Catalyst Foundation firmly believes in working collectively with local communities in raising awareness, providing access to education, increasing economic opportunities, and generating a sense of empowerment.
Scholarship Program
Catalyst scholarships enable children to enroll in school and receive an education. $240 per year covers the costs of a student’s tuition, uniforms & shoes, school supplies, textbooks and 10kg of rice per month for her family.
Community Education
Community Education workshops are delivered to Catalyst’s target communities. These workshops build core life skills ranging from decision making and problem solving, and developing self-lf-awareness and empathy, to raising awareness of child trafficking, and household financial literacy. Our culturally competent trainings strengthen families and develop community capacities.
Vinh Quang School
In 2007, with the support of college students with the UNAVSA and generous donors, we built our first primary school and library for children living on the garbage dump. The school offers a safe environment for children to play and learn how to read, write and expand their horizons. In 2009, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Vietnam, the first houses in the "Rainbow Village" were built for our families.
Vocational Training
In 2008, Catalyst began vocational trainings for community members for the purpose of providing skills to earn a sufficient living for families. Trainees will move from trainings to apprenticeship, and ultimately receive microloans to develop small businesses.
Where We Work
The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that over 1.3 million persons have been trafficked into forced labor within Asia, representing over 55% of the world’s trafficking industry. For many years, Vietnam has been known as a “source country” for child trafficking.
Dong Thap
The Southern province of Dong Thap shares a common 33 mile border with Cambodia; children are easily trafficked across this border. In 2005 we began our work in Dong Thap Province within 2 rural villages (My Hiep and Tan Hoi Trung) in the Cao Lanh District. Dong Thap is located in the Mekong Delta, bordered on the north by Cambodia, located about 100 miles south west of Saigon.
There are over 40,000 families in Dong Thap Province, mostly hired laborers living in extreme poverty (less than $370 in annual income). Children from these families are often illiterate and do not have sufficient means to attend school. Catalyst works in partnership with local staff and communities to provide educational scholarships and life skills trainings that spread awareness of trafficking.
Kien Giang
Catalyst works in the Vinh Quang ward, one of the poorest sectors of Rach Gia, Kien Giang. There are over 200 families living on a garbage dump here. Families salvage garbage for scraps to sell, earning less than $0.15 per day. As a result of Catalyst programs ranging from a primary school, community education trainings, and home visits, children are now enrolled in school and learning valuable life skills. Catalyst also works to strengthen the community’s capacity by providing vocational and financial literacy trainings.
The Future of Our Children
The author is Mai, a mother who lives in Kien Giang/ She wrote this poem on the day that she was to receive the key to the house built by a program run by Catalyst Foundation.
I remember those heartbreaking days,
When even before dawn,
At the same time as their parents,
The little ones had to get up.
Armed with stick, hook or shovel,
They scamper off to the garbage dump,
To grapple for each plastic bag,
Each wrapper.
Foul smell of rotting refuse,
Mixed with the reek of decomposing animals,
Fills your nose with an overwhelming stench.
You stumble forward without hesitation,
For this is what awaits you every day.
The flies are delighted by your presence,
They encircle you by the hundreds,
From morning to dusk.
All that’s your routine,
When you hear the sharp cry of the person
Who was sitting on the dump awaiting the truck:
“It’s coming!”
You dash forward out of breath,
To help your parents with all your might
To retrieve some junk, cast away as worthless trash,
Yet that helps you feed your family,
Secure your portion of rice and fish for the day.
The mosquitoes befriend you, like hungry tigers they sting you relentlessly.
You pondered: “Will this go on forever Until we are old?
Will we never go to school, never play like the children of the rich?
How fortunate they are to be able to study,
to know how to read and to write.
They look down on us,
They keep their distance because we smell of garbage.
But today, things are not the same anymore.
You are so happy. You go to school.
It’s free of charge. And you receive a scholarship.
Your joy knows no bounds.
Now, you trust that someone is watching over you from above,
T
hat there are angels and people of good will
Who have made your dreams come true.
You have got wings now to soar, to reach the land of your dreams.
