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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

Thanks to your support, in over the past three years, MCNV has devised and applied groundbreaking methods with the PROSPER project, which has resulted in long-lasting positive effects in Vietnam, including: responsible forest management and CO2 storage, stimulation of the local economy and local tourism initiatives.
We look forward to your support in the time to come, so that we can continue it and focus further on preserving nature and supporting poor farmers.

Pioneering changes in the forest areas of Quang Tri

Dear donors, October 12, 2023

The story in this newsletter was written by Nguyen Thanh Tung, my colleague from Dong Ha. He is a program coordinator and has been working for MCNV for 20 years. He was born and raised in Dong Ha and is very passionate about improving the living conditions of poor families. And he is committed to preserving the forests in Quang Tri province. He can therefore fully express himself in the forestry program (PROSPER).

Since the start of the forestry program in 2020, Tung has seen a change in thinking and doing how farmers want and can preserve the forests, resulting in improving their own income in a structural way and preserving the trees. This may sound simple, but the program consists of so many different aspects and facets that take a lot of time and efforts. How beautiful it is to see these results! “The farmers are convinced that a different approach leads to a better and healthier future for people and nature and that is what matters to us.”

Tung has a lot of contact with Ho Van Chien, head of the Community Forest Management Board of Chenh Venh village. “In the past, locals randomly harvested bamboo and cut down various types of trees. This situation led to deforestation and major risks for people and nature.”
With the help of MCNV, a lot has changed in this area. The forest is better managed and protected. People’s lives have been improved by experimenting with new things that we did not dare to think of before, such as participating in forest certification, developing ecotourism, making bamboo handicrafts and planting suitable trees.”
Our question to you
Over the past three years, MCNV has devised and applied groundbreaking methods with the PROSPER program, resulted in:

• Responsible forest management and CO2 storage
• Stimulation of the local economy
• Local tourism initiatives

We would like to continue this and start new collaborations with local and international partners who share our mission. The continued support of our loyal donors in the Netherlands enables MCNV to achieve long-lasting positive effects in Vietnam with these groundbreaking changes.

Thank you in advance for your (extra) gift.

Xin chao, warm regards also on behalf of Tung from Dong Ha,

Karin Vlug

Last year, in our December newsletter, I told you about the programs and projects we have planned for the period 2021-2025, focusing on nutrition and food security, maternal and child care and people with disabilities, poverty alleviation and improving living conditions. The continued focus on these topics will lead to longer and more intense involvement in the projects and enable us to live up to our commitment – starting small, handing over, pulling back and continuing elsewhere where the need is also great.

Building partnerships and finding donors willing to support the programs is a big job at a time when there are lots of applications to large and smaller funds. But with our experience and concrete results in the field, we can show that we are a valued organization with specific knowledge and expertise.

We realize that there will come a time when the focus of activities and of the organization will be even more in Vietnam than now, including fundraising. And you may be wondering what your value as a donor to MCNV will be then. That question is very easy to answer: you are vital to our programs and projects because there is always a contribution to be made by the organization itself, often up to a quarter of the grant to be received. The gifts and donations of donors like you are the source of those own contributions and thus a prerequisite for working with partners and donors.

Our great desire is to continue to partner with you in 2023 and support our colleagues in Vietnam and Laos. The work is not yet finished and both financially and morally MCNV desperately needs you to continue with our mission. We feel privileged with your unconditional support and thank you very much in advance for your (extra) donation!

On behalf of all colleagues, I wish you good holidays and a healthy 2023.

Karin Vlug
Senior Advisor Fundraising MCNV

For more information (in Dutch) see page 4-5 of our magazine.

Follow-up to the PROSPER project

In the multi-year PROSPER program we have told you about before, we are guiding small foresters in Quang Tri province toward sustainable forest management. The wood from the trees and the oil from the seeds of the tung trees are given an FSC (Forest Steward Council) label, thus providing farmers with a better, fair price. The EU funds 75% of the program, the remaining 25% is MCNV’s own contribution.

About 100 participating households received compensation for planting tung trees and native plants last year. A trial was also conducted to see if the planting of tung trees could prevent landslides. In total, with support from Project PROSPER, some 300 hectares of forest have now been planted in northern Huong Hoa.

The Vietnamese government has declared PROSPER a best practice in their own program “Plant a billion trees in the period 2021-2025”. A next project, as a follow-up to PROSPER, could allow expansion to more households of foresters in other villages, and certification for CO2 storage and biodiversity, among other things, could also be a next step.

Our question to you

Promoting sustainable forestry is a good way to help lift small farmers and their families out of poverty. They get a better price and higher yield for sustainably grown timber and seeds. But there are more benefits: for nature and the fight against climate change. Planting trees improves the soil, water balance and CO2 uptake. We started a small-scale forestry project in Quang Tri in 2020, and we now see opportunities to support more farmers. The plans are already clear, your support is indispensable to implement them. More trees means more farming families out of poverty!

Will you help us to provide more foresters with more livelihood security in the coming year?
With € 20,000 we can take the next step in a new project in 2023.

Thank you very much for your (extra) gift!
Team MCNV-CVN

Providing more protein-rich food for children continues to be urgent in coming years

Nutrition for children from poor families living in remote villages in Phu Yen province requires a lot of extra attention. We have regularly written to you about this and asked you for an extra contribution. We want to continue to do this in the coming years because too many young children are malnourished. They need more and better food to grow up healthy and to independently and strongly build their own future at a later age.