Vietnam Children’s Fund chief receives Friendship Order

Samuel Christopher Russell, country director of the Vietnam Children’s Fund (VCF), has been awarded Vietnam’s Friendship Order in recognition of his contribution to child care and protection in Vietnam.

Representatives from the Vietnam Children’s Fund visited a primary school in a remote village in the northern Yen Bai province in 2011. Photo by yenbai.gov.vn

Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong on April 15 presented the honour to Russell at a ceremony in Hanoi on April 15.

VCF was established in 1994 with the aim of building a primary school in each of 63 provinces and cities across the country. So far it has built 48 such schools, offering more than 30,000 poor rural children the chance to go to school.

In his speech, Hong stressed that during the past 20 years Russells has spared no effort to mobilize funds and manage its operations.

The Vietnamese State President’s Friendship Order acknowledges substantial contributions by Russells and the VCF to education development and vocational training for people with disabilities in more than 40 provinces and cities across the country, Hong said.

Russells thanked the State President for the honour and vowed to lobby for new funds to fulfil the VCF’s mission in the country.