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Thanh is just like any other child from the Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam. He spends his days playing, going to school, and begrudgingly helps with chores around the family home.

His mother, Pin works as a labourer far away from the family home to earn enough money to provide for her family. While she is away, Thanh and his brother live with their grandparents.

Thanh was born with a physical disability and although he lives close to school, he doesn’t like to go because it is difficult for him to keep up with his peers. “When Thanh was born, his right hand did not have any fingers. He does not do well at school because he has a difficult time keeping up. I also heard that getting a disability certificate for a child is very time consuming,” said Pin.

This all changed two years ago when Pin attended a ChildFund Vietnam training session for parents with children living with a physical or intellectual disability. This session was organised as part of the ‘Ready for Primary School’ program.

Although initially hesitant to attend, she was encouraged by Thanh’s teacher to take part. At the training she learned more about how she could best support her son to fully participate in school and care for him and support him in achieving an education.

At the end of the session, she was elected by her peers to be a leader of the community group for parents of children living with a disability. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot. Before I became the group leader, I rarely talked to others in the commune. If someone asked me about my family, I usually just kept quiet. Now I can communicate more openly.”

As leader of the group, Pin regularly visits and encourages parents of children with a disability to join the group. Together they help families across Hoa Binh apply for disability certificates on behalf of their children, meaning they are eligible for additional financial support from the government.

Pin feels more equipped with the skills to care for Thanh and is confident that she can empower him with the education he needs to live a full life.

Until now, only two children in the commune have been granted disability certificates, including Thanh. With the success of her group, Pin has been invited to share her experience with other communes in the district.

Despite being busy with work and the community group, Pin always makes time to walk her children to school and help them with their homework when she can.

“Thanh has been working hard at school. He is very happy when I take him to class. We have also been receiving monthly financial support thanks to the government’s policy, which has lessened the financial burden on our family.”

For families like Pin’s, having a support system where parents share their challenges and successes is incredibly important. Learn more about ChildFund Vietnam’s work to support children with disability to access an education.

For many children in Cambodia, their sixth birthday signifies the exciting day that they get to go to school. But 13-year-old Sobine didn’t start school until the age of 10. Despite a late start to his education, Sobine is determined to finish high school.

“My family was very poor, and I had no idea how I would be able to send Sobine to school. We live in poverty and there was a lot of violence in our home,” said Sobine’s mother, Sophors.

When Sobine and his mother moved in with their stepfather, a construction worker, he was enrolled in the nearest primary school. But he struggled to keep up with reading and writing.

“I couldn’t read very well in the second grade. Since I’m older than my classmates, they could read but I couldn’t, and this stressed me out. I didn’t like myself because I couldn’t achieve as much as the others.”

ChildFund Cambodia’s ‘Easy to Learn’ program makes sure that every child can access a quality education. The program runs activities that give teachers the skills to support children who are falling behind in literacy and numeracy. It also renovates libraries and provides tablets that have a digital library of age-appropriate books.

The goal of the project is to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of primary school children and to develop a peer tutoring program so children can help their peers who may be falling behind.

The project provides school uniforms and other school supplies like bags, books, and pencils to other children in need, so that they can complete a primary school education. As a mother, Sophors is delighted that programs like this have been able to contribute to her son’s education.

“I am really pleased that he has been able to move his study further. Even though I am limited in what I can provide, I want all my children to be literate so they can have rewarding careers in the future. I don’t want them to be as impoverished as I am,” she said.

“I’m so happy that I can read better now. My teachers and classmates gave me a lot of support. They helped me to memorise the alphabet and symbols. I also enjoy using the apps and reading toolkits to help me learn the letters,” said Sobine. “When I grow up, I don’t want to work in a restaurant like my older brother. I want to work in an office building.”

Learn more about how ChildFund Cambodia is working with local communities and partners to make sure that children living with hearing impairment and other disabilities can access an education and have a chance at a brighter future.