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26 April 2002 by Trong De, Vietnam Red Cross Little Thanh ran home from school more excited than her mother had seen her in a long time. "Mum," she heard her frail seven-year-old cry out. "This morning our teacher gave all of us in class a pack of soya milk. Our teacher told us it came from the Red Cross." For school children in urban areas of Vietnam a pack of milk costing 3,000 dong (about 20 US cents) is an everyday item. But for millions of rural children, it is beyond the financial reach of their parents. Thanh is one of 60,000-plus primary school pupils between 6-12 living in four of the most impoverished and disaster-stricken coastal provinces in Central Vietnam to receive one free 200ml packet of soya milk every day this school year, which ends in May 2002. The soya milk delivery programme was started by the company Tetra Pak following several pilot phases of free milk delivery and nutrition education in primary schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 1997. Following the success of the pilot project, Tetra Pak joined forces with Vietnam Red Cross to prepare and submit a proposal to the United States government which agreed to donate 25,000 tonnes of wheat to Vietnam. Part of that donation has been sold to buy US $719,000 worth of soya milk. The Vietnam Red Cross then embarked on a needs assessment in primary schools in the central Vietnam provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Ngai. One hundred and twenty nine primary schools were eventually chosen for soya milk programme. Prior to the soya milk deliveries, all children underwent health checks and de-worming, monitored by the health authorities while teachers received nutrition education training. Tens of thousands of nutrition leaflets and teaching aids for teachers were also delivered to participating schools while parents' associations are involved in the programme to ensure school children remain healthy. Vo Tran Khoa Trang, a nine-year-old 3rd grader at Thanh Linh primary school in Nghe An province, was so overwhelmed by the free soya milk every day that she penned a poem in gratitude: Drinking milk I am drinking school milk Absorbing all the compassion Of the good-hearted volunteers Of the Vietnam Red Cross I shall excel in my studies And reach new heights With strengthened body and mind To share in building a brighter future Related Links: The Red Cross of Vietnam web site Annual Appeal 2002 for Vietnam |
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