Blanket Coverage

Written by Le Thanh Huyen, Health Project Assistant, Nhu Xuan ADP

Photos by Nguyen Thi Dzung, CB cum M&E, Nhu Xuan ADP

 In the early morning freeze of the season’s first cold snap, Ha Thi Mai, a five-year-old girl belonging to the Thai ethnic minority, sleeps well under her new blanket. This is the first experience of being warm in the winter for the young child, who lives in the mountainous west of Thanh Hoa province.

“My blanket keeps me warm, so I really like it,” Mai says with a smile.

World Vision has provided nearly three thousand blankets to children and poor adults, including elderly people who live alone, in four remote districts of its Nhu Xuan Area Development Programme.

Ms Quach Thi Lan, an 85-year-old resident of Yen Le district who lives on her own, says: “I’m so grateful to World Vision and the donors who care about the poor and old people like me.”

Member of the management board for Nhu Xuan district Le Huu Dong adds: “We quickly prepared a list of poor people in the area, so we could give them the blankets before the start of winter, with children from the poorest households given priority.”

Pham Thi Anh, who belongs to Binh Luong district’s management board, says: “We’re very thankful for the compassion shown to poor children in the district.

“For many years, they struggled to survive in the winter without blankets, so we were always worried whenever the cold weather arrived. But this winter there are enough blankets for our children and even the elderly, so they’re warm.”

The winter blanket donations are part of the humanitarian programme of the Korean Youngone Corporation, which has a longstanding relationship with World Vision to provide blankets, scarves and clothes to poor children in Vietnam.

In 2015, thousands of blankets have already been distributed to underprivileged communities in Thanh Hoa province.