IT-training helps alleviate rural poverty
Monday, February 27, 2012
Farmer Le Thi Cham, 52, was very happy to find her daughter who was adopted by a French family 12 years ago.
A resident of Van Tho Village in the northern province of Thai Nguyen’s Dai Tu District, Cham had only words of praise for a pilot project designed to improve computer use and internet access in the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Nghe An and Tra Vinh. Thanks to the project, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, her family has been reunited.
Cham said she put her five-year-old daughter up for adoption because she needed money to help treat her father-in-law’s lung cancer.
“My heart nearly broke when I had to give my daughter up for adoption but I had no choice because we were very poor at that time and had no money to pay for my father’s treatments. I’ve suffered miserably since then because I didn’t think I would ever see my daughter again. Then, in 2009 I was selected to participate in a project to learn how to use a computer and access the internet.
“One of the staff members at the post office helped me send the French couple an email. I was so surprised when I learned they had replied and planned to bring their adopted daughter (my daughter) to Viet Nam in the very near future.
“Thanks to the internet, I can contact my daughter frequently. She is currently a pretty university student in France.
“My poor village is also happy because my daughter’s adopted parents recently sent us 12,000 euros (US$ 15,756) to build a road in our village,” she said.
Through the project, Hoang Thi Sam, in the central province of Nghe An’s Dien Chau District, has learned how to use computers and access the internet to find information about raising chickens to sell for extra income.