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In memoriam Dr. Nguyen Tuyen Quang (October 15, 1949 – November 13, 2024)

 by Ron Marchand

On November 13, 2024, entomologist Dr. Nguyen Tuyen Quang passed away. From 1993 onwards he led a team of Vietnamese researchers for more than twenty years at the malaria field station established by MCNV in Khánh Phú, a village in the mountains 30 kilometers inland from Nha Trang, south central Vietnam.

Dr.Nguyen Tuyen Quang (left) and his colleagues work in a field station in Khanh Phu commune.

MCNV supported the Vietnamese malaria institutes at that time to see whether insecticide-treated mosquito nets would be a good alternative to DDT in the fight against malaria. The old-fashioned spraying of the walls in houses with DDT no longer worked well and purchasing the product abroad became too expensive.

Khánh Phú was one of the most malaria endemic places in Vietnam and the project studied all aspects of the epidemiology (human behaviour, mosquitoes, parasites and the environment) in great detail. Among other things, to find out whether the introduction of mosquito nets would not be counterproductive due to the loss of natural immunity build-up during childhood. In 1998, five years after the start of the study, malaria in the village had decreased by 80% and the people became healthier. However, it did not work against a malaria mosquito that lives deeper in the forest, a situation that was studied in depth by Quang and his colleagues from 2000 onwards to improve the situation further.

Numbers and measurements were sacred

Quang was chosen as team leader by his boss at the malaria institute, Dr. Nguyen Tho Vien, who, next to me, was the spiritual father of the project. This was a logical choice because Quang was one of the few who also spoke English, could write reports, but above all because he was very dedicated and good in data analysis. For both Vien and Quang, numbers and measurements were sacred – even if these were difficult to explain or contradicted expectations.

I remember the collaboration with Quang as special. We could spend days (sometimes nights) talking about malaria research, during which I learned a lot from him about the specific problems in Vietnam. The management of the Khanh Phu the project was a bit exceptional: everyone in the team could think along and participate in decision-making. Very different from the usual top-down approach in which ‘a boss decides everything and sends his soldiers into the field to do the hard work without getting credit for it’. Quang could identify well with the participatory MCNV approach and helped me to find the right balance to keep the team’s freedom while preserving the goodwill of far-away directors.

Ron Marchand worked for MCNV from 1990 – 2016

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MCNV December Campaign

Dear donors,                                                                                                         December 10, 2024

On November 18, MCNV celebrated its 56th anniversary! What an ‘old age’ for the last country committee in The Netherlands still alive. Thanks in part to your loyal support, we can continue our work in the coming years and provide help where it is (still) indispensable.

These are our plans for 2025 

Laos: together in action for clean water, hygiene and food security in Laos, 2025 – 2026 – 2027

Last October, we received the green light from the AFAS-Foundation to continue for another three years in Sepone, Nong and a new municipality of Phin. The program ‘Together in action for clean water, hygiene and food security in Laos’ will start in January 2025 and that is great news and very important for the people who lack clean water and where the food supply is insecure.

Vietnam: improve income and further develop rehabilitation training

Improving livelihoods is complex and requires a multi-faceted approach. For example, creating jobs for women is a point of attention. Improving food yields and introducing different and more suitable agricultural products also receive full attention. Jobs and income are inextricably linked and hence the broad approach that MCNV supports and develops together with local partners and the people themselves.

Partly thanks to financial support from USAID (United States Agency for International Development), MCNV has been able to set up two national training courses over the past four years: Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. These two disciplines did not previously exist in Vietnam and they now form an important part of care for children and people with disabilities.  University-trained Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists provide training for healthcare workers in various provinces throughout Vietnam.

Collaboration between MCNV, local partners, donors and donor organizations

MCNV develops its activities based on demand from and in collaboration with local partners. Donors and partners such as the AFAS-Foundation and USAID recognize the expertise that MCNV has built up and therefore contribute substantially to projects in Vietnam and Laos. One of the conditions for this support is that MCNV must guarantee a percentage, for example 20% or 25% of the total program budget. We can only meet this obligation because we receive donations from our private donors in The Netherlands. That is why I would like to let you know once again that all donations, no matter how small or large, are crucial to the implementation of our work for the benefit of the people in Vietnam and Laos!

Our question to you

MCNV wants to continue the above projects and programs in both countries in 2025 with the aim of further strengthening the care and well-being of vulnerable people. An important and wonderful mission in which the involvement of our donors in the Netherlands is and will remain indispensable.

Many thanks for your (extra) gift.

Beautiful December month & with kind regards,

Karin Vlug

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MCNV empowers 1,100 ethnic minority women in Phu Yen mountainous district

On January 3rd 2025, in La Hai township of Dong Xuan district, Phu Yen province, MCNV in collaboration with the People’s Committee of Dong Xuan District and the District’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) organized a year-end workshop to review activities of the project “Boosting Income and Jobs for Poor Women” (referred to as the BIJPO project).

The workshop was attended by the project management unit (including the People’s Committee, DARD, Department of Ethnic Affairs, Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Women’s Union), leaders of people’s committees of the project communes, and representatives of women’s cooperative groups.

Mr. Pham Dung (left), Country Director of MCNV Vietnam, learns about the black snail farming model in Hamlet 1, Da Loc Commune, Dong Xuan District, Phu Yen Province.

The BIJPO project, implemented in the period of 2022 – 2025, covers 15 villages in 6 mountainous communes of Dong Xuan district. The project aims to improve income, create jobs, enhance agricultural production capacity, and reduce food insecurity for poor women in ethnic minority communities.

The project is funded by GSRD, Hulza, Wincloves and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands) and has financial contributions from the local authority. Key activities include: establishing and operating women’s cooperative groups specialized in agricultural and non-agricultural production and business; promoting household-level agricultural production activities; and supporting micro-entrepreneurs for food and agricultural supplies.

MCNV and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of Dong Xuan district visit the Cooperative Group for Production and Processing of Coconut Products in Da Loc commune.

After more than two years of implementation, the BIJPO project has achieved many encouraging results. Nearly 1,100 women (exceeding the initial target of 600 women) from poor, near-poor, and disadvantaged households have improved their income and jobs, agricultural production conditions, and local food sources through the aforementioned activities.

The BIJPO project introduces diversity in the application of various production models tailored to natural conditions, local cultural practices, and the utilization of available resources. It also enhances capacity-building and empowers beneficiaries to take ownership of their progress.

The models implemented under the project are highly diverse, including community-based tourism, brocade weaving, plastic furniture knitting, livestock farming (pigs, cows, chickens, fish, black snails, etc.), cultivation (organic vegetable farming, fruit tree and forestry tree planting, bamboo planting, mushroom growing), acacia seedling nurseries, agricultural product processing, and more.

A greenhouse model in Xi Thoai hamlet, Xuan Lanh commune

In 2025, MCNV and the PMU of Dong Xuan district will focus on strengthening the management and operational capacity of women’s cooperative groups. The project partners will also work on scaling up best practices in agricultural and non-agricultural production, contributing to Dong Xuan District’s implementation of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021–2030 period.

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MCNV Supports 100 Households Severely Affected by Typhoon Yagi in Yen Bai Province

On October 9th, 2024, through the provincial Women’s Union, a delegation from the Medical Committee Netherlands – Vietnam (MCNV) visited Yen Bai province and provided support to 100 households that were severely affected by Typhoon Yagi in September 2024.

As part of the working trip, MCNV visited and directly provided assistance to 10 families, including 3 households of persons with disabilities, who suffered significant losses in Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province. Each package included 5 million VND in cash and a rice cooker.

The beneficiaries are low-income households, including a person with disability living alone in a remote and difficult-to-access areas.  Their sole source of income is agriculture. The widespread flooding and massive landslides caused by Typhoon Yagi resulted in substantial losses to both their homes and their livelihoods.

MCNV handovers 90 rice cookers to Yen Bai Women’s Union.

In addition to providing direct aid to 10 affected households, MCNV also handed over 90 rice cookers to the Yen Bai Women’s Union. These cookers will be distributed to 90 other affected households in the province in October 2024.

MCNV hopes these small gifts will support local people as they rebuild their lives after the natural disasters. On this occasion, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the People’s Committee of Yen Bai province, relevant departments, and especially the provincial Women’s Union for facilitating this partnership and wholeheartedly cooperating with us to connect the support from Dutch donors with those in need.

MCNV Chief of Representative Office in Vietnam, Mr. Pham Dung, hands over post-disaster relief aid to 5 households affected by Typhoon Yagi at the People’s Committee of  Viet Cuong commune, Tran Yen district.

Yen Bai province is one of the hardest hit by Yagi typhoon in September 2024.  According to the Vietnam News, the whole province had over 22,000 damaged houses; nearly 18,700 flooded houses, of which nearly 4,000 houses in Tran Yen district. In the agricultural sector, the province over 4,000ha of crops were damaged and affected. Nearly 2,000 livestock and poultry died, over 100ha of fish ponds were washed away.

(Source: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/1662764/northern-province-yen-bai-held-urgent-meeting-at-night-on-overcoming-typhoon-yagi-s-consequences.html)

Damages caused by Yagi typhoon in Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province. Photo taken on October 9, 2024/MCNV.

MCNV & Yen Bai province:

For over a decade (2006-2016), MCNV supported Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province, through an HIV prevention program, including the establishment of the ‘Sunflower Network’- a system of clubs for women living with HIV, aimed at raising awareness, combating stigma, providing knowledge on infection prevention, and supporting livelihoods.

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