Stories: Children, Community, Future

“When I finish high school, I will pursue my dreams of becoming a journalist.” At the age of 15, Ly, the president of a ChildFund-supported child club in a village of Hop Thinh commune, has already started to think about what she wants to do in the future.

“When I finish high school, I will pursue my dreams of becoming a journalist.” Ly, 15

In the community where Ly lives, ChildFund has been supporting children and youth to grow positive outlook for their future by provoding them with the opportunities to participate in child-led activities and to voice their opinions on matters that concerns them.

Ly has attended every activity organised at her child club since she was a third grader. She learned all about child rights and child protection in those years before she takes her role as head of the child club and continues to lead other children.

Ly had a chance to participate in the provincial children forum in 2016. She joined a group of children, each of whom was from a different part of her province. “I liked discussing my thoughts within my group, then presenting our opinions to the provincial and district authority. Changes on activities related to children might be made because we had a voice on them. I was so proud to represent children in my area at this forum,” Ly rejoices.

Ly tries her best in study to achieve her dream

Her fond memory of the ChildFund-supported young reporter club keeps her tight on her dream job. “I remember me running around my school and village, trying to interview people. There was this one time when I, together with a ninth grader, interviewed children about child labour. Some of them had to quit school for work or had to work so hard their strength could not bear. We wrote an article about the situation, published them at school and encouraged our friends and teachers to help those children,” says Ly.

Ly has grown out of her shells and gained her confidence in everything she does: “I am who I am today because through all of the activities that ChildFund organised, I could learn useful knowledge and practice essential life skills. I also made lots of new friends. And for me, having more friend means knowing more thing.”