Children with disabilities at a daily care centre in Danang City’s Hoa Vang District
As one of the country’s three hot spots for Agent Orange/dioxin, the central coastal city of Danang has up to 16,011 people with disabilities, including 2,114 children.
With support from several local and international organisations, the Danang Association for the Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (DAVA) has run a daily care centre for children with disabilities since 2005. With three locations, the centre has provided care for 150 disable children.
Nguyen Thi Hien, DAVA President, said, “The centre is to provide daily care for children with disabilities and support their integration into the community. During the early days when the centre was just set up, we had to send staff to families to persuade parents to encourage their children to take part in activities at the centre. Initially, many children found it hard to control their behaviour, resulting in minor attacks to teachers and the destruction of some learning equipment and rehabilitation facilities.”
With the help of well-trained, attentive and patient teachers, now most children at the centre have learnt how to work together.
Apart from time learning together, children are divided into groups to facilitate them to develop their own skills, including painting, language skills, handicrafts and making incense, she said.
“We pick up children by car from their houses to the centre in the morning and return them home at the end of the day. Most of the children are mentally deficient. We have tried to provide them with chances to play and receive rehabilitation so as to support their integration. We really find it difficult to recruit dedicated teachers who are trained in teaching for visual and hearing impairments due to a lack of funding,” she added.
With technical assistance and funding from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Centre for Reintegration Education and Development Supporting in Danang has been in operation since 2008.
Last year, the centre, which under the Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special High School, provided free care and support for 250 children with disabilities in Danang City. Of the total, 170 took part in special classes with the remainder provided with consultancy on vocational training, integration skills and rehabilitation skills.
Disabled children’s integration into community
Doan Mau Diep, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs said disabled children who still have families and relatives should not be sent to live in care centres as a family environment and the community could provide the best support for the children’s development.
Disabled children in Danang learning how to make handicrafts
“Care centres should continue to admit disabled children who come from poor families or have no relatives. However, in the long term, the government should take measures to support community-based care for such children via child adoption,” Diep emphasised.
Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, said, “While many centres in the world are providing standard care services for children with disabilities, it can’t be as good as when such children live with families. Recent research shows that a family’s love could provide the best help for children’s integration. Family support is better alternative measure compared to sending them to concentrated care centres.”
He added that the model of daily care and rehabilitation education centres in Danang City should be expanded.
Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Vietnam Representative, agreed, saying that Vietnam’s education should be more flexible so as to encourage more children with disabilities to get education.
The health sector should take measures to provide early diagnosis for pregnant women in order to provide early support and care and prevent possible inborn deformities, she added.
