It is early on a chilly winter morning in Kim Boi, a northern mountainous district in Vietnam. The sun is still hidden behind the clouds and the air is filled with thick, grey fog.
A group of local youth are already up and ready, even though it’s Sunday and school is closed. That’s because today they are heading to the district stadium for a competition they had been looking forward to for months – ChildFund Pass It Back’s end of season tag rugby competition.
In 2016, Than was 15 years-old and had never played with a rugby ball in her life. Than lost her mother when she was a baby, and after her father also passed away, she moved in with her relatives. Than was the meek one, who rarely laughed. She grew up shy and reserved, with a small circle of friends and was sometimes teased by other children.
Few people in Than’s community, let alone Vietnam, knew what rugby was. All Than understood about the game was that it used a strange, egg-shaped ball, which could only be passed back. Encouraged by her cousin Phuong, two years her senior and already a particpant in ChildFund Pass It Back, Than thought she’d give it a go. It was a decision that was to change her life.
ChildFund Pass It Back is a sport for development program that uses rugby as a tool to build leadership and life skills in children and young people across disadvantaged communities in Asia. Soon, Than was a member of team ‘Peony’ along with 11 other girls. Her journey with the egg-shaped ball had begun.
Dirce Sarmento is ChildFund Timor-Leste’s health officer. She is also the mother of a young and active toddler boy, Emanuel aged almost two years, so understands only too well both the joys and fears that accompany motherhood.
“I was very lucky during my pregnancy and delivery, because I had lots of support from midwives, as well as doctor in Dili’s National Hospital. It was very helpful to me because it was my first time and I did not have much knowledge on how to deliver a newborn,” says Dirce.
In Timor-Leste, one-third of all child deaths occur in the first month of life. Dirce says this is largely due to the shortage of proper healthcare facilities in rural areas, many of which lack even the most basic equipment, as well as low levels of education among parents on common child health issues.
Dirce explains: “Many mothers don’t know that they should have regular check-ups during pregnancy, as well as once the child is born. In some community health centres, the equipment and facilities needed to care for newborns just isn’t available, so a baby experiencing problems has very little support.”
Part of Dirce’s role is to establish and facilitate Mother Support Groups. Not dissimilar to those established by local government health workers in Australia, these groups provide mothers, and new mums in particular, with peer support and guidance. They also make it easy for organisations like ChildFund Timor-Leste to share information, and provide advice on child health and development.
