The world loves sport, and rugby is no different! Millions of people from all over the world are currently tuning in to catch the excitement of the Rugby World Cup in the UK. This includes young rugby players from rural Laos who are taking part in a new regional program called Pass It Back.
Pass It Back is an innovative Sport for Development program using rugby to equip children and young people to overcome challenges, inspire positive social change and “pass it back” to their communities. ChildFund Australia, in partnership with Women Win and Asia Rugby, launched Pass It Back in April 2015, starting in Laos and Vietnam.
Australian Ambassador to Lao PDR, John Williams, who hosted the partnership launch, recently congratulated the program: “Great work, ChildFund Australia and partners. Australia in Laos is proud to be contributing [to Pass It Back]. Sport for development is a central part of our sports diplomacy agenda.” The Australian Government is supporting the implementation of this program.
Pass It Back reached its first milestone in July 2015 when more than 50 youth from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia came together in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to be trained as coaches. Twenty-three of those coaches are from Xieng Khouang province in northern Laos. They have already started to recruit players in their villages, with over 600 children and youth registered for the program, more than half of whom are female.
Across Laos and Vietnam, a total of 39 teams have been formed. All of whom are excitedly working on developing their team names and logos. The hundreds of young players will receive not only rugby knowledge but leadership and life skills training as well.
Thirteen-year-old Mung is from an ethnic minority group and was born in one of the poorest villages in Kim Boi district in rural Vietnam.
Sadly her father passed away when she was young. Mung`s mother has a disability and is unable to work. She struggles to provide for Mung`s needs with the USD13 she receives from the government each month.
“When I get home from school, I feed the pigs, clean the house and cook for my mum to help her,” says Mung.
Mung`s uncle tries to support Mung and her mother as well as his own wife and two children. His rice fields produce enough rice to feed the family and pay for their basic daily expenses. But if a crop fails, they will be hungry for several months.
Mung has just completed grade seven. She has a passion for learning and is a good student, despite having to borrow school books from her friends in order to follow the lessons. Her house is 7km from school. It often took Mung and her cousin two hours to walk to school each day.
“I used to have to leave [home] at 5am to be at class on time. It was so dark and freezing,” she says.
ChildFund identified Mung as being at great risk of dropping out of school due to her family`s poor financial situation. To help support her education, Mung was among 200 children in her village who received a bicycle in 2013 so they could get to school more safely and easily, as part of ChildFund Vietnam`s Hope Bike project. She was also enrolled in a project designed to offer support to families struggling to provide for their children`s school needs.
“Children who can easily quit school because of a poor financial situation are a real problem, which ChildFund in Vietnam has encountered when implementing education projects. This support project enables us to help children while our (self-sufficiency) programs take more time to come into effect,” says Mr. Nguyen Ba Lieu, ChildFund Vietnam`s Program Team leader.
Through the project, Mung receives stationary and clothing for school, her fees are covered by direct transfer to her school and she receives a daily meal of rice, to ensure her dietary needs are met.
“ChildFund`s support has helped to reduce the burden on my uncle. He has been really tired taking care of the two families. Now he doesn`t have to worry about the expense to send me to school. I am provided with tuition fees, course books, a desk and lamps to study at home. I also get rice for meals every month. I feel like I am getting closer to my dream.”
Despite her challenges, Mung always tries her best to study hard and her efforts are showing. She recently took part in a mathematics competition in her district and received an €˜encouragement award`. Everyone in the commune is proud of her.
“I would like to become a teacher in the future to earn enough money to support my mum,” says Mung. “My goal next school year is to improve my result in Vietnamese. Any teacher should be good at Vietnamese in order to convey what she means to her students.”
