Projects/Vung Vieng Fishing Vietnam

The Vung Vieng Fishing Village Laptop Project

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Location: The Vung Vieng Fishing Village is located in Bai Tu Long Bay, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. The Village is located about 40 kilometers from Ha Long City, Vietnam. Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay are located in Northeast Vietnam approximately 165 kilometers from Hanoi. Ha Long Bay has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ha Long Bay is truly one of the world's most beautiful spots and natural wonders. It is located in the Gulf of Tonkin, of the South China Sea. The salt water bay is approximately 1500 square kilometers and has about 2000 limestone islands or monoliths, some densely forested, arising from the ocean. Bai Tu Long and the Vung Vieng Fishing Village is off the beaten tourist track as it is not so near to the popular Cat Ba Island which has lodging, beaches and nearby caves where most of the large tour companies and boats operate. The Vung Vieng Fishing Village has been "adopted" by Indochina Junk, JSC, an eco-tourism company operating in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. The Indochina Junk Company is interested in supporting this project. www.indochina-junk.com

Project Size: 35 Laptops and one 1 School Server with one access point/antenna.

Village and School Description: The Vung Vieng Fishing Village is one of several old fishing villages in Ha Long Bay. There are about 50 families; the population is between 200 and 300 residents. This includes nearly 100 children. These families have lived in this village for generations. The language is Vietnamese. The village is a "floating village." There are no structures built on land. The village is very poor. Traditionally income for food and potable water (imported from the mainland) came solely from fishing. Now, there is some supplemental income from tourism also.

Vung Vieng Village School: About 7 years ago, in 2002, the local government supported the development of a small school in the village. The village children are served by this school (also a floating structure.) The school consists of 3 rooms. In addition to the main classroom, there are two smaller rooms used for instruction, and for the teachers to sleep/live. Teachers reside on site during the week and return to the mainland on the weekends. The school is a primary school only. Approximately 24 children currently attend regularly. Their ages range from 7 to 13 years old. Currently, only 5 children older than age 15 are in secondary school on the mainland. There are 4 teachers and the children are divided by age into Forms 1 - 5. There are a number of village children ages 10 to 15 that do not attend school.

The children who attend school are very motivated. They work really hard under difficult learning conditions. Books, paper, school supplies and teaching aids are minimal. The classroom is often very sunny. It can become very hot, or cold, and the students often spill over to small porch outside, and to small boats tied up to the building. Most of the children have never been on the mainland. They have no firsthand familiarity with vehicles other than boats, with farm or wild animals, retail establishments, or even the geography of the outside world.

Ha Long City, Vietnam the nearest small city is 40 km away by boat. The Vung Vieng Fishing Village receives necessities from Ha Long City. Supplies, Internet cafes and one computer repair shop can be found there.

Project Members:

[1] Nancie Severs, OLPC Volunteer

• Project Leader

member Tuyen Luong, Indochina Junk Company, Ha Long City, Vietnam

Roles: Vung Vieng Village Liaison, Transportation, Translator, and Vietnam Project Co-Director

Objectives:

1. <plz do include here how OLPC & Sugar community will be benefited from your project.>

Timeline

• Milestone 1
• Milestone 2

• • Month 3: (After Milestone2)
• Milestone 3