We began our first year in Vietnam working extensively with national and local governmental actors to establish pilot projects in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Saigon. This work has primarily revolved around clean water projects in schools and pediatric hospitals (we already work in 3 of the 5 largest hospitals in the country); but we also have taken a strong position working for children suffering genetic disorders caused by Dioxin poisoning.

 

As in every country we operate, we eventually want our work to be taken over by local actors. Not just some of the work- but all of it: from the funding to implementation and, more importantly, to the long-term support and service of each project long after we depart. We believe this end goal will best be realized by targeting one region in 2013 prior to laying out a national platform for others to follow and develop on their own.

 

Now that we have a much better sense of the NGO landscape, the governmental networks, and the myriad infrastructural problems we face, much of late 2012 and early 2013 revolves around undertaking our countrywide needs assessment. This work is being overseen, in partnership with the Vietnamese government, by our Country Manager to ascertain where our work can be established for the largest impact.