BlindLink Vietnam Emergency Appeal

Hue, age 30 and daughter, age 7, in front of their family home:

“After my training with Blind Link, when I received my first client, it was the first happy moment of my life!” - Hue Trieu Thi

Hue’s life is one of many that have been transformed by BlindLink, a charitable organization dedicated to empowering the visually impaired in Vietnam through technical and life skills training. Hue was born blind and grew up in a very poor, rural Vietnamese community. Not permitted to leave her house as a child, she never developed friends, attended school, or learned job skills until she was nearly thirty years old. 

Thanks to an introduction to BlindLink, Hue became professionally trained as a massage therapist—at no cost to her or her family—and is now employed at Omamori Spa, a social enterprise and leading spa in Hanoi. Like all program recipients, Hue also received life skills training for independent living, including management of personal finances, navigating city streets and public transportation using a white cane, and sexual abuse prevention.

TRAINING BY BLIND LINK GOES FURTHER THAN TECHNICAL TRAINING ALONE:

Training is intensive and very “hands on”.

White Cane navigational skills are an important component of life skills training.

Cooking classes provide additional life skills.

Sexual abuse prevention and business skills training is also provided by BlindLink.

THE NINH BINH INITIATIVE:

Ninh Binh Province is a poor but beautiful farming rural region

Your support will enable BlindLink to extend this same life-changing training to a group of sixteen visually impaired adults in Ninh Binh Province, a beautiful but poor, rural region several hours south of Hanoi. Blind Link has the opportunity to expand its training program beyond Hanoi, with its first-ever training program in Ninh Binh Province, already scheduled for September 5 through November 2, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, any hope for funding through Omamori Spa has disappeared, as Vietnam’s current ban on foreign tourism has crippled our resources, reducing revenue by more than 80%.

Your donation is urgently needed to enable BlindLink to continue its training program during the pandemic.

We have raised more than $7,900 through the generosity of our volunteers and partners in Vietnam. However, additional funds must be raised in order to offer this training program at no cost to the students. By raising $3,750 by August 15, BlindLink will be able to extend training to sixteen (16) visually impaired program recipients, providing them with vital job and life skills training.

Thank you for your consideration toward making an investment in BlindLink’s training program—your gift will empower someone you may never meet personally, but in whose life you will make an immeasurable difference. 

BlindLink International  trains the blind and provides employment at Omamori Spas and elsewhere