For their 2005 project, 1,000 ODW-USA students took a vote and selected the "Youth at Risk Project" proposal submitted by Heifer International in Little Rock, Arkansas. The winning proposal was one of ten (10) considered for support by the students. According to Heifer International, the project area, a village along the Mekong River, is one of the poorest in the country. Twenty percent of the people have incomes of less than $1 per day. The area is primarily agricultural and lack of investment, technical assistance and education contributes to the high poverty rate.

In order to help their families, many young teenage girls in the village are deceived by promises of good pay to leave their homes and travel across the nearby border to Cambodia. However, once there, the girls face a number of perils, including child labor. This trafficking of poor rural girls continues to be a growing problem for the village.

Through this project, Heifer International will address these issues by increasing the ability of the girls to contribute to the family income while living at home. The project is designed to increase the incomes and education of the very low income girls through a combination of animal and crop production. It will help to increase the family income and reduce the need for girls to leave their homes and toil as child laborers in Cambodia.

Project goals include: increasing the incomes of participating families by 50% over three years; increasing the number of girls attending school by 50%; and increasing production of beef, vegetables and watermelons by 20%. Heifer International will work with the local Women's Union to develop the project. That organization plays an important role in assisting women with economic development activities, including a micro-enterprise lending program.

A letter informing Ms Lent at Heifer International of the students' decision can be read here, as well as a response to the ODW students.

With everyone involved in gathering resources, we came up with a number of items to help inform the students about the country they selected, as well as the culture and customs of the people. These resources include a list of websites and a bibliography on Vietnam.

For a quick review of Vietnam, click on USAID's site at: http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/countries/vietnam/vietnam.html

ODW Students and Advisors may post further information they’ve gathered about the project here: http://forums.info.usaid.gov/~odw-forum/

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