HOPE CENTER - CARIN FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Hope Center is located in Ba Dinh district, near city center. This is a very crowded place with many shops. It takes around 30 minutes to get there from VPV office by bus. Main Aims and Activities The aim of the program is to jointly bring care, love and happiness to the children through volunteers’ activities. The Hope Centre is a non-profit, non-government day care organization based in Hanoi for the care of mentally impaired children. This centre was founded in 1997 by Vietnamese enthusiastic teachers, and then in 2002, it was expanded with the support from an American NGO. Number of staff: 11 teachers. All of them graduated from Hanoi National University of Education or have background in special education. Ms. Nga, the director, is not also a teacher but also a doctor of Pediatrics. Number of children: about 70 disabled children divided into 4 classes. The centre’s mission is to provide opportunities for children with mental impairment to receive an education, and to feel included with their local community. In particular, the centre provides assistance for those children suffering from developmental disabilities including Down’s Syndrome, Autism and Cerebral Palsy. As well as early grade academic learning, the education programs include physical education and therapy, yoga, painting and poetry.