ESBI visits Christina Noble centre in Vietnam

During their recent visit to Vietnam, an ESBI delegation consisting of Michael McNicholas, John McSweeney and Don Moore took time out from a busy schedule to visit the Christina Noble Children's Foundation (CNCF) Medical Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. As part of their itinerary they also made a visit to The CNCF Girls Shelter which was sponsored by ESBI staff as part of the Millennium Project. This project was initiated by Padraig Mc Manus while he was MD of ESBI.

The funds were raised from ESBI staff who each contributed one day's pay to support the project. It was obvious to those visiting that the money donated was wellspent and helped to make an enormous difference to the large number of children who have been lucky enough to spend time in the shelter. You can't help but be inspired by the very real practical assistance which the Foundation has provided to the poorest young children of Ho Chi Minh City.

The shelter caters for up to 20 girls who had been former street children. The girls are aged between 4 and 17 years old and there is a permanent staff of 5 at the shelter. The shelter comprises four bedrooms, two studies with kitchens and dining quarters. While here the girls are provided the opportunity for education and vocational training. Most important though is that it provides a loving home environment for these vulnerable children.

Both ESBI and Electric Aid have had a long association with Christina Noble and her work in Vietnam and a number of projects have been sponsored through the continuing generosity of the staff. The overriding feeling that one gets from visiting the Foundation in Vietnam is the love and stability that is afforded to the children amid the frantic pace of life that characterises life in modern Ho Chi Minh City. One of Christina's main principles in life is that all children are entitled to a safe, fun, happy childhood during which they are loved, supported and provided with education. In visiting the Centre one cannot fail to observe these noble aspirations being put into practice.

So if you ever happen to be traveling to Vietnam, take time out to see with your own eyes, hear with your own ears, feel with your own heart and understand with your own mind the wonders that can, and have been, achieved by the Christina Noble Children's Foundation. With very little in the way of physical resources, and overcoming all manner of obstacles fortified by her unbounded love for street children, Christina Noble continues to bring comfort, dignity and hope to all those whose life she touches.