Mai Duong Kindergarden Project, 2007

Mai Duong is the poorest village in Quang Phuoc Commune, in Quang Dien District of Thua Thien Hue Province, and has a population of 1145 inhabitants living in 263 households. Located approximately 40km north of Hue City, the economy is largely agriculturally-based and the village is surrounded by rice fields.

The kindergarten in Mai Duong houses 80 children, from three to five years old, in two classrooms with a total of four teachers. The kindergarten was built by the local government as a primary school, but turned into a kindergarten when the primary school was relocated to a newer building. The kindergarten had run into disrepair recently, with the following problems noted:

• The classroom floors, blackboards, doors were broken;
• Teachers lacked sufficient teaching aids and materials;
• There was not enough furniture for all the students;
• No bathroom was available for the children; they had no clean water for washing or brushing their teeth, and the area around the kindergarten was polluted by toilet use.

Imagine 80 three to five year olds in a building all day without a toilet or a faucet. Preschool and kindergarten are not mandatory in Vietnam, so primary and secondary schools take funding priority over kindergartens. It is very common in Vietnam for NGOs to split the cost of a kindergarten with the local government - for instance, in this case, Hue Help provides educational resources and renovates the facilities, while the government pays the teachers’ salaries.

The refurbishment of Mai Duong Kindergarten has been a great success. The new bathroom and renovated classrooms have ensured hygiene, comfort, clean water and an all-around better learning environment for young children. Post-refurbishment, the community will take responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the building. The construction and renovation of kindergartens remains an important task for NGOs in Vietnam, where communities often have the administrative structures and interest in maintaining and improving school buildings but lack the funding for it. Together, Hue Help and Seattle Rotary #4 have made a lasting investment in the educations and futures of young children in Mai Duong.

The cost?

The total cost of the project was £1670. Download the full project report below for a breakdown of the costs!

The project report

Download the full project report here to learn more about this program (.pdf)