CEP Fund and its Community-oriented Activities

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Van, director of the CEP fund grants scholarships to students

    CEP fund is a non-profit organization founded by Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation in 1991. Since then, it has independently operated and persistently followed its operation principle and non-profit goals, fulfilling the political responsibilities assigned to offer the poor workers and laborers capital support enabling them create jobs themselves, contributing to poverty reduction in communities. In 2007, CEP established two more branches in Bien Hoa city and Long Thanh district, particularly, Ho Chi Minh City branch has covered Nhon Trach district. CEP is currently serving 12,500 poor families in Dong Nai province with total loans of over VND billion (US$3,980,212).

    In addition to its major performance supporting poor workers and laborers to get loans, CEP fund has conducted Community Development Programs via supporting, granting gifts to poor members on occasion of holidays, Tet; offering unscheduled difficulty and risk allowances to them, and issuing scholarships, learning tools to their children; building up houses of compassion in local areas.

    In particular, the scholarship programs are set to help poor children keep their schoolings, for which CEP releases 300 to 500 scholarships each of which is worth VND700 to VND2 million basing on how good students’ academic achievements are. Besides, CEP’s home program financially supports poor families without stable residence to build houses of compassion. Each year CEP supports the costs of ten to 20 houses, each of which is worth VND15 million to VND20 million. This year CEP released VND1.5 billion from Community Development Fund through the program. In Dong Nai alone, CEP issues 57 scholarships including cash and notebooks to poor students from Bien Hoa city, Long Thanh, and Nhon Trach with total costs of VND89 million and grants two houses of compassion to the poor In Long Thanh and Nhon Trach that are worth VND40 million.

    Among the scholarship-winning students is Pham Thi Kieu Anh from grade 9C of Phuoc Tan 1 middle school, Long Thanh district. “My parents have only two children, but because family incomes mainly generate from my mom’s worker salary while my Dad’s earning from lottery ticket sale is scantily spent on foods, most of necessities are deficient, even my learning tools has been bought enough as the new school year is coming,” she said.

    Knowing her family’s financial difficulties well, Kieu Anh says to herself that she has to study hard so that she could be able to find a good job in the future. Thanks to that determination, in the last year she was always considered prominent, excellent student in both learning and other school movements. Especially, she also spends time doing housework and teaching her younger sibling after school.

    Nguyen Thi Thanh Duyen – a grade 7 student from Binh Son middle school in Long Thanh district is another story. Both her parents are workers in An Vien industry farm with modest incomes while they have six children. Consequently, her first three elder sisters had to leave school early to be workers. Her fourth sister passed the entrance exam to the Open Private University (2009) but was not affordable to follow, then she had to attend a junior training school near her home to reduce the costs. For Duyen, she often takes over from her fifth sister to feed the herd of cows.

    Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Van – Director of CEP fund said its service network has extended to five provinces and cities, including HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Tien Giang and benefited 120 of its poor members. Especially, CEP’s community development programs are conducted thanks to great efforts and supporting commitments enabling poor communities to overcome difficulties in life.

L.H (Reported by Thanh Tam)