Fund-raising cycle group of Dutch sponsors raises EUR 50.000 for children in Vietnam

Recently, sponsors from the Netherlands completed their cycling journey from Hanoi to Lai Chau, despite challenges and distance, to raise EUR 50.000 (USD 57.280) to improve the lives of ethnic minority children in Lai Chau province.

Fund-raising cycle group of Dutch sponsors and Plan's volunteers meet sponsored children in Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province. Photo: Plan.

14 sponsors of Plan International Netherlands successfully conquered the 400-kilometer journey starting from Hanoi and returned to Lai Chau in the 7^th Cycle4Plan.

The trip takes place from October 11-22 allowing participants to experience undiscovered and remote regions of the southeast Asian country while raising much needed funding for Plan International’s projects for girls.

They then came to Phong Tho district of Lai Chau to greet and play with sponsored children and visit Plan's club models in the community.

Having completed the event, the sponsors raised EUR 50,000 for Ending Child Marriage project activities in Lai Chau, to promote child rights, especially girls' rights, so that they can make decisions in their lives, continue their education and development for a brighter future.

They also met and talked with female migrant youth, who are participating in SAFE project by Plan International Vietnam in Dong Anh, Hanoi. The group visited the startup business supported by Plan and different vocational training classes for female migrant youth at Plan's partner, Bac Thang Long vocational school.

Dutch sponsors visit female migrant youth’s cooking class. Photo: Plan.

Cycle4Plan (known as Cycle4Girls before 2017) is an annual fundraising event organised by Plan International Vietnam and Netherlands. During their activities, sponsors will commit to cycling over a distance of 400km, aiming to raise funds for project and activities for ethnic minority children in remote areas.

The program first began in 2014, and so far has been organised for four years (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018) with seven cycling sessions in four provinces (Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Lai Chau and Hanoi). A total of 134 sponsors have been participated. Between 2017 and 2018, the program raised more than EUR 200,000 (USD 247.342) for the Ending child marriage project in Lai Chau.

The goal of Cycle4Plan is to provide opportunities for sponsors to visit and learn about the projects implemented by the Plan in communities. At the same time, the program also helps sponsors and the Dutch community better understanding children's rights and child marriage in remote areas.

Plan International has been working in Vietnam since 1993. The organisation’s work in northern Vietnam aims to provide bilingual schooling to ethnic minorities, especially girls, through improved learning spaces and better teacher training./.

VNF