Cao Bang is a province of northeastern in Vietnam. According to the General Statistics Office of the Government of Vietnam, the population of Cao Bang province as of 2012 was 515,200 with a density of 79 persons per km2. The province of Cao Bang is home to many people from Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups such as the Tay, Nung, Dao, and H’mong.
In Cao Bang, ChildFund has been working in Tra Linh and Quang Uyen district since 2009. In comparison with other districts in Cao Bang, the two mentioned districts are among the most remote and challenging. Tra Linh is located more than 350 kilometres from the capital of Hanoi but it may take you some 8 hours driving to reach a community there. In Tra Linh, residents live in 10 different communities, known as “communes”, most of which are noted in the Vietnam Government’s list of communes with extreme difficulties.
Rice and maize are the primary source of income. However, most families have an insufficient amount of water to irrigate their small plots of land. Families also derive income from animal husbandry, though their lack of knowledge on animal rearing techniques is the cause of low productivity.
Health services are difficult to access and lack sufficient resources, including staff and medical equipment. Facilities are often unhygienic. Treatable illnesses like eye infections, diarrhoea, and gynaecological diseases, are common. The malnutrition rate among children under five is quite high, about 23.1% (2009). Most households use unsafe water collected from wells, streams or underground spring water. Moreover, they do not have latrines or use latrines that are in unhygienic condition. At preschools and primary schools, there are often no water and sanitation facilities.
Streams and dangerous passes make it difficult for children to reach schooI. Classrooms are usually small and in poor condition and lack necessary teaching and studying equipment.
Some of the challenges that children and people in Cao Bang are facing include:
- Lack of understanding about child safety
- Ineffectiveness of child protection system due to lack of human resources and low competency
- Low capacity to carry out public healthcare services to mothers and children under five
- Inadequate access to sanitation facilities and practice
Projects that ChildFund is supporting in the area:
- ChildFund Swipe Safe
- Women Economic Empowerment
- Improving Child Protection Effectiveness
- Taking care of Mother and Child
- Quality Education for Ethnic Minority Children
Cao Bang ni mkoa wa kaskazini mashariki mwa Vietnam. Kulingana na Ofisi Kuu ya Takwimu ya Serikali ya Vietnam, idadi ya watu wa mkoa wa Cao Bang mnamo 2012 ilikuwa 515,200 na wiani wa watu 79 kwa kilomita 2. Mkoa wa Cao Bang ni nyumbani kwa watu wengi kutoka vikundi vya wachache wa kikabila vya Vietnam kama vile Tay, Nung, Dao, na Hmong. Tangu mwaka 2009 shirika la ChildFund limekuwa likifanya kazi katika wilaya za Tra Linh na Quang Uyen. Ikilinganishwa na wilaya nyingine katika Cao Bang, wilaya mbili zilizotajwa ni miongoni mwa maeneo ya mbali na yenye changamoto. Tra Linh iko zaidi ya kilomita 350 kutoka mji mkuu wa Hanoi lakini inaweza kuchukua masaa 8 ya kuendesha gari kufikia jamii huko. Katika Tra Linh, wakazi wanaishi katika jamii 10 tofauti, zinazojulikana kama <unk>communes<unk>, ambazo nyingi zimeorodheshwa katika orodha ya serikali ya Vietnam ya jamii zenye shida kubwa. Mchele na mahindi ndiyo chanzo kikuu cha mapato. Hata hivyo, familia nyingi hazina maji ya kutosha kunyunyizia mashamba yao madogo. Familia pia hupata mapato kutokana na ufugaji wa mifugo, ingawa ukosefu wao wa maarifa juu ya mbinu za ufugaji wa mifugo ni sababu ya uzalishaji wa chini. Huduma za afya ni ngumu kupata na hazina rasilimali za kutosha, ikiwa ni pamoja na wafanyakazi na vifaa vya matibabu. Mara nyingi vifaa hivyo havina usafi. Magonjwa yanayoweza kutibiwa kama vile maambukizo ya macho, kuhara, na magonjwa ya wanawake, ni ya kawaida. Kiwango cha utapiamlo kati ya watoto chini ya miaka mitano ni cha juu sana, karibu 23.1% (2009). Nyumba nyingi hutumia maji yasiyo salama yanayokusanywa kutoka visima, vijito au maji ya chemchemi ya chini ya ardhi. Isitoshe, hawana vyoo au hutumia vyoo visivyo na usafi. Katika shule za chekechea na shule za msingi, mara nyingi hakuna maji na vifaa vya usafi wa mazingira. Mito na vijia hatari hufanya iwe vigumu kwa watoto kufika shuleni. Kwa kawaida madarasa ni madogo na hayana hali nzuri na hayana vifaa vya kufundisha na kujifunza vinavyohitajika. "Miongoni mwa changamoto ambazo watoto na watu katika Cao Bang wanakabiliwa ni pamoja na: ""Kutokuwa na uelewa kuhusu usalama wa watoto, kutokuwa na ufanisi wa mfumo wa ulinzi wa watoto kutokana na ukosefu wa rasilimali za kibinadamu na uwezo wa chini, uwezo mdogo wa kutekeleza huduma za afya za umma kwa mama na watoto chini ya miaka mitano, upatikanaji wa vifaa vya usafi na mazoezi, miradi ambayo ChildFund inasaidia katika eneo hilo."