January, 2016—Venh Seo Thao, a father of three, is committed to helping families in his community raise healthy children.
Two-thirds of people in northern Vietnam’s Lu Than Commune—which includes Venh’s village of Chin Chu Phin— live in poverty and many are unaware of the importance of nutrition to their children’s health.
As a village health worker, Venh teaches the basics of good health, including the importance of hand-washing, home cleanliness, nutritious and affordable foods and monitoring children’s development.
Venh is grateful for the training and support he’s received from Samaritan’s Purse, which has equipped him with a scale and the skills to monitor children in his village. Each month, a Samaritan’s Purse nurse brings the necessary supplements for the families of those he identifies as needing better nutrition. The nurse also helps Venh learn more about record-keeping and child development.
Even beyond his job, Venh is a role model in his community. Samaritan’s Purse has provided training and seeds for families to grow nutritious vegetables to improve their diets. The success of Venh’s garden has been an example and an encouragement to others.
“I feel I am much better trained now to help my community,” Venh said with a smile. “Families now practice better hygiene. Their home environments are cleaner and most importantly, children are healthier.”
He knows there are continued challenges. “There are still many poor families and children suffering with malnutrition. Samaritan’s Purse has provided many people with home gardens and training, which has been valuable, but the needs are still great.”
Please pray for our staff as they invest in the lives of people like Venh, seeking opportunities to satisfy hungry stomachs and hearts through the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35, NIV).
Build healthy families and thriving communities through education on hand-washing, nutrition, and other fundamentals or providing innovative solutions such as Clean Cookstoves that drastically improve health and open doors to share the Gospel.