Hoang Thi Linh Kieu

Hoang Thi Linh Kieu, born in 2012, is currently a Grade 9 student. She lives with her parents and two younger siblings, who are in Grades 4 and 2. Both of Kieu’s parents were born deaf and unable to speak, which greatly limits their employment opportunities and makes supporting three school aged children especially difficult.

The family has no home of their own and currently lives in a small storage shed on farmland belonging to Kieu’s maternal family. With no land of their own, her parents borrow farmland from others to grow vegetables, melons, and other crops, which they sell at the local market. Their income depends heavily on the harvest and market prices and is often not enough to cover the family’s basic needs. Most of the children’s clothes, books, and school supplies are second hand items given by relatives or neighbors.

Despite these difficulties, Kieu continues to attend school and also takes on responsibilities beyond her age. After class, she helps care for her younger brothers and supports her parents with farming and selling produce. On some days, she carries vegetables and melons to the market to help her parents earn a little more for the family.

Support of 30 EUR per month would help cover Kieu’s school supplies and other education costs, while part of the support could be used to purchase fertilizer and farming inputs for the family’s vegetable and melon crops. This would help her parents improve their small livelihood, strengthen the family’s income, and give Kieu a better chance to remain in school and continue her education.