About the community

Tuấn Mậu is in Sơn Động, a mountainous district of Bắc Giang province. Tuấn Mậu is 80 km. from An Châu, the capital of Sơn Động district. The commune has a population of approximately 5,000 people and relies on agriculture and forestry. When the kindergarten opened in 2012, living conditions were very difficult but the local economic situation has improved quite a bit over the past decade.

Helping the children succeed

At the opening ceremony, the Bắc Giang provincial representative, Mr. Giap Minh Quang, described the area and thanked VES by saying, “This project is funded by VES for ethnic people living in a mountainous area. Tuấn Mậu is a disadvantaged commune and students have travelled a long way to school. This project will help the children to go to school more conveniently, contributing to improve the local infrastructure and laying a vital foundation for their education. On behalf of the Bắc Giang Study Promotion Association and the local people, I would like to think VES and EMW, especially Ms. Carin, who have an interest in Bắc Giang province, sharing the difficulties with the community and providing Bắc Giang with assistance to build the kindergarten to better serve the children at kindergarten age who are the future of the country.”

Over 60 children a year have attended this kindergarten since 2012. VES has supported this kindergarten in many ways over the past 14 years including through the funding of a kitchen, playground area, school lunches and a variety of supplies

Funding & construction

In 2011-12 when the Tuấn Mậu kindergarten was under construction, this was an extremely rural area. Tuấn Mậu was literally at the end of the road, a five and a half hour drive from Hanoi. Tuấn Mậu’s rural location meant that construction took a lot longer than normal as everything from finding contractors willing to work in so remote an area to heavy rains which washed out roads for weeks at a time added additional challenges and delayed the project completion.

However, the East Meets West school construction team persevered. On September 12, 2012, the opening ceremony for the Beth Holroyd Tuấn Mậu Kindergarten was held. The kindergarten consists of two large classrooms furnished with chairs, tables and fans and a washroom. It replaced a dilapidated, unsafe structure and allowed more than 60 children between ages 3 and 5 to attend a full day of school.

Typhoons have hit this area including in 2024. Clean-up is seen in the photo below.