Vietnam

Despite the commendable efforts implemented across the education spectrum, not all students are given a fair chance to reap the benefits of a full academic career. Before 2005, students were only required to complete schooling up to grade five. Since then, the minimum requirement has risen to grade nine, though there is no strict enforcement of this new guideline. Students can attend elementary school free of tuition, but are still required to pay out of pocket for textbooks, uniforms, and school supplies. Beyond elementary school, students have to pay tuition for secondary (grade six to twelve) and higher education. During the 2015-2016 school year, the tuition for higher education averaged between $262 and $385 per year while more elite universities charged up to $1,000 per year.

When Chau and Thai-Anh visited their first orphanage in Vietnam in 2011, the pair identified the orphans they met as an underserved demographic, hindered not only by their poverty but also by their lack of social, mental, and logistical means to obtain a proper education. The current system in Vietnam only left them with two options: (1) stay in the stifled orphanage ecosystem, or (2) leave to work without a sufficient education or social training to be a productive member of society. This lack of support may perpetuate a lifetime of poverty for many of these children.

While orphans have benefited from the modern wave of international and domestic adoption and volunteer tourism, there lacked a long-term, holistic resource for them, one that would provide basic needs, mentorship, and social support. That is the missing puzzle piece that OrFA aims to fill through its scholarship and mentorship programs.