The National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC), in cooperation with AIA Vietnam and the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, launched the “Life’s Journey” programme on November 6 to raise funds to buy bicycles for the city’s disadvantaged children.

According to Deputy General of the NFVC Le Tuyet Mai, since its establishment in 2004 the fund has raised over 4 trillion VND (188 million USD) to support more than 28 million underprivileged children throughout the country.

At the launch, 40 disadvantaged children from the remote and mountainous districts of Phong Dien, Vinh Thanh, Co Do and Thoi Lai were given bicycles (worth 1.7 million VND each).

In addition, the NFVC worked with AIA Vietnam to give another 40 bicycles, 40 scholarships and 80 educational kits to poor children in Tien Giang and Long An provinces.

The city also organised a parade to increase the public’s awareness of road safety.

According to statistics published by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, each year more than 200,000 children drop out of school in Vietnam. One of the main reasons is that they live too far from the nearest school, with many children in remote and mountainous areas having to walk 5-10km or more to school.-VNA