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Success Story
Vietnamese girl takes
her place in school and
community
Finding Encouragement, Being Included
Photo: USAID/Richard Nyberg
Pham Thi Bich Ngoc rides the modifi ed
wheelchair to get her out into the
community.
“We would love for her
to study and fi nd a good
job. She shouldn’t feel
disadvantaged in any way,”
said Ngoc’s mother, Bui Thi
Mai.
Patiently, Pham Thi Bich Ngoc angled her right elbow to type in
what she would like to be when she grows up. Beaming, she threw
a sideways glance at a teacher. The laptop screen read “doctor”
in Vietnamese. The room burst out in a chorus of approval led by
Ngoc’s mother, Bui Thi Mai. Daughter and mother
are defiant: they will not allow cerebral palsy to
dampen Ngoc’s aspirations and outlook. Through a
USAID-supported education program, she is fi nding
pathways to inclusion in her community.
Born with severe mobility difficulties in 1995, Ngoc
enjoyed few opportunities to interact with children her
age in the village in Ninh Binh province where her
family lives. Daily life had been a challenge for Ngoc,
but the family mustered the support they needed to
help Ngoc start attending classes at Yen Tu primary
school. Eighteen of the 476 children enrolled at the
school have disabilities.
Like many schools in Ninh Binh, Yen Tu school
receives USAID-sponsored training for teachers
on how best to cater to the educational and social
needs of students like Ngoc. “Before the training, I
didn’t know how to teach children with disabilities,”
said Nguyen Thi Mung, who taught Ngoc last year. “Now I know how
to create appropriate activities for children like Ngoc. We also ask the
other students to help her and play with her. She is very happy to be
around peers and to have the opportunity to learn like other children.”
USAID also provides support to parent associations as part of the
Inclusion of Vietnamese with Disabilities project in Ninh Binh province.
The project helps remove obstacles faced by people with disabilities
through engaging the education system, social services, and
communities. It is working: So far, more than 3,000 children with all
kinds of disabilities have been enrolled in regular preschools, primary,
and junior secondary schools in Ninh Binh province alone.
Ngoc’s parents have invested a lot in their daughter – from a laptop
to a modifi ed wheelchair that she can power with her legs. “Ngoc
is really smart,” said her father, Pham Huy Chat, a retired border
guard. “She always wanted to learn.” After bringing Ngoc home on
the back of a bicycle and setting up the computer for Ngoc to work on
her homework, Bui Thi Mai said she was confi dent that her daughter
would have chances in life. “We would love for her to study and find a
good job. She shouldn’t feel disadvantaged in any way.”
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