On 28 July 2013, Prudential Plc UK (Prudential) and the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation (Blue Dragon) gave text books and school bags to 730 children from poor families in Bac Ninh and neighboring provinces.
Most “street children” and children from very poor rural families are at high risk of being victims of human trafficking and child labor exploitation. If not helped on time, they may drop out of school and easily become casualties of social evils.
Keenly aware of these needs, Prudential donated over 22,100 USD in coordination with the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation to provide school supplies to 1,000 children, including 730 children in Bac Ninh province and the remaining 270 in some other North Delta provinces. The supplies included school text books and book bags to encourage these children to go to school and stay in the safe environment of their local schools.
In addition to providing the above school supplies to needy children, Prudential also donated books to the libraries of 4 local schools in Bac Ninh. Simultaneously, Prudential provided fund for legal support to help children who dropped out of school and had brushes with the laws to return to school.
CEO of Prudential Vietnam Assurance, Mr. Jack Howell said: “Children have always been the primary focus of our CSR programs. We wish and always do our best to help disadvanged children get a better chance in life. This is one of many projects for the communities that Prudential is actively supporting, affirming our ongoing commitment to contribute to the social welfare development of Vietnam.”
Mr. Michael Brosowski, the founder and CEO of Blue Dragon expressed: “All children deserve to be children. That is to be safe, to go to school, to play, to be treated with respect, to be listened to, to be understood, and to be loved. Prudential and Blue Dragon work together to make sure that these Vietnamese children receive education in a safe, loving environment so that they have a chance to grow and become successful individuals.”
About Blue Dragon
Blue Dragon is a Children’s Foundation from Australia which aims to support disadvantaged children in Vietnam. It has an innovative approach to caring for the children’s individual needs, with comprehensive support services carried out by a team of competent social workers, psychiatrists, teachers and lawyers. Established in 2003, Blue Dragon has now grown into an organization with 64 devoted staff working to support approximately 1,500 children every year in all over Vietnam.
About Prudence Foundation
Prudence Foundation was established in Vietnam in 2003 with the aim of demonstrating Prudential’s commitment to improving the quality of life of the communities where we operate via meaningful social and charitable activities. With a total grant of US$ 2.7 million for the first phase (2003-2010) and US$ 10 million for the second phase (2011-2015), over the past 10 years, Prudence Foundation has carried out and supported a great number of social and charitable activities across the country, particularly in the areas of education, public health and community support.
In 2012 alone, Prudence Foundation provided approximately 8,400 scholarships to students, built 280 homes for the needy, invested billions of VND into various public health programs across the country and successfully carried out its annual program “Pru-Volunteer”, which involved thousands of Prudential’s staff and agents in supporting the communities.