Moon Festival traditional stars.

It is celebrated on the 15th day of the eight month in the Chinese calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. Is is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar.

There are many myths and legends associated with this festival. One more reality based meaning of this festival is that it is a celebration of a good harvest. As part of this celebration a great fuss is made of the children.

Celebrating the children as part of this festival stems back to the more rural traditions in Vietnam. It gives parents an opportunity to apologise for not having been able to spend more time with them during the work heavy summer spell.

This day is therefore given up to spoiling the children. As one can imagine children love this day. Children will receive gifts, will take part in shows and games and in general have the centre stage on this special day.

Enjoying the entertainment at Hold the Future

Hold the Future also celebrates this special day with its young people. The Vietnamese are a very musical nation and no festivity ever passes without the enjoyment of traditional song and dance. Members from the audience are encouraged to sing. But there are also more experienced entertainers who are invited to share the festivities.

All of these activities are topped off with gifts to the young people and a special meal together enjoyed by all. Much fun is had by all.

Le Minh Hiền, Director of Hold the Future, Centre for disabled youth in Hanoi

While riding her bike she was knocked over by a truck. Her left arm and right leg were broken badly, her spine damaged and she suffered many serious burns which have scarred her for life.

However, although this accident happened during her studies, she insisted on taking her final year examination at the University of Foreign Trade regardless of her injuries. She sat her exams while in hospital.

She married and had two children. Tragically, her husband passed away at an early age in 1995 leaving her with the task of bringing up her children on her own. She managed to educate both children with her son now working for Airbus in France and her daughter owner managing a very successful New Media Agency in Ho Chi Minh City.

It was not easy achieving this and she took on several different jobs to raise sufficient money to be able to offer her children the education they needed. She made and sold pho, candies, soup, wool products and much more.

During these hard times she met many other disabled people who found themselves in similar situations to the one she was in. Over a period of time a loose organisation formed for the purpose of disabled people supporting each other.

But it was always in the back of her mind to start something more real. She thought of a place with a business where disabled people could learn, manufacture goods for sale and support each other in these endeavours. This she had envisaged for some time.

The initial group of ten people grew over the years until in 2002 the group had grown to a size where it seemed possible to start a more formal organisation and a business was founded. This progress has not been easy. In fact it has been one long and hard fight to keep the Centre going, find funding for training and to be able to reach more disabled young people.

Hold the Future has not received any Government support. It is hoped that this will change soon and that some form of grant system will be introduced whereby each disabled person receives some benefits from the state. This in turn will make Hold the Future’s work so much easier.

During the years Mrs Hiền has worked hard to grow the Centre. But her efforts have not only focused on her young workers and learners that have come through the Centre.

Her energy has also been spent in promoting the well-being of disabled people as a whole as well as spending time on advocacy work in various other associations and community groups. Mrs Hiền is Chairwoman of the Ba Dinh District Disabled Community Group or DPO.

She is Vice President of DP Hanoi, (Disability Hanoi) which is an organisation that supports disabled people, their associations and businesses. It also actively promotes the integration of disabled people into the work environment.

Lê Hùng Trương works at Hold the Future

It could have been due to Agent Orange. Trương’s father fought for many years in the American War where Agent Orange was used as a weapon. But it’s difficult to say whether this is the cause of Trương’s disability as his father was never examined for this disease.

Trương is the only disabled son out of a family of five sisters and brothers. His parents are also able people.

It wasn’t easy for Trương to grow up. He well remembers, as if it were yesterday, the difficult times he had due to his disability. When he was small the other children bullied him and as he grew older he experienced discrimination from everybody around him not just children.

But he decided that education would be something that would help him to change his life for the better. So he studied hard and found that during his senior student life he was fortunate to make some great friends who helped him through his studies and ensured that he enjoyed his life.

In 1999 he was ready for University but failed his first attempt at the entrance examination. He found a job in a company. At his interview they promised him a lot and he looked forward to working hard. Regrettably none of the promises ever came through and he decided a year later to try the University entrance examination again.

This time he passed the examination but discovered that the fees would be too high for his family to be able to afford. So the University doors closed once more leaving him standing outside.

But he did not give up on his dream of a good education so he entered the College of Accounting at the Agriculture University. Although his mother’s health was not good, she nevertheless supported him and sacrificed everything to try and make up for his disability. He never received the same support from his father and always felt unloved.

His family was able to support him a little throughout his studies at the College. He did manage to earn a scholarship because of his excellent academic results and in support of his disability.

Trương came to know Hold the Future through DP Hanoi during 2007. He decided to work for the Centre so that he could share his skills and help other people who have similar difficulties to him. He is still looking for opportunities to acquire a higher education in accounting.

During 2005 Trương got married. His wife is not disabled. She does not care about his disability and loves him for who he is. They have two small children. Their daughter is five years old and they have a baby son. Much to his joy both children are able people and have not inherited his disability.

The only worry he has is that his family is always struggling financially. It is truly hard for him to provide enough for his small family. It’s a tough life and he has to get up at 4.00am every day to help his wife with the children and leave early for work as it is a long daily journey to Hold the Future.

Yet at the end of the day Trương feels that his lovely wife and beautiful children have been given to him as a gift from God to make up for his disability.

It’s therefore great that Hold the Future can show its first videos on its new YouTube channel which you can find at HoldTheFutureVN.

On the occasion of the handing over of wheelchairs on August 18, 2010 at the Centre a few videos were taken and now take pride of place as the first entries in what one hopes will become a great source of information and pleasure to visitors.

There are four new videos to start with. Speaking on behalf of Latter-Day Saint Charities is Ardell Talbot expressing his feelings about being able to make this wonderful presentation happen due to the generous donations of his organisation.

Peter de Vries, a VSO volunteer, was also thrilled to be able to attend the ceremony and watch the happy faces of the recipients. Then there is Dao Thi Thu Hien who received her wheelchair with great happiness.

And last but not least Nguyen Thu Thao Country Director of Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation expresses her pleasure at being able to facility this wonderful occasion. VVAF were responsible for bringing together the sponsor and recipients.

Dao Thi Thu Hien on receiving her wheelchair.

Japanese students visit Hold the Future, Centre for disabled youth

Hold the Future, a Centre offering disabled youth a chance in life, recently was graced with a visit from three very enterprising budding young economists from Japan.

These lovely Japanese students were on a fact finding mission. Attending the Faculty of Economics at Chuo University they were collecting data and impressions for their third year thesis. Chuo University in Tokyo is a highly regarded tertiary institution with a most impressive list of famous alumni.

The topic they were exploring dealt with disability and developing countries and this is what had brought them to Vietnam and more specifically to Hold the Future as one of their research facilities.

It was most encouraging to see how thorough the students were with their work. They had spent much time on the questions they wanted to ask and were immensely patient and diligent in collecting the data. Remember they were working through an interpreter.

They also shone with their Japanese good manners. It made one reflect that intelligence and an inquiring mind are able to live hand in hand with a courteous way of dealing with people. A respect for other people’s opinion is important even in modern days.

People living in the developed West tend to be willing to make allowances for precocious brattish behaviour by some of the Western youth labouring under the mistaken idea that this is part and parcel of independent thinking. But it doesn’t have to be like that at all.

These three Japanese students showed that the tradition of respect for other people as practised in the Eastern Asian countries such as Japan and Vietnam does not mean that the youth lack self-confidence and have no intelligent independent thought.

Mrs Hiền, Director of Hold the Future says good-bye to her Japanese visitors.

Far from it. With such enterprising young people the Eastern Asian countries can look forward to a great future.  So thank you to Kureha Seki, Miri Okamura and Yushi Nagai for your visit. Asia’s future is safe in your hands as well as the hands of the youth of Vietnam.

Now all we need to do is ensure that disabled youth have the same support and chances that they too can show the world how capable they are and what  great things they can achieve.

Students at Hold the Future learning sign language

The first step to poverty alleviation is surely education and training. Education will cover your knowledge that you need to survive in the world such as reading, writing and numeracy. Training will provide you with skills with which to earn a living.

Hold the Future’s Director Mrs Hiền is truly aware of this and her efforts in making sure the members of the Centre receive exactly this are legendary. Her determination and the invaluable funding contribution by Caritas Germany have ensured that disabled young people coming to the Centre have a chance in life.

The Centre offers courses in the three Rs to those who have not had the good fortune of receiving formal schooling. Regrettably this happens quite often in Vietnam, as it certainly does in other countries too, where disabled young people are excluded from attending schools due to their disabilities.

One of the many courses offered is the sign language course. This course is invaluable for deaf members. For many it is the first time they are able to learn to communicate well.

The course is not only offered to deaf young people. The course is compulsory to all people working and studying at Hold the Future. This means that all people can communicate with each other whether they are deaf or not.

Even outside participants may take part especially people who wish to volunteer their services at the Centre.

Above all else this particular course is great fun to participate in. It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the young people and the way they easily take to learning the alphabet or their numbers in sign language. There’s a buzz and a happiness about finally being able to communicate. After all that’s one of humanities most important skills that we have, the ability to communicate.

It’s a pity that sign language isn’t built into every school’s curricula world wide. It’s easy to learn and great fun to use. The World Federation of the Deaf estimates that there are 70 million deaf people worldwide. That’s a fair number.

But it’s not only deaf people that could be accommodated. As the world faces an ageing population, deafness will become more common.  And what about sign language across normal language barriers? It’s not such an outrageous idea to introduce sign language studies into schools. It’s easy to learn and a great skill to have.

A visit by the DPO of Hoài Đức

A friendly visit by a neighbouring saw the chairman Ngūyền Hồng Hà pop in for a chat. Unofficial, but still welcome. For the VSO volunteer an added bonus was that his English was excellent .

Hà chatted about his work as an English teacher and his contribution towards the well-being of disabled people. He is disabled himself being physically disabled. However, that hasn’t stopped him from enjoying life to the fullest. He is hoping to be part of a disabled group representing DPOs visiting Thailand in October, joining them as interpreter for the group.

The next visitors were dignitaries from PTU. the Danish Society of Polio and Accident Victims. They work for the integration and equal opportunities of people suffering mobility disabilities which are the result of polio, injuries to the spinal cord, whiplash and other injuries resulting from accidents.

MD Philip Rendtorff, Anne-Lise Rossau and Gurli Nielsen both PUT committee members

Visiting the Hold the Future centre in Co Nhue were the Managing Director Philip Rendtorff accompanied by committee members Anne-Lise Rossau and Gurli Nielsen.

The PTU’s involvement in Vietnam is an interesting one. PTU’s funding is focused on capacity building for disabled people organisations. In this instance they are funding the building up of D P Hanoi of which Hold the Future is a member.

They have achieved great success in this. Just alone to manage the setting up of a support organisation took some doing. D P Hanoi became the first disability organisation to be approved by the authorities in 2006.

PTU’s support has provided training and workshops for members so that the organisation can grow and support more district and member organisations as well as focus on advocacy work to raise the awareness of disability rights and the new UN Disability Convention.

It was interesting to hear about the visitor’s perception of Vietnam. Mr Rendtorff thought that Vietnam has a special kind of energy, a buzz and enthusiasm and that it was a wonderful country to visit.

They in particular were impressed with Hold the Future and the work it does for disabled young people. They took a tour around the facilities admiring the dedication of the young people working, studying and living at the Centre.

Embroidered landscape at Ha Long Bay

Beautiful traditional Vietnamese embroidery

They were lucky to be able to buy items of the new product range of embroidered Vietnamese images. All three of the visitors took advantage of taking these lovely products back home to remember their visit to Vietnam.

To view more products such as these visit http://vingaymai.com

Sen working on Bamboo Picture Art at Hold the Future

Sen had a very difficult childhood. “I was often teased and abused by my classmates and their parents,” she explains solemnly.  “Sometimes I felt so depressed I would think about ending my life.”

Sadly, Sen’s story is not uncommon. Having a disability in Vietnam makes people second class citizens – depriving them of opportunities and leaving them open to stigmatisation. In a way, Sen was lucky. At least she was receiving an education: 98.8 percent of people with disabilities in Vietnam do not.

“In Vietnam, it will usually only be the able child who receives support for schooling, not the disabled child, says Lè Minh Hiền, the founder and Director of Hold The Future, a pioneering project that supports people with disabilities through training in crafts and business skills. “Parents do not think the disabled child will find work when they are older.”

Trương Thị Sen learning new skills at Hold the Future

Mrs Hiền set up Hold The Future for this very reason, and today 40 people live and work at its site while another 20 or so make a daily journey to the Centre.  Some are in training, others are employed by the organisaton to make crafts that are then sold, earning a fee for every item they make.

Sen is studying bamboo picture art making. After graduating she plans to work at the Centre making bamboo picture art. “I enjoy work,” she says. “I hope my products sell in Vietnam, but also across the world.”

Intricate work to create Bamboo Picture Art.

“Since coming to Hold The Future things have changed for me,” says Sen, a big smile lighting up her face. “I feel confident and I’m learning to be self-sufficient. We used to feel sorry for ourselves but now we feel capable. We are no longer dependent on our family, nor a burden. We are independent.”

Surely every young lady deserves that. Especially one with such a beautiful smile and positive attitude to life now that she has found her purpose and  focus. Sen is mobility impaired due to Agent Orange infection.

A special thank you to Simon Rawles and VSO for the photographs.

A happy Ngô Duy Bình at Hold the Future

“What are you studying for? With those legs of yours you will not  be able to do anything”.  That’s what a neighbour told Ngô Duy Bình when he saw him working at his school assignments.

Bình, a young man of 22 living and studying at Hold the Future, had this thrown at him while still at school. Binh suffers from a muscle disease that affects his lower legs. The muscles have contracted and it makes it difficult for him to walk easily.

This is a disease that has affected several generations of his family. It started with his great grandfather, passed on to his grandfather and then his mother. Out of the three siblings in the family his oldest sister did not inherit the disease but he and his younger sister regrettably were recipients of these genes.

It seems however that the family is having physically able children now and the hope in the family is that this disease might have followed through its course and no longer affects the new generation. Both children born by his sisters are without this disability.

Explaining to a sceptical VSO volunteer Anja that the wood can get fixed.

Bình is originally from Lai Châu where he lived and went to school until the first year of high school. His school results had been excellent and he was placed in one of the top two classes.

But it was the constant ill treatment he received as a disabled person that finally got to him. Especially his relationship with his maths teacher deteriorated to such a degree that his anger finally boiled over and he gave up on school and found work in farming. It’s a decision he has regretted often.

Two years ago he heard about Hold the Future and moved to Hanoi to join the Centre. He loves working at handicrafts, enjoys learning new skills and hopes to eventually be able to go back to his home town and start a handicraft business.

These are some great photos taken by Simon Rawles on behalf of VSO. Hold the Future was fortunate to be chosen as one of the VSO placements to be photographed and Simon came from the UK to visit and to record our stories for VSO as well as for the Centre .

Director Lé Minh Hiền is viewing a final product.

Bình having fun with his handiwork.

Bình ended up explaining the skills he has learnt during his carpentry training to a whole group of visitors.  He  demonstrated the use of the measuring tools and electric saw to prepare wood pieces ready to be made into picture frames.

Even sub standard wood is usable as students at Hold the Future learn how to repair wood and fill blemishes until the piece is perfect for use as part of a decorative frame.

Picture frames are sold as separate items or used to frame some of the lovely handicraft work such as rolled paper art or embroidery work produced by disabled youth while working at the Centre. Please subscribe to our RSS by clicking on the orange feed icon or our emails by entering your email address. To view products visit the commercial site at http://vingaymai.com.

Wheelchair Ceremony at Hold the Future

Wednesday 18 August was a festive day at Hold the Future. A presentation had been planned and many people were looking forward to this day. The reason for this excitement was that with a generous sponsorship by Latter-Day Saint Charities wheelchairs would be handed over to some very lucky recipients.

Latter-Day Saint Charities is a private, nonprofit, charity agency registered with the Vietnamese Government and the US Agency for International Development. LDSC offers humanitarian relief throughout approximately 150 countries world-wide. One hundred percent of all donations go to relief and development programs.

The way it works is that volunteers who are primarily retired couples administer the funds using their own financial resources to fund their volunteering work. This is also true in the case of the wonderful couple in charge of the Vietnam operation. Country Directors Ardell and Julie Anne Talbot have spent their money and time in working in Vietnam.

Ardell & Julie Anne Talbot at the Wheelchair Ceremony at Hold the Future

An impressive array of wheelchairs!

Some time ago Hold the Future had completed the paper work required to request wheelchairs for its members. This process was being facilitated by Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation or VVAF. Much careful thought went into the application. Especially those who had never before received a wheelchair needed to be selected.

It was a short ceremony of speeches which was a very good thing as the expectant faces of wheelchair recipients showed that they were struggling to wait for their turn to come.

Finally the moment had arrived and one by one the wheelchairs found their new owners. It was a wonderful moment as each nominated disabled person was awarded their chair.

Vu Thi Dung is overwhelmed by the occasion.

But one often forgets that it’s not just a blessing for the disabled person to get that set of wheels to help their mobility. There were many many thrilled care takers too. Their life had just been made so much easier.

In Vietnam many disabled people who are unable to move on their own accord are carried. They are carried every where unless the floor lends itself for a disabled person to slide themselves along. But transportation generally depends on another person having the strength and mobility themselves to offer to be the pack horse.

A wheelchair therefore in Vietnam serves many purposes. It helps the disabled person but it also provides much needed relief to the care takers.

Tipping water requires skill too!

Summer in Hanoi spells rain. And the rain wasn’t going to let this ceremony go by without making an appearance.  The presentation area needed to be covered and a tent like structure was put in place. Drainage was a slight issue and water had to be tipped out of the cover every now and then.

A further entertaining aspect was that the cover has seen better days and many holes made the weather protection not quite as effective. But then in the warm climate, a bit of damp is not really a major problem. It certainly didn’t dampen the spirit of disabled people, their carers, visiting dignitaries and Hold the Future staff.