The "foreign mother" of Vietnamese disabled children
(QNO) - Jackie Wrafter began her ideas of helping the Vietnamese disabled children fall in line with the common life without any experiences of caring for disabled kids 15 years ago.
Jackie Wrafter and the disabled children at the Ky Anh Center |
Jackie is 50 year-old from England. She is a co-founder of the Kianh Foundation and director of the Ky Anh Center for Disabled Children (Dien Nam ward, Dien Ban town, Quang Nam province). She has dedicated herself to the care and education of the disabled children in Quang Nam for 15 years. Her center is now giving free training on living skills to approximately 100 children.
Talking with Tien Phong, Ms. Jackie said that she doesn’t have intention of getting married any longer because of her children, the disabled at the center.
Jackie Wrafter traveled to Vietnam in 2011. She visited an orphanage in Central Vietnam where a lot of disabled children lived in a poor condition. The idea of setting up a center for disabled children was born then when she thought that the children here need more support to be able to take care of themselves and to integrate into the community better. She also believed that the children would be better if they were helped.
Ms. Jackie and a kid at the Ky Anh centre. |
When returning to England, Jackie and her friends raised money to hire a physiotherapist to work at the orphanage. Several months later, she decided to return to Vietnam to help the children and founded the Kianh Foundation for charity.
The Ky Anh Center for Disabled Children was put into operation in 2012 under the approval of Dien Ban town’s authorities, and the construction-financial support from RMIT University (Australia).
When working here, Jackie has looked for the temporary support from lots of foreign organizations and individuals who specialize in caring and rehabilitating disabled children. All the support and education in the center is completely free of charge.
Jackie is planning to expand the center to receive the children waiting for her help, to create jobs for them after school. She is also ready for sharing her experiences of training disabled children to other centers.