Project: Phinh Sang Secondary School

Location: Tuan Giao district
Time: Apr - Jul 2018
Status (updated): completed

Phinh Sang Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School (thereafter “school”) is located in the Tuan Giao district, a rural district of the mountainous Dien Bien province in the northwest region of Vietnam. The area is one of the most beautiful, unaffected and untouristed areas of Vietnam, but also one of the poorest. Nonetheless, the local community was able to fund this stunning school building. It is a 12-classroom construction, offering currently 435 eager students in the secondary school room for tuition. Of the 435 students, 300 are boarders; students living in very remote areas who are encountered with mile-long marches on poorly paved roads to reach school. They are therefore dependent on nearby sleeping facilities. Unfortunately, the existing school boarding house is far too small to accommodate all of them so that the majority of the 300 boarders is not able to attend school on a regular basis. The dropout rate of students is therefore high.

This is why VFE wants to support the school and its underprivileged students by providing the following means:

– Refurbishing the existing boarding house
– Building 10 additional boarding rooms (accommodation for 160 boarders)
– Building 5 boarding rooms for teachers
– Building new toilets and a new shower facility
– Building a new staffroom – Building a new kitchen
– Building a new guard house
– Construction of a new gateway and the fencing

Thanks to your kind donations, we are able to build 10 additional boarding rooms and the sanitary facilities. In order to complete this first phase of the project, we work closely together with the Education & Training Division of Tuan Giao district, the local community, and the school. In addition, they show their commitment and contribution by refurbishing the existing boarding house. We can even count on the support of teachers and parents who will help us with the transportation of materials and construction work in general. All the construction drawings and underlying paperwork are prepared and we are in the process of inviting contractors to receive their quotation. The contract is expected to be signed early February and the starting day of this first phase is planned to be around the 20th of February 2018. The construction took about 3 months. Its progress will be closely monitored by us to ensure that time schedules, quality specifications and cost calculations are adhered to.

We are so proud to help the school improving its facilities and thus providing its students a perspective that helps them gather hope and courage for their future. Seeing their bright faces and smiles when visiting the mountainous areas has strengthened our confidence that we are on the right track.