Fall Sponsorships

We are very pleased to announce that we are sponsoring 38 students for the upcoming school year and our program has continued to grow since 2006!  Many of our sponsors are from overseas, and we want to give you a special thanks for remembering the children in Vietnam who would not be able to go to school without their support. 

Most of the students are from in and around Ho Chi Minh City but some live as far away as the Mekong Delta.  On September 13th, students braved the rain for a fun party with many of the sponsors who are living in Ho Chi Minh City.  It is a great way for the students and sponsors to meet and build a connection. Many parents also came to the party to celebrate the beginning of the new school year.  Students also received a gift bag filled with notebooks, pens and other school supplies donated from our School Supplies Drive. The changes the sponsorships make in these children’s lives is invaluable as they would not be able to be in school without them. 

School Supplies Fundraiser

Once again the annual ILA Community Network School Supplies Drive was a huge success. ILA students and teachers worked hard to collect and donate enough school supplies to support ILA’s charity centres, including the Little Rose Shelter, the Green Bamboo Shelter and the children’s cancer hospital. This year, ILA was also able to donate supplies to children in poor communities.

The response from ILA students was great and enabled the ILACN to collect 1,638 notebooks, 200 text books, 30 school bags and numerous boxes of stationary. The class that collected the most supplies from each of ILA’s five centres in Ho Chi Minh City won a restaurant voucher for each student. This was to thank the students on behalf of all those that the ILACN has been able to help through their kindness.

Candy Jar Fundraiser

This is one of the most popular fundraising events with the students.  Parents, teachers, students and staff all get really excited to guess how many sweets are in the big jar filled with candy. Everyone had great fun making guesses and trying to win the candy jar.

This year, the proceeds went to the Green Bamboo Shelter to support the schooling of the boys there. This will include funding uniforms for school and outings.

Khiem Thi [Visually impaired children] Project

In May 2009, the ILACN began a long-term project to fund a classroom for the children who are visually impaired by providing everything needed to make the classroom possible.  This included funding the teachers and specially trained staff, school supplies and general upkeep of the classroom.  The ILACN has pledged to support this classroom for at least 3 years.
This is one of the ILACN’s biggest projects to date and we are proud to be making long-term contributions to the orphanage.

Spring Fundraiser – A Circus Party!

This year, we had a Circus themed party and more than 200 guests attended.  We raised over 70,000,000 Vietnam Dong (nearly $4000 USD), which will support a purpose-built classroom for the visually impaired children at the Go Vap Orphanage for a year.  People enjoyed dancing, playing games for prizes and a wonderful buffet dinner! We are very pleased with this outcome as the orphanage will benefit greatly from it.

Spring Term Sponsorships

For the Spring ‘09 term, we have increased the number of students we sponsor to attend school to 33. Our sponsors hail from countries around the globe, including Australia, England, America, and Vietnam. On March 1st, we had a really wonderful party, where many sponsors were able to meet their students.
This term, we are also working towards providing each student with a bicycle to get to school and all their school books for the next school year. This endeavour has been very successful so far and has helped the students feel more excited and self-sufficient.
We intended to increase the number of students we are sponsoring even further for the Fall ’09 term. If you would like to sponsor a child to go to school, please contact the ILA Community Network at ilacn@ilavietnam.com

Baby Massage Therapy

At the Go Vap Orphanage, volunteers learned how to properly handle and massage babies to help with stimulation and circulation. The training sessions are in collaboration with the Sao Mai group. Training took place in February and March.

Toy Drive for Tet

The ILACN annual Toy Drive was a huge success this year. ILA students brought in toys to donate to needy children in the communities around each ILA training centre. The classes that brought in the most toys won a KFC party to celebrate their good deeds.
This was the first ILACN activity to happen at every ILA centre in the country. Students in Hanoi, Danang, Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City all got really involved in giving gifts for the Lunar New Year. Toys were delivered to over 300 children in the local communities around ILA schools throughout Vietnam.

Winter Bring and Buy Sale

The latest bring and buy sale on January 20th was our most successful yet raising almost 16,000,000 VND [$900 USD] for the children of the Little Rose and Green Bamboo shelters.
It was again kindly hosted by T&R Tavern. Asuka Boyle and team of enthusiastic volunteers did a great job of selling both pre-loved bric-a-brac and raffle tickets.
Some of the money was used to help the children go on holiday for the Lunar New Year and the remainder will be spent on much needed refurbishments for the two shelters.

Christmas Party Celebrations

The ILACN cooperated with another charity, Thuy’s Dream, to organise a Christmas day for the children at the Ung Buou Cancer Hospital. Santa Claus and helpers came and gave out presents to 150 children. Everyone had a wonderful time taking photos, opening gifts and eating KFC.
In addition, over 30 sets of toys and clothes were sent to the children at the Green Bamboo and Little Rose Warm Shelters.

Football Sports Programme

The sports programme is an initiative designed to offer the boys of the Green Bamboo Shelter an opportunity to be involved in regular structured, physical activities. The programme is based around the growing idea of sport for development, not only giving the boys a positive outlet for their energy through physical exercise, but also to encourage the values of teamwork, cooperation and friendship with those around them. The primary focus of the sports programme is football (soccer) which reflects the interests of the boys at the shelter. Although the scheme is young, the programme has attracted a regular core of volunteers who are reinforcing the values set out at the beginning and giving valuable, additional input on a regular, weekly basis. Their involvement is also permitting a rotation of volunteers when needed and the strong potential for the long term continuity of the programme.Volunteers and the boys from the shelter meet each week on Wednesdays at 1 pm.