Cost of monthly operation:
•Cost of food:
o$8,000 VND per child per day. The daycare will open 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. There will be 22 open days per month:
22 days x $8,000/day x 30 kids = $5,280,000 VND (approx. $260 USD/CAD)
•Cost of cooking fuel:
oElectricity and gas for cooking would amount to approximately $500,000 VND ($25 USD/CAD) per month.
The above costs are only estimates. When the daycare nursery is in operation, more detail costs will be provided.
Total Monthly Operating Cost:
•Cost of food and care-givers per day: $5,280,000 VND
•Utilities and gas: $500,000 VND
Total monthly cost is: $5,780,000 VND (approx. from 289 USD/CAD to 300 USD/CAD)
Summarized by: Tôn Nữ Diệu Liên – December 25th, 2010
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