Maison Chance (Nhà May Mắn, or Lucky House) is a non-governmental organisation that provides housing, healthcare and vocational training for orphans, street children, and the disadvantaged and physically handicapped in Việt Nam. Along with its three centres in HCM City, the Maison Chance Shelter, Take Wings Centre and Village Chance, the NGO’s fourth centre will open in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông later this year. Phương Mai reports.

Maison Chance’s new centre, to be located 25 kilometres from Buôn Mê Thuột City in the Central Highlands, is expected to become home for 250 children and adults with severe physical disabilities.

Founded in 1994 by Swiss painter Aline Rebeaud, Maison Chance has three other centres in HCM City. The centre in Đắk Nông will house mostly quadriplegic children and adults, as well as people with cerebral palsy and polio, and children with autism or delayed development.

“Maison Chance’s purpose is to help orphans and the physically handicapped integrate back into society,” she said. "Quadriplegics especially need help. Unfortunately, very few spouses or partners are willing to accept a quadriplegic partner for all of their life.” 

The rural location in Đắk Nông, with its cool and quiet atmosphere, will be a nurturing environment for the residents, who are mostly from the countryside.

“I did not want to build a nursing home,” the 45-year-old said.

Painting and computer classes will be offered at a Maison Chance centre in HCM City to selected residents who will later become trainers at the Đắk Nông centre. 

Rebeaud said that she chose Đắk Nông because it lacked a large social assistance centre and was not far from HCM City.

She received approval from local authorities who provided her with a three-hectare area to build the centre.

“The construction began two years ago and is expected to be completed by the end of this year,” she said. 

The centre will include accommodations for residents, a school, an infirmary, a guesthouse for visitors, a 300-seat dining room, a heart-shaped swimming pool, and cafeteria.

At the centre, most of the food will be locally grown.

“We will plant vegetables, raise chicken for eggs and goats for milk, and will also have fish,” Rebeaud said. “We’ll breed dogs and horses who will be the residents’ friends, too.”

“Growing plants and raising animals will be beneficial for the residents,” she said.

In the future, the area for vegetable cultivation will be expanded, offering jobs for ethnic minority members living in the region.

Eco-tourism activities, which will bring revenue to the centre, will also be launched in the future, according to Rebaund.

“We have 25 people now living in the centre, which is partly finished,” she said. “We have different generations living together. So we want to show them love and a feeling of family at the Đắk Nông centre."