News and Events


Mr. Tien: Headmaster holds door open to ethnic minority students


Mr. Tien

“This is Mr Tien. He’s an ethnic minority,” is how the former Vietnamese headmaster was introduced to Church World Service’s representative in Vietnam Joanne Fairley. It’s hardly the first thing you’re told when meeting someone, but Tien’s minority status was significant for several reasons.

Ethnic minorities make up about 15 percent of Vietnam’s over 80 million people. They speak more than a dozen distinct languages and many dialects. Eleven groups have their own writing systems. Although animistic beliefs are common, a large number are Catholics or Protestants, while the Khmer practice Buddhism and the Cham are Hindu or Muslim. Improving services for ethnic minorities has been a CWS goal since 1990. Before that, the organization had already contributed over $8 million to the country’s post-war reconstruction. More than two thirds of its $1.4 million budget for the next three years is aimed at support for ethnic minority students.

Mr. Bach Cong Tien, formally the headmaster of the Ha Tay Ethnic Minority Boarding School, is now the first from his community to serve as the Vice Chairman on the People’s Committee of Ba Vi District. As such, he is a member of the official system, a valuable entry into the highland areas of the north much in need of health and education services. Tien is also a proud advocate for his former institution, the only one offering boarding for junior and senior high school ethnic minority students in an area where an average of 94 percent of students end their education with secondary school. While most of the 275 schools in the District have poor sanitation, leaking roofs, and badly-lit classrooms, Tien’s school boasts “a great water system, a phenomenally developed library, and a fantastic gym,” according to Fairley. “He’s passionate about providing the best services for his students.”

Tien was promoted to the District People’s Committee after working at the school for 14 years. Shortly before his promotion, Tien pushed for support to the Ha Tay Ethnic Minority Boarding School. He petitioned CWS for a $4000 greenhouse so children can learn about replanting trees and protecting the environment, a $22,000 language laboratory, books and teaching aids worth $3,000 and $4,000 in sports equipment. He also wants funding to allow two of his teachers to get additional training.

The centerpiece of the new facilities at the school will be a new water filter. The old one, part of a gravity-fed water system funded by CWS three years ago, filters water through several layers of sand. It is not efficient in clearing up Giardia and other minute bacteria. The filter is part of $155,000 upgrade in education facilities which includes water and sanitation that CWS will provide in the 3-year current program. In many areas of Ha Tay province, ground water is not available in the dry season. In communities the organization is targeting for vital services, 65 percent of the population does not have access to clean water, leaving children prey to intestinal parasites and water-related diseases.

For Tien, the water filter is a toe-hold on the future. “He’s a visionary,” says Fairley. He’s got the logistics all worked out.” The new filter will make the school one of the first to close the gap between the seasonal, inadequate water supply system and the National Strategy for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, an ambitious set of guidelines for rural areas drafted by the government in consultation with Danish Aid. For the first two years, the guidelines focus on public places, markets and schools. As new facilities promote hand-washing and other improvements in hygiene, planners expect schoolchildren will become vanguards of a new era in health.

Working with Ha Tay Ethnic Minority Boarding School and other educational facilities for this disadvantaged community, Fairley is convinced CWS can contribute to the progress the country is poised to make.