In 2016, Vietnam suffered an environmental disaster due to a major chemical spill of the coast of Quang Tri. It decimated fish stocks and destroyed the livelihoods of poor fishermen and their families.
Helping ethnic minority girls to choose their future
Over two days in November, volunteers from HSBC visited poor communes in Quang Tri province to help organize communication sessions on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for poor ethnic minority girls and their parents.
MCNV’s Country Director in Vietnam receives prestigious honour
On the 5th December 2017, Dr Pham Dung, MCNV’s Country Director in Vietnam, was awarded the Medallion for People’s Health in recognition of his outstanding dedication to improving the well-being of people living with disability in Vietnam.
Starting Bachelor course in Occupational Therapy (OT) in Vietnam
Rehabilitation has been developed in Vietnam for more than 40 years; however, Occupational Therapy (OT) is still a new field. With the support from USAID, MCNV has been implementing a 5 year project in OT training development in Vietnam.
Training Teachers to be Mental Health “First Aiders”
Schools are often enjoyable places for children to develop and learn, but they can also be very stressful environments particularly around exam time.
Love and fun on the International Day of People with Disability
December comes with the cold freeze of winter, but teachers and students at the Cao Bang Rehabilitation and Inclusive Education Centre (RIEC) felt so warm and full of love during celebrations for the International Day of People with Disability on the December 3rd.
Workshop “Development of a training framework for a Speech and Language Therapy Training course at Master’s degree level in Vietnam”
From 2017 to 2022, through the DISTINCT project managed by VietHealth, MCNV received a fund from USAID to run a project on speech and language therapy (SALT) education development in Vietnam. The project aims at establishing a solid foundation for the development of an official education system of SALT profession in Vietnam. The University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh city (UMP) and Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy (DUMTP) are two partners in this project. The Trinh Foundation Australia (TFA) participates in this Project as a technical consulting partner to MCNV.
In three days, from 13rd to 15th December 2017, in HCM city, with the technical facilitation and support from TFA, MCNV and UMP organized a workshop on the “development of a Training Framework for a Speech and Language Therapy Training course at the Master’s Degree level in Vietnam”. The workshop is to develop a training framework and a training plan for a clinical-based Master’s degree course in SALT which is comparable with international courses and suitable with Vietnamese context.
MCNV and Phu Yen Community Development Funds visit PwC office in HCMC seeking technical CSR support
On September 12, representatives from 7 MCNV funded community development funds in Phu Yen province together with MCNV staff visited and worked with the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) team in Ho Chi Minh city. This meeting was the first step in which MCNV seek PwC’s expertise on financial management and legal consultation to help MCNV funded microfinance funds in Ben Tre, Quang Tri and Phu Yen province improve their technical and legal capacity to be self-sustained in development.
MCNV has been supporting social inclusion and health programs in these provinces for a long time and in each program, the microfinance component has been a glue and catalyst to connect target groups to participate and commit more to program objectives and at the same time, improve financial inclusion. MCNC’s target in the near future is to make these microfinance components to be independent funds to sustain themselves and continue to support the poor with minimum support from MCNV.
PwC is a renowned company in legal and financial consulting field. PwC had supported MCNV with CSR (corporate social responsibility) grants to improve education for children with disability. This time, PwC is interested to support this microfinance sector to make use of their in-depth expertise and also create opportunities for PwC staff to develop their capacity in a more challenging community microfinance environment.
MCNV and PwC will organize more discussions on cooperation in the coming time.
Working with PwC Sept 12 2017
BOOK INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP: EDUCATION IN SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
On morning of September 9 2017 in Dien Bien Phu city, the Medical Committee Netherlands-Vietnam (MCNV) cooperated with the Department of Education and Training (DOET) of Dien Bien province organized a workshop to introduce the new book “Education in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for high school students”. The workshop gathered representatives who were teachers and officials of 31 high schools in Dien Bien.
With the aim of helping high school teachers to educate their students about SRHR, the book provided teachers with important, practical, and useful knowledge about gender and sexuality; friendship, love among teenagers; contraceptive methods and possible ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies; prevention of sexually transmitted diseases; the problem of sexual abuse among teenagers; personal hygiene; child marriage and early marriage…
Mr. Anh Quoc Nguyen, MCNV’s Coordinator was giving a prize at the workshop
The book was one activity in the project “Enhancing communication in SRHR education for high school students in the mountainous area of Dien Bien”, which was supported by MCNV. The book compiling and production were made in one and a half year, with the contribution of five high school teachers in Dien Bien, two staff members of MCNV; and a doctor from the Hanoi National University of Education. The ultimate goal of the project was to improve teachers’ awareness on SRHS, help them understand more correctly about the issue and then can teach their students better, especially ethnic minority school girls.
According to Dr. Thanh Xuan Nguyen, deputy director of the Ministry of Education and Training, Dien Bien province, the book was a pioneer in the SRHR field, which contained much good knowledge on SRHR for high school students at ages 15 to 18.
The document also had its scientific value, which could be used as a source of reference for researchers, educators, and teachers who care about SRHR. On this special occasion, more than 400 copies of the book were given to high school teachers in Dien Bien.
In three years, from 2015 to 2017, the project has also developed many activities, including building capacity in SRHR for high school teachers, improve students’ kowledge about SRHR, and running the club “Our Ages” which is a platform for students to share their stories and experience of SRHR.
RETROSPECTIVE STUDY ON INTERVENTIONS OF MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN AGE UNDER FIVE
Between September 25 and October 12 2017, MCNV and the Athena Research Institute, Vrije Amsterdam University, the Netherlands, conducted a retrospective study on the status of nutrition in children age under 5 in four villages, Ky Du, Phu Son, Xi Thoai, and Ha Rai of Xuan Quang 2 and Xuan Lanh communes, Dong Xuan district, Phu Yen province.
