User:Juan 0293/Maison Chance

Maison Chance is a local NGO, created in 1993 by the Swiss citizen "Tim" Aline Rebeaud in Vietnam. The association works with physically disabled people, orphans and disadvantaged children in the south of the country. It provides housing, medical care, education and vocational training with the aim of rehabilitating and reintegrating its beneficiaries into social life.

It is composed of three sites in Ho Chi Minh City (the Shelter, Take Wing Center , Village Chance ) and a social center in the province of Dak Nong in the Vietnamese highlands. .

Maison Chance in Ho Chi Minh City
The association consists of three units in Ho Chi Minh City in Bình Tân district. In 2021, it had more than 50 permanent employees, 10 fixed-term employees and several Vietnamese and foreign volunteers.

The Shelter
The Shelter is the first unit of the social center of the association, inaugurated in 1993 with the creation of the NGO.

This site provides housing for orphaned children and teenagers as well as single persons with disabilities. Educational support is provided to minor residents who attend Village Chance schools or outside schools, from kindergarten to university. In 2021, 14 people with disabilities and 12 teenagers or orphans lived at the Shelter.

In 2023, on the eve of the Tet holiday, Village Chance will be visited by diplomats from the G4 countries (Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and Vietnam).

Take Wing Center
The Take Wing Center is the second social center unit of the association, created in 2006.

It houses a vocational training center for people with disabilities, a medical center and the organization's offices.

Vocational training
Beneficiaries who are adults with disabilities and disadvantaged adolescents have the opportunity to receive vocational training on the basis of a catalog of five proposed trades:


 * Painting: learning oil painting techniques, portraiture, ...
 * Sewing: making products (stuffed animals, puppets, bags, decorative accessories, ...).
 * Semi-precious stone cutting: learning cutting and polishing techniques for the making of small jewelry and decorative objects.
 * Computer science: programming and management of internet sites, training in referencing techniques.
 * Bakery*: making pastries and cakes

*  : this training is given in the Village Chance kitchens 

Medical care
A medical service ensures the follow-up of the physical and mental condition of the beneficiaries of the association, through regular consultations carried out either by local health professionals or by foreign volunteers who come for specific periods of time.

Physiotherapy and hydrotherapy sessions are organized daily to ease muscular pain and maintain joint flexibility for the disabled. The beneficiaries' dental problems are also taken care of by a volunteer dentist who comes to Take Wing Center once a week. Basic health care is also provided on site in addition to the occasional assistance of specialists such as occupational therapists. For cases requiring more specific treatment, the health department organizes visits to the hospital.

The Village Chance
The Village Chance is the third unit of the association's social center, opened in 2011. It has an elementary school, a kindergarten as well as housing for the beneficiaries.

Nursery & elementary school
Maison Chance's educational program is aimed at children without birth certificates, unable to pay school fees or with a significant academic delay. The courses, in accordance with the provisions of the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, are provided free of charge by qualified teachers. A total of 223 children followed classes at Village Chance.

There is a nursery on site for children aged six months to six years from disadvantaged families in HCMC. Daily activities and educational games are organized in addition to an introduction to writing, reading and arithmetic. In addition, regular health checks and meals are provided directly on site. Among them, in 2021, 27 children have physical and/or mental problems.

The elementary school provides Vietnamese, mathematics, computer science, English, social & nature sciences, art and sports classes. The objective is to ensure a complete theoretical and practical training around a community project. The social department also ensures the follow-up of about 40 beneficiaries through the attribution of a scholarship. Thanks to this financial support, these underprivileged teenagers can continue their secondary and university studies. .

Housing
The Village Chance has about thirty adapted homes for families with one or more members in a wheelchair.

Maison Chance in Dak Nong
Dak Nong social center opened in 2019 with the support of the local People's Committee, by granting the association a three-hectare plot of land near the waterfalls of Dray Sap and Gia Long. The objective was to extend Maison Chance's scope of action to the disadvantaged provinces of Vietnam where various ethnic minorities live in a fragile situation.

In addition to the services provided at HCMC, the social center has a large farm with vegetable and fruit gardens and animals, providing organically grown food for consumption by the beneficiaries.

Vocational training
Like the Take Wing Center in HCMC, similar vocational training is provided in Dak Nong to more than twenty disabled adults in four workshops (computer, sewing, painting and stone cutting). The products made are then transported and sold in HCMC and abroad, allowing the workers to be paid and the center to function properly.

Special needs classes
More than 130 underprivileged children live in the social center, 95% of whom are from ethnic minorities of the region. Among them, 25 children with physical and mental problems are taken care of by specialized teachers. The Maison Chance elementary school in Dak Nong has five classes from level one to level five and three special education classes.

The education program for special classes is built on two main pillars which are functional education and the teaching of knowledge and skills to develop the physical and intellectual abilities of children.

Medical care
Physiotherapy, balneotherapy and horse therapy are provided to beneficiaries year-round by a team of on-site professionals and foreign volunteers. Based on the HCMC model, basic health and dental care are also provided directly on site and regular hospital visits are organized.

In Europe
Since 1996, volunteers have been promoting Maison Chance in Switzerland and France. The objective is to support the parent association. As the activity is carried out solely by volunteers, almost all the funds raised are redistributed to finance the operating costs of the programs in Vietnam. These resources come from membership fees, donations and the sale of products from the workshops of the different centers during charity events.

In 2006, a Belgium branch has been created.

In North America
In 2008, Maison Chance USA and Maison Chance Canada were created, always with the objective of promoting the activity of Maison Chance Vietnam abroad. Campaigns are organized to solicit volunteerism and economic contribution while highlighting the cultural and artistic aspect of the Vietnamese-American community.

Distinctions & Awards

 * Forbes | Vietnam

2021: Top 20 Most Inspiring Women voted by Forbes Vietnam 2021