Stories of #GoodChange
I was a Good Neighbours sponsored child from 2012 to 2020. Fortunately for me, over the past 9 years I have received a lot of help and support from Good Neighbours. The support of the organisation has helped me and other sponsored children have more motivation to strive.
Van was a sponsored child of Good Neighbours from 2012 to 2020. Child sponsorship has changed her life by allowing her a safe home, education and all the medical attention she needed. The biggest benefit for her was the emotional support she could get from her sponsor.
This year, Van began working for the Good Neighbours at the project office in Son Duong District, Vietnam. Having experienced first-hand the work of Good Neighbours and all that they had done for children like her in the community, she wanted to contribute her efforts to the organisation and its mission.
Check out our interview with Luu Thi Van below to find out more about her experience as a sponsored child.
GN: Could you briefly tell us about yourself and what it was like growing up in Vietnam?
V: Hello everybody. My name is Luu Thi Van, I live in Son Nam commune, which is one of eight communes of Son Duong district, Tuyen Quang province where Good Neighbors International (GNI) is supporting. I graduated from high school in 2020 and I am currently an intern at Good Neighbors Vietnam, a project office in Son Duong district, Tuyen Quang province.
Son Duong district, Tuyen Quang province where I live is a poor mountainous district. Economic conditions are still difficult and children’s learning conditions are limited. I was a GNI sponsored child from 2012 to 2020. Fortunately for me, over the past 9 years I have received a lot of help and support from GNI.
I am now 19 years old and no longer in sponsorship.
GN: What impact did your sponsors donations have on your life?
V: After becoming a sponsored child of GNI, every year I received support such as: annual gifts, health check-up services and extracurricular programs to raise awareness of children’s rights.
In our locality, GNI has programs to support clean water, sanitation, livelihood development etc. GNI’s staff members often visit our home to check on the family and study status of mine as well as other sponsored children. I feel very lucky and happy.
The support of the GNI organization has helped me and the children have more motivation to study and strive.
GN: If you could say anything to your previous sponsor, what would you say?
V: I look forward to meeting you. I wish you good health and happiness. Thank you!
GN: For anyone thinking of becoming a sponsor, what would you say to them?
V: For those who want to be a sponsor in the future, by doing so they can contribute to and can help the community and disadvantaged children through GNI’s sponsorship programs and our other support activities. I believe with these great meanings, they will become happy sponsors.
GN: What led you to now work for Good Neighbors Vietnam?
V: In my 9 years as a sponsored child, I see the friendliness and meaning from the work that GNI staff have done for children like me in the community where I live. That makes me want to spread what I feel to the community and I wish to contribute a small part of my efforts to the activities and development of the GNI organization.
