Lan*, aged ten, is a fifth-grade student from the Dao ethnic group. The nearest school to her home is still 12km away. During the weeks, she lives away from home with her younger sister and cousin in a small shack near the school. She has done this since she was eight years old.
The shack is a 10 square metre temporary home built on her relative’s land. It is made from mostly natural materials like wood and bamboo and doesn’t protect the children from the weather. In the winter the shack is cold and damp from the heavy rains in the mountainous Cao Bang Province.
As the eldest, the responsibility falls to Lan to care for her younger sister and cousin, both aged eight. “We are afraid of ghosts and are also scared of losing our roof when there is heavy rain,” said Lan.
Every morning Lan wakes up at 5am, washes her face and teeth, and then prepares breakfast for everyone. Sometimes their parents will send an allowance so that they can have rice rolls for breakfast. Other days they will have bread. After breakfast she prepares lunch for the children, does the laundry, cleans the shack, and makes sure everyone ready to go to school. “I take care of my siblings, but I don’t feel tired”, said Lan.
Her parents take turn to visit them once to three times a week, bringing them home grown vegetables and meat for their meals. Lan said that these visits bring them a lot of joy. They get to eat nice meals cooked by the parents and she gets help with the household jobs like the laundry. Sometimes the teachers will visit them to check on them too.
Lan and her younger sister playing.
When Lan started fifth grade at a Primary and Secondary schools in her village, ChildFund Vietnam supported a project to build a semi-boarding house with a kitchen and cafeteria. Lan and her sister and cousin have since moved into the boarding house to live with their friends from school.
Volunteer parents work together to prepare hot, nutritious meals for the children that live there and help them with the household chores. “I love living in the semi-boarding room because I have many friends to play with, and many older children who are always happy to help me with schoolwork,” said Lan.
To help the parents keep the semi-boarding room clean, Lan and her friends always pick up after themselves and make sure that they keep the living area tidy. The parents help keep the bathrooms clean and clear of mosquitos and make sure that there is always hot water available for the children to wash.
“I am no longer afraid of ghosts! The school gate is locked at night, and there are upperclassmen and teachers on duty at school in case we need anything.”
Every Friday night, Lan is picked up by her parents and she comes back to the semi-boarding house on Sunday night. Lan is much happier living at the semi-boarding house and means that she can better focus on her education.
*Names have been changed.
In the Na Ri district of Bac Kan Province, Vietnam, Lan is dedicated to making sure children and young people grow up in a safe, healthy home.
With 10 years’ experience as the Vice President of the Women’s Union and working as a Population and Family Planning Officer, she was excited to be selected to take part in ChildFund Vietnam’s ‘Strengthening Child Protection System Effectiveness’ project in 2019.
Lan is also one of the core members and has made many contributions to the Child Protection Standing Group of the commune in supporting and intervening in cases of children suffering from violence and abuse.
Although she finds her work rewarding, she is open about the challenges she has faced. “Before joining the project, I had very little knowledge and skills about child protection. My previous work was mainly concerned with communication and management of population. However, I would not know how to even begin if we were to talk about child protection. I don’t know where to start, who to coordinate with, or how to work with children. Fortunately, after participating in the capacity building training courses organised by ChildFund, I have knowledge of case management. Everything I learned from the training has made me who I am today: confident and responsible.”
As part of this group, she coordinates monthly briefings where the group identifies children who are facing, or at risk of facing, violence. These reports help her stay updated and manage child protection cases as best as she can.
After attending the workshop on child abuse and violence prevention, Lan felt confident to be able to apply these learnings to her day-to-day work. In 2020, she came across a social media post implying that a grandfather was abusing his grandchild.
Lan contacted the mother of the child and through a series of conversations uncovered that the child had been physically beaten by his grandfather. When she found out, she immediately consulted with the Child Protection Group to work out how to respond to the incident. Lan and her colleague visited the child’s home. Together they explained the laws around child abuse and explained that they should remove the social media post to avoid spreading any sensitive images that might impact the child mental health. With their support, the child is living in safer, happier home. Lan checks in on them regularly.
Lan organises communication sessions on child protection policies in remote villages of the commune. “Initially when organising training and communication programs, I was not confident in my knowledge and expertise even though I had attended a ‘Training of Trainers’ course. At that time, I was very nervous and afraid that I would make mistakes. Previously, my communication sessions were one-way, meaning I would speak, and people would listen. Now, participating in the project, I have learned how to interact better and encourage more participation from the audience.”
Because of the Lan’s dedication and hard work, cases of child abuse have decreased dramatically in her commune. Lan is confident in managing these difficult cases and encourages people to work together to keep children safe in all parts of the community.
When grassroots child protection workers are equipped with the skills to respond to cases of child protection, children and young people can grow up in a safer, healthier community to thrive in.
