We have been in contact with Karen since before we arrived in Vietnam, and had a couple of meetings with her before she took us around and shared with us some of her projects in action.
Karen's foundation is involved in several projects in Hoi An, including an education program for a select group of street children, business development and arts & craft training for disabled adults, sponsoring a select group of poor families in Hoi An, and providing medical care in conjuntion with other groups such as Dr Josh Solomon's Hoi An Foundation and Robyn Morley's Children Hope In Action.
As we have previously emphasized, our focus has been primarily on smaller NGOs with on-the-ground leadership and hands-on management. Based on our research, LifeStart Foundation fit these criteria, and we had been looking forward to meeting with Karen and her team. Karen and Lifestart exceeded even our expectations - Karen is passionate about her work, she is very hands-on, managing all her projects on the ground, she is very energetic and hard-working. Everybody we spoke with in Hoi An spoke very highly of Karen and the work that she is doing.
Here are two videos - the first is an 8 minute interview we did with Karen - she discusses some of the specific needs and requirements of disabled adults, LifeStart's objectives and needs, the natural limits of small NGOs, and working with the Vietnamese government.
The second video highlights some of LifeStart's work - the first segment is some footage from the disabled women's project, teaching disabled women to be self-sufficient by producing a range of arts and crafts products including cards, bags and vases. The second segment shows Karen, working with a translator, developing a meal plan for a twenty year old terminally ill woman. The final segment is a short interview with a recently-retired LifeStart volunteer from Australia who discusses some of the ways he has been able to help LifeStart during his short tenure here.
These first two photos are of the disabled women's group in action, learning their arts and crafts which they hope to turn into an sustainable internet ecommerce business. The women appear normal & healthy in the photo, but many of them can't walk due to polio or landmine accidents, resulting in the loss of one or both legs.
This photo is of a classroom in session where a select group of street-children is provided with general education and English. In addition to two day-time classes, LifeStart's school also provides evening classes. Some of these kids come from abusive backgrounds, and others have been exploited in one way or other... Without LifeStart (with some help from the Vietnamese Government), these kids would not be receiving any education, and/or care.
Karen took us to visit this family - the mother belongs to the Disabled group in Hoi An. She doesn't have any legs, and walks around the house wearing shoes on her hands. Karen helped her get a special 3-wheel motor-bike which enables her to travel to her clients to pick-up work-orders involving computer work.
She has two daughters, the oldest is around four years old, and the younger is about 9 months old. Her husband repairs shoes for an income and works from home. He is able-bodied. They have a kinda romantic union story: one day she was locked out of her house, and due to her disability was unable to get in... he was passing by, offered to help her, and the rest is history...
Here is another of Karen's clients - he is going to pick up and repair cell phones using his newly modified 3-wheel motorbike provided by LifeStart. When Karen returns to Vietnam in a couple of months, he will have his business plan prepared for her evaluation...
The next three photos show another of LifeStart's projects - sponsoring families who live in their boats on the river in Hoi An under extreme poverty. Many of the children of these families also attend the LifeStart school.
The first picture is of a boat where a family of seven lives and works. The boat is approximately 14 feet long by 3 feet wide. In the foreground is Phuc, a boy of 13 who lives on the boat with his family, and attends LifeStart's school - he has acquired a good level of English thanks to Karen and her volunteers.
The next pic is of a similarly sized boat that is home to three people, and is also used for 'commercial' fishing to provide for the family. The final picture is of a replacement boat that Karen is getting made for the family. The boat will also have a motor which will enable the family to travel out of the river and into the sea where the fishing is more viable...
We're going to be on the road for the next week or so. We have a couple of fun and yummy food related posts that we will try to publish while on the road.
Next we'll be reporting from Dalat and/or Phan Thiet (Mui Ne)...
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