How long has your agency been in business? How long specifically in Vietnam?
Our agency was founded in 1992 and we began completing adoptions in Vietnam in 1998.
Who are the facilitators working on behalf of the agency? Would you be willing to share a photo of your facilitators?
Our main representative is Nguyen Thon Thi Diem Thuy. We also have 4 other full time staff working for us in adoption and humanitarian aid. Their picture is available on our web site at: http://www.childrenshopeint.org/vietnam.htm
How long have each of your facilitators worked in Vietnam adoptions and in what capacity? What is their experience?
Thuy has worked with us since the beginning. She started with us right out of college. Her background is in finance. Her husband started out as a driver for us and then moved into adoption. The other 3 full time staff have just worked for us since Vietnam reopened in 2006.
Where is your agency’s office or offices in Vietnam?
Our office is located in HCMC (Saigon) at 15 Le Thi Rieng Street, District 1, HCMC
How many Vietnam staff work for your agency in Vietnam in any capacity? Are these full time, part time or volunteer workers?
We have 5 full time staff. They are all salaried positions and they are not paid on a per adoption basis. Some of them work in adoption alone and others work for adoption as well as our humanitarian aid projects and child sponsorship program.
What humanitarian aid programs does your agency run? Are these programs run through a separate organization or managed directly by your agency?
CHI has an adoption program as well as a foundation. The foundation is run completely separate from adoption, but both programs are run in the same office. We oversee along with our in country staff all our humanitarian aid projects.
We have 5 year contracts with all the orphanages that we work with for different projects. Some of the projects that have been completed over the last 2 years are: nutritious meals for orphans and elderly, tuition fees & books for orphans and equipment aids for teaching, clothes for school age children, hiring of physical therapists to provide physical therapy for orphans, holiday parties and celebrations for orphans, washer and dryer for one orphanage and rice cookers for one orphanage.
In addition to these projects with the orphanages we also have worked with DOLISA to provide other humanitarian aid to poor families or projects in the area. These have included school lunches for handicapped students, school notebooks for poor children, bridge construction and child sponsorship. Many children are not available for adoption but still need support and an education. On our web site we have child sponsorship programs for most of the countries that we work in.
What humanitarian projects, if any, did your agency participate in during the shutdown?
We continued all of our humanitarian aid projects during the moratorium. We continued to send about $150,000 in humanitarian aid each year it was closed.
How much money does your agency dedicate to humanitarian aid per year?
For 2006, we sent $172,004 In humanitarian aid
For 2007 we will send a total of $173,467
What orphanages does your agency support? Can you describe, briefly, the atmosphere of these orphanages?
We work with 7 orphanages in 3 different provinces:
- Tam Binh 1 orphanage ”“ HCMC
- Tam Binh 2 orphanage ”“ HCMC
- Thu Duc Youth Village ”“ HCMC
- GoVap orphanage ”“ HCMC
- Phu My orphanage ”“ HCMC
- Kien Giang orphanage ”“ Kien Giang province
- Vinh Long orphanage ”“ Vinh Long province
Kien Giang and Vinh Long orphanages are smaller orphanages in more rural provinces. These orphanages only have about 80-100 children in them, infant and older children available as well as houses older elderly people. The orphanages in HCMC are all much larger with 200-300 kids per orphanage. Healthy, special needs, infant and older children are available. Tam Binh 2 orphanage is an orphanage for HIV positive children or for children who were born to HIV positive mothers.
What kind of oversight does your agency provide in orphanages to ensure that orphanages are acting ethically and children are being kept safe and healthy?
Our staff is in the orphanages on a regular basis. They have a very good working relationship with the directors and can see where our money for humanitarian aid projects is going. They have the freedom to come and go and drop in whenever they want. Our staff from the US also travels to Vietnam at least once a year to meet with the directors and see what has been done in the last year.
Would you be willing to share a copy of your contract as a public record for interested potential adoptive parents to peruse via our website?
Potential parents can certainly request a copy but it is not available on our web site. We are happy to send it to any family that inquires.
Does your contract contain any gag clause? If so, why?
No we do not
Has your agency been threatened with or received a NOID since January 2006? If yes, please share relevant details, if possible.
No.
If yes, how many of the NOIDs have since been overturned, if any?
none
What efforts does your agency employ to encourage ethical adoptions in Vietnam?
We have a long standing relationship with our representative in Vietnam. We have the utmost trust that she is completely ethical in her actions. Time has displayed that she is trustworthy. We also look to hire people that have their hearts in adoption. People you can tell that they are in it for the children and not for the money. We have an open and honest rapport with our staff and they are financially responsible to us as well sending monthly expense reports to our agency.
How many adoptions have been completed by your agency since the MOU was signed?
2006 ”“ 60
2007 ”“ 85
How many waiting families, approximately, are currently in your program?
We have about 35 families matched with children waiting to travel. 240 families have CIS approval and are awaiting a referral. Approximately 175 families are in the home study stage waiting for their CIS approval. We have a 2 plus year wait for families wanting an infant boy or girl.
Is there any other information your agency wishes to share about its Vietnam program that might help parents in search of ethical adoptions make a very difficult agency decision?
CHI is COA and ECFA accredited. We have also applied for Hague accreditation and hope to be with the first group of accredited agencies. Our agency has implemented Hague standards for all countries we work in, not just the countries that have ascended to the Hague.
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