QUANG NAM – Not-for-profit charity Lifestart Foundation, in cooperation with the Quang Nam Union of Friendship Organizations, recently visited and offered financial aid to build new houses for impoverished families impacted by floods, typhoons and landslides in Axan Commune, Tay Giang District, Quang Nam.
Over the past months, the Lifestart Foundation has partnered with the local government to provide VND320 million in aid to re-locate and rebuild houses for 32 landslide-affected families in Axan, who are all from the Cotu ethnic minority group. Each of these households received VND10 million from the Lifestart Foundation to complete their houses designed like the typical traditional houses of the Cotu people.
Previously, several weeks of torrential rain and the deadly typhoon Molave late last year resulted in floods and subsequent landslides that devastated villages in the remote mountainous area of Axan. Many families had to permanently leave their homes and evacuate to a safer place.
Lifestart Foundation President Karen Leonard said, “The New House Building project is one of the many community activities that the Lifestart Foundation has carried out to help the neediest and most vulnerable to recover from devastating natural disasters.
“We hope that the provision of this donation will not only help them enjoy more secure shelter but will also provide them with great encouragement to restore their livelihoods.”
In addition, the Lifestart Foundation has also donated new warm clothes and blankets to disadvantaged students and families in the mountainous district of Tay Giang. About 238 gift parcels, including 38 blankets and 200 sets of warm clothes, with each set containing a warm coat, a hat, gloves, socks and a scarf, valued at over VND62 million, were handed over to the Cotu people. The new warm clothes were immediately worn by the recipients to help them cope with the cold spell in this mountainous district ahead of the Lunar New Year festival, set to start in early February.
The Lifestart Foundation has committed a total of AUD$30,000 (about VND496 million) which was raised during their 30-day fundraising campaign for emergency relief. Aid has been provided to hundreds of families impacted by the historic floods, typhoons and landslides in the central region in late 2020 with the rebuilding and repairs of their homes as well as the purchase of new crops and livestock to help them become independent once again.
Apart from supporting ethnic minority people in Tay Giang, this year, Lifestart Foundation also donated food and basic necessities including rice, cooking oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, washing powder, shampoo, toothpaste, and dish detergent to 110 underprivileged families in Dang commune of this district to help them overcome difficulties.
In 2021, the Lifestart Foundation also carried out a number of major community projects, such as donating hamper boxes to 392 disadvantaged students and families across Quang Nam Province (VND237,600,000) and providing clean water systems for eight schools in Quang Nam (VND363,200,000), building new houses for families in Tay Giang who lost their houses after the historic floods, typhoon and landslides in 2020 (VND320,000,000) and many more activities.
Founded in 2000 by Leonard, an Australian, and supported by a team of dedicated volunteers, the Lifestart Foundation helps disadvantaged Vietnamese families become self-sufficient.
