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Gifts from donors are and will remain indispensable for our work in Vietnam

In 2023, we want to pay attention to both Vietnam and Laos. This time Vietnam is in the spotlight.

At the beginning of April, we organised an online meeting with our colleagues in Vietnam and the editors of the MCNV newsletter. The common thread in the contributions from Vietnam was the importance of our private donors. All MCNV-employees in Vietnam are aware of the unique significance of MCNV. “There are still more than 3,000 Dutch people who are loyal to Vietnam, often from the very beginning. There is no second MCNV, that is special and we are very grateful to everyone for that. It inspires and encourages us to make the best use of your donations.”

The important role of private donors

To be able to implement a plan, we depend on several parties who want to support a program financially. Some funds, such as the EU or USAID, cover 75% of the budget. The condition of these large funds is that we contribute 25% ourselves, so we have to look for another source of financing. With the donations from our regular supporters we can add that 25% and the entire program is financed with that.

The contribution of the donors can also help to increase the number of participants in an existing project. As a result, every cent goes to the target group, because no additional office or staff costs are then required.

Things are going well in Vietnam and there are also government programs for the remote areas. But there is too little connection with the people there, there are facilities and rights (education, care) that they do not use out of ignorance. Partly thanks to the donors, MCNV is responding to this by focusing on capacity building in order to involve the villagers more in the programs and to promote that they know what facilities are available and what they are entitled to.

Food provision for children and support for the disabled

Vietnam director Pham Dung particularly emphasizes the major role of donors in the programs aimed at providing food for children and supporting the disabled. Two programs that the MCNV wants to continue to support in the coming years.

And finally, we can name the moral support and involvement of the private donors themselves as a value.

The loyal and generous support is so important to us, for which we are so grateful to all our donors. We can’t really put that into words.

Many thanks for your (additional) gift.

Pham Dung, Nguyen Dinh Dai, Tu Phi Yen and Karin Vlug