Poor school students in Phước Sơn District of Quảng Nam Province receive bicycles as part of a charity programme by Lifestart Foundation (LSF). The bike-donation will help students get to school easier in new school year. — Photo courtesy of Lifestart Foundation

QUẢNG NAM — Disadvantaged school children in the mountainous districts of Nam Giang and Phước Sơn in the central province, have been given 50 bicycles from the non-profit charity Lifestart Foundation (LSF) in preparation for a new school year.

Lifestart Foundation said the bike-charity programme, which was is in collaboration with the Quảng Nam Union of Friendship Organisations with total fund of more than VNĐ80 million, helps provide vehicles for impoverished students from mountainous areas such as Zuoih, Tabhing, Ta Poo communes and Thạnh Mỹ Town in Nam Giang District, as well as Phước Đức Commune in Phước Sơn District.

It said local ethnic communities in Zuoih, Tabhing, Ta Poo and Phước Đức communes are still living in poor conditions.

For example, more than 70 per cent of the residents in Zuoih are living in impoverished households. The majority of students in these communes belong to ethnic minority groups and originate from families facing significant financial hardships.

Karen Leonard, the founder of Lifestart Foundation, said: “We hope that the provision of new bicycles will enable the students to reach school more safely and conveniently, helping them overcome their circumstances, strive for academic success, and become valuable contributors to society.”

The bicycle donation is just one of the numerous community projects undertaken by Lifestart Foundation on an annual basis.

In the near future, the organisation plans to implement several other significant community projects, including the installation of clean water systems in ten schools across four remote districts in Quảng Nam (with a total cost of VNĐ454 million).

Lifestart Foundation's clean water project will then provide 28 systems helping 8,500 people.

The foundation is achieved through their two largest projects – education scholarships for disadvantaged students and their Housing Improvement project – in Việt Nam.

To date, Lifestart Foundation’s investment in the disadvantaged youth of Central Việt Nam is in excess of VNĐ33 billion (approximately AUD$2 million).

A number of charity activities have been done by the foundation in central Việt Nam including donations of new electric bicycles; milk to disadvantaged families and orphanages; house building and a crafts training programme for disadvantaged and disabled Vietnamese people; warm clothes and blankets for children and the elderly; and clean water systems for schools. — VNS