Campaigns

Just before the sun rises above the mountains of Huong Lap in Quang Tri province, Ho Thi Ha is already awake. She cooks rice for her three young children, takes them to school, and then walks to her field in the hills.

Her 0.7-hectare cassava field is the main source of income for her family. In a good year, the harvest brings in about €340 – money that is needed for food, school supplies and clothing.

A Growing Number of Challenges

But the weather is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Sometimes it rains for months, causing cassava roots to rot and the harvest to fail. For families like Ha’s, this means great uncertainty.

Many families in the mountainous areas of Quang Tri depend on small-scale farming. Climate change, poor soil and fluctuating market prices make it difficult to earn a stable income.

Women in particular carry a heavy responsibility: they work the land, take care of the household and raise their children. Many families are barely able to make ends meet. Malnutrition is a serious concern: more than 20 percent of young children in these communities are undernourished.

Food Security Comes First

That is why MCNV has developed a new programme for this year and the next two years. Through this programme, we support women in improving their farming and livestock practices and in developing new sources of income, for example by collecting and selling sustainable forest products.

At the same time, we work to improve the nutrition of women and children. Through small village shops run by the women themselves, families gain access to healthy food. Pregnant women and young mothers receive nutrition education and support where needed.

Over the coming years, we aim to support at least 300 vulnerable women and families. In total, around 1,000 family members will benefit from improved nutrition, greater food security and a healthier future.

Thank you very much for your indispensible support to families in Quang Tri.

Kind regards,

Nguyen Thanh Tung and the team in Dong Ha

A healthy start for children in Sepone and Phin

Dear donors,                                                                                                                                        June 26, 2025

Life in Sepone and Phin is tough. Most people in this region in Laos, close to the Vietnamese province of Quang Tri, make a living from agriculture. However, the poor soil yields little and the yield is not very nutritious. As a result, children do not get enough to eat and lag behind in their physical and mental development due to malnutrition. They are also vulnerable to diseases. Their parents are very concerned about this, but they do not have the knowledge and experience to improve the food situation for their children and themselves. Schools and health posts are difficult to reach for the people in these municipalities due to the great distances. MCNV has developed a program that successfully tackles these problems. We also want to realize the structural improvements that were previously achieved in Nong in Sepone and Phin.

Successful multidisciplinary program

More than ten years ago we started this program in the municipality of Nong and in the ten years since then we have broadened and deepened the program together with the AFAS Foundation and with our private donors. This broad, multidisciplinary approach and the collaboration with local partners (health service, agricultural organizations, village health workers, schools and -last but not least- the villagers themselves) has positively changed the situation in Nong and Sepone.

Continue in Sepone and Phin

Last year we made an agreement with the municipality of Sepone to continue the collaboration in this project for another three years. The neighboring municipality of Phin joined in. The goal is to improve the food situation and the health of more than 700 young children and their families (2850 people in total) in those three years. We will do this, just like in the past ten years, with the same multidisciplinary program.

Triodos Foundation will participate for the next three years and the AFAS Foundation will also remain our permanent partner until the end of 2027. All income and donations together mean that we can really do a lot, reach more people and realize more structural improvements.

Our question

Will you join us to give the children in Sepone and Phin a healthy start? Every donation is very welcome.

Many thanks in advance for the (extra) gift!

Warmest,

Karin Vlug

Disabled, and still going to school

In recent decades, there has been an incredible improvement for children with disabilities and their
parents in the provinces where MCNV has given its support. All kinds of activities in the field of
education, patient associations, rehabilitation, but also support in improving the income of the
poorest families for basic necessities such as food, clothing and medicine.

We have continued this economic and educational approach and activities -from the beginning of
2000- to this day. As a result, children feel more accepted because they have acquired a place in
society, because they can communicate and exchange their experiences with peers in their own
village. The parents are also proud and see how important it is for the children to belong and no
longer be excluded.

Our plans for 2025 and 2026.
Building on the results of the project in 2023 and 2024, and to strengthen the impact and
sustainability of these results, MCNV and Hy Vong Special School Quy Nhon plan to continue their
collaboration in 2025 and 2026. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of education for children
with disabilities at this school, but also for children with disabilities who live and go to school
elsewhere in Binh Dinh province. This can be achieved by joining forces and working closely with the
education sector and health services.

Objectives
• improve knowledge and skills in setting up early detection and providing appropriate help to
children and their families as early as possible;
• improve knowledge in the field of early detection and treatment for regular schools so that
children with disabilities can also be admitted;
• raise awareness in the communities and among local partners, school staff and educationists in
Binh Dinh province.

The organisational costs and management of the schools and rehabilitation centers are fully paid by
the Vietnamese (provincial) government. MCNV offers material support to these schools and
rehabilitation centers by providing the necessary resources and teaching materials for learning basic
skills such as reading, writing and playing. And by increasing the knowledge and skills of all those
involved – children, parents, school staff and local partners – we provide the breeding ground for a
caring environment.

In remote areas like Binh Dinh, the same problems are playing a role and it would be wonderful if we
could support more schools and children on their way to a hopeful and independent future with our
MCNV experience and MCNV approach!

Many thanks in advance for your (extra) donation!

Pham Dung, MCNV Director Vietnam & Nguyen Thanh Thuy, Education specialist MCNV

Positive developments in Nong and Sepone
Last May, I traveled to Laos together with Marloes Zwagerman from the AFAS-Foundation to visit the municipality of Nong and Sepone with my Laotian colleagues – Joy, Fine, Sivone and Done. We particularly visited the villages where MCNV and the AFAS Foundation support the Mother & Child program. A special visit because a private foundation such as the AFAS-Foundation has never visited the program before. The responsibility for clean water, latrines, medical care and attention to nutrition is taken seriously not only by the local partners we work with, but especially by the villagers themselves.  They have gained the experience that they can contribute to these positive developments themselves and that is the most important condition for success.

Nong will continue on his own from 2025
In 2006 – at the request of the border province of Savannakhet (in Laos) – we started providing assistance to the municipality of Nong. The activities at that time were mainly aimed at improving food security. Gradually it became apparent that more was needed and so we started looking for new financing. In 2016, we submitted an initial application to the AFAS-Foundation to realise multi- year plans for food security, better child health and structural changes for the families in Nong. The application was honored and the program was successfully implemented. A second application followed in 2021 and we are now in the final year of our second partnership. Bringing about changes requires a lot of patience and a lot of money, this is a good example of that. At the end of 2024, we will transfer responsibilities to our local Laotian partners in the municipality and the province. We have thus achieved our goal in Nong and we are convinced that the program with all its activities is strongly rooted and will continue to develop.

Sepone would like our support and cooperation for the coming years
In the Municipality of Sepone, we started the Mother & Child program in ten villages almost three years ago, a similar program to that in Nong. Developments are moving rapidly and major steps have been taken. The villages we visited looked  clean, equipped with latrines, running water, and vegetable gardens. Clean water in particular is such an important basis for health and hygiene and makes growing more food close to home possible. We received a great contribution from our MCNV-donors for this purpose in December last year and this money was well spent!

Our question to you
The head of the villages, village health workers and other key figures explained in detail what has been done, how people experience it, how important knowledge and skills are, that there is more shared responsibility and of course they also indicated what else is needed.
We therefore want to continue with the activities in Sepone in the near future. We are currently working on a new application for financial support from the AFAS-Foundation. Your contributions are also indispensable.
That is why we ask in this newsletter to make an extra donation to continue these activities in the field of water and sanitation, care for mother & child and food security.
Many thanks in advance for the extra gift,

Karin Vlug, also on behalf of Joy, Fine, Sivone &Done

Independent future
The experience that MCNV has built up with successful projects means that the government in Laos is gradually showing the willingness to continue and co-finance these activities. It is one of the objectives and principles of MCNV that government involvement in more remote areas increases and that the government increasingly recognizes the importance of a healthy population, even where people are difficult to reach for existing national programs. such as vaccinations. With our interventions, MCNV wants to bring about change in the health system.

By investing now in training and resources, developments can be sustainably integrated into the existing (health) system, ultimately financed by the local and national Lao governments.